It's surprising just how "no frills" these docs are, realy fly-on-the-wall type stuff just presenting moments from during production as it happened. Very few interviews to camera, just pure observational documentation. Fascinating stuff, and completely unlike most of the slick cut-down promo puff pieces you get these days.
@@justinsane3909 Imagine being enough of a retarded loser to exist in a world that has Disney Star Wars and you still have an active hard-on against the prequels
@@robertraya7978No, they’re still generally disliked. The number of apologists has increased since the sequels but common, household consensus has not changed.
You can tell how much the cast and crew respect and admire George. All they want to do is make sure they create a perfect product for the vision he sees. This documentary is absolutely amazing.
@@Meg_Lovegood No, they didn't lose the "love of the craft". Stop making shit up. And no, they didn't please the "wrong person", they worked hard to please the only right person, the visionary and creator of Star Wars, George Lucas. "The people", and RLM betrayed Lucas, and are mostly responsible for irrational hate towards Prequels, and responsible for Lucas quitting Star Wars and selling it to Di$ney, who also betrayed George and took a big dump over Star Wars saga.
Zylar Adama I think it’s evident from all of the prequel BTS that these movies were not a collaborative effort or a typical filmmaking environment. Our pal Evergreen here is just making a conclusion based on what they have seen. If you think that the job of the crew is solely to “please the only right person” I think you misunderstand what the process of filmmaking is like and may be putting George on a pedestal.
I do too. I guess it's like trying to salvage a lesson from it all or something? or where did it all go wrong? i do watch documentaries like seconds from disaster and Mayday investigate, reminds me of that!ha
19:04 "the audience know it is not possible, but you have to make them believe for 1.5 hours, that maybe it can be" words of wisdom from an experienced actor.
George took so much shit for these prequels but I swear when he was talking about Yoda and how people wanted him to look more like the puppet again and he seemed to totally love this character and was eager to satisfy I smiled. George actually takes in the feedback from the fans regardless of how the movies turned out. He seems like he was really trying to please everyone and THAT might have been the real issue.
yep u have to look no further than jar jar. he was originally gonna have big parts in 2 and 3 as well but Lucas minimised his role greatly as the films went on cause he knew fans didn't like him.
Wush & Boon stupid normie bitch, you're missing the big picture He's so invested in CREATING CHARACTERS, and MAKING THEIR LOOKS, but doesn't put the same amount of effort in editing/script writing
Mo Luj And that is when he should not have listened. I thought Jar Jar provided great comic relief his antics are what I think about and look at during the dark action and painful scenes. That is why I would not have wanted Jar Jar be the bad guy. Another Gungan should have been a traitor, so that we who laughed at and liked Jar Jar could have been sad and sympathizes with his sadness at seeing one of his species betray the Jedi.
smellmyclock Criticizing his editing/script writing is so pointless when you do not give examples of such. Also you need to consider the fact that you and others just did not bother to think about the lines or do research to find similar lines in movies that are well thought of for their editing and/or writing. Movies such as the Jennifer Jones/Joseph Cotton movies.
Every movie you love today that has heavy CG owes it's entire existence to the work ILM did on the prequels. One day people will actually remember that and be grateful that they were pioneers that they were.
The journey begins much earlier than the prequels. Star Trek II and IV, Young Sherlock Holmes, The Abyss (first photorealistic CG integrated into a scene), then T2, then Jurassic Park (photorealistic creatures). By 1993 it had been established firmly as a viable effects tool. ILM then used the SW special editions as a ramp-up for the level of ambition that Lucas had in mind for the prequels.
Going through these videos it’s frankly staggering how hands on George is with this entire process. He is directing in the truest sense, getting exactly what he wants out of every moment of the film be it sound design, expressions or pacing of the actions of CGi characters.
Now if the great Christopher Lee is saying he is fine with CGI so he can be in this movie, there is no validity to his fans complaint that they "just don't like it". His fans should should have been happy to see him and been understanding that, despite his physical limits he still wanted to do whatever possible to be in this movie.
Part of the joy of getting the film on DVD at the time was the amount of time you could spend immersing yourself in the world of Lucasfilm, the magic, the processes and the people with all the various extras and documentaries on disc 2.... and then suddenly its more than 20 years ago!
Christopher Lee: "I've probably done more sword fights than any human in history". Reailty: He's done more FILMS than any human in history. I still remember working at a video store and we had the Maltin Film Encyclopedia. Most actors had half a column, perhaps a whole column (6 tiny texes columns per page). Christopher Lee? Almost 2 PAGES. We did the math and he averaged 3 movies a year.
it's amazing how such a small decision at 5:00 and onward decides an entire species creation in the SW universe and gives us characters like Pong Krell. Crazy
I would seriously watch ten more hours of this type of footage. I find it more intriguing than typical documentaries with voice overs and editing. It almost feels like you are participating in the filmmaking process, as if you are in the same room as Lucas when he analyzes shots. Fascinating.
This is something that is missing from the streaming culture; behind the scenes videos. You have them on RU-vid and other propo outlets for newer movies, but with discs, you had all of it in one package.
That was actually my main complain about Yoda in the Prequels. He always looks depressed and sad compared to The Empire Strikes Back where he was funny and positive. I am also not the biggest fan of Yoda fighting with a lightsaber.
@@CaughtInTheLoop I was ok with it because they always presented the lightsaber as "a Jedi's weapon" Maybe it could have been executed a little better, but I thought that using the force to be a powerful jedi warrior when typically see you as a feeble old man was kind of awesome. And he's small, of course his still would be mad fast. But like I said, the execution could have been a little bit better. People have problems with Yoda and Palpatine with sabers because they see them as these mystical beings "beyond trivial toys" (maybe not you, but I've seen that type of opinion before) but Lucas always explicitly said all Jedi had sabers, why would Yoda be different? I could maybe understand why it's weirder for Palpatine to have a saber though
Can you even imagine creating something that becomes more than you and a whole literal universe outside of you. George had teams of people literally asking him what color blood his characters had so that they can generate the right type of transparency light effects. I cant imagine he never felt overwhelmed and his teams underwhelmed by his responses. So interesting.
The amount of passion and dedication from everyone on the depth chart his is truly inspiring. Imagine if even the department heads at Disney has half as much passion.
man its insane to think that george and ILM, and the rest of his team were pioneering the digital movie making techniques that allowed Iron-man, the entire MCU and modern cgi to be achieved. Imagine having to create a Star Wars trilogy whilst figuring out CGI at the same time. Nowadays Disney can do whatever they want in CGI and still failed to tell a good story.
@@deku812 im not talking about the quality of the movie itself. im talking about the behind the scenes work that allows every major studio today to pump out CGI heavy movies. Wouldnt be possible without ILM and Lucas pushing the envelope with CGI
I actually like both the Muppet Yoda and the CGI Yoda. I like the look and character of the puppet, and I like the freedom of movement of expression and movement the CGI model had. It's still Yoda to me, and Yoda is still awesome. :)
I am so enjoying this documentary. The more I watch it, the more I understand how they made this movie so entertaining. Especially the part where they changed Yoda on Christopher Lee. That was funny.
Dude was one of the most badass human beings ever. He accomplished so much in his life, being an actor was just the icing on top. Look up his Wikipedia page and just be amazed. RIP to the great Sir Christopher Lee.
@Luis Martinez George Lucas was the chief editor on the original Star Wars. He oversaw the entire process and edited the acclaimed gunport sequence himself. His wife Marcia only edited a third of the movie and left to work on another movie before the final edit was even completed. There were two other editors who edited the other 2/3 of the movie. The notion that Lucas had nothing to do with the editing of the original movie, that he's a terrible editor, or that his wife singlehandedly saved from the movie from him--it's all a myth.
I love how Lucas has all these funny words/pronunciations for things in his own freaking movies... "Haan", "saaga", "laser sword" lol I'm like, "Dude, you created this universe."
It's amazing to see that George Lucas hasn't changed his style throught the ages. and probably will never do it. always same beard, same hair, same outfits. trully a legend
+Los Sambrero Lucas thinks that everyone will be in awe of the CGI creatures, but in reality, they are so childish and stupid as characters, on ly children like them. He thinks they'll have the same impact of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.
+Mario Moreno So, you fellows think CGI means nothing? You think these guys and Matrix, Lord of the Rings etc created these methods for no reason and for ill only? Well, you can throw out every sci-fi TV show and movie with any realism, forget everything action from 2000 onwards. Of course CGI is key, it seems like nothing now and if it is overused then it ruins a movie - of course CGI alone is hopeless, but at the time, there was no such thing really, but the difference between CGIC and puppets is ground breaking.
Metal Gamer Well, naturally it would be, I think the movie is good nonetheless, also, it is overused in every movie - and most movies are bad used or not, Star Wars is good used or not, that's the difference.
are you guys really so stupid that you can't hear the sarcasm in george's voice? I swear any excuse to criticize the guy that created Star Wars you will take
+Sebastian Cubillejo (FilmStrife) Dexter is a sith too! but seriolusly I had to rewind just to make sure I did hear George say "hes the key"..... again
For real! Dexter Jester as he appears in the film is completely down to the input of John Knoll who saw some interesting possibilities with the gullet on the one particular model. 4:40
We Star Wars fans are too hard to please. The crew decided to take into account the jerkiness of the hand movements of Yoda’s puppeteer, because we complained about the CG Yoda not looking right. It’s as if Star Wars was too good for its own good; our fondness of it was greater than our ability to understand it. I suppose that’s sounds right though.
I love how all of their decisions are based on how the audience would think of it. They knew how important they were. Seems to be something that is lost in the new movies.
The new ones do it in all the wrong ways! Lucas never altered the story so that fans would be pleased. "The story comes first. And I can't really play it to an audience. I mean the story is what the story is." THAT is what is lacking with Disney Star Wars! They are constantly trying to "play it to the audience", either by ripping off previous entries (Abrams), or by deliberately "subverting expectations" (Johnson).
Lucas had an insane level of attention to detail on the visual design, visual effects, and technical aspect side of the prequels, but when it came to human characters, script, scene takes, etc. it was like "good, cut, print, done" moving on. He's like Ed Wood with an unlimited budget.
Totally. I have to say that Lucas did a great job with all the visual design (especially Episode I and III) Dex's Diner was a terrible mistake if you aks me... Dexter Jettster the only Star Wars Character I really hate. But anyways, its a shame Lucas didnt seek somebody to help him out with his poor writing skills.
@@ludomirsteinbruck9376 Lucas did actually asked help for the prequels from his friends like Spielberg, Ron Howard ect.. and they declined saying that George should have done it himself.
I could go on and on about these making of videos. This man revolutionized the film industry and everyone hated him for it. But without George you don’t have modern movies. The MCU wouldn’t exist without him.
@@richardcahill1234 Oh si, como olvidar esa época hace 20 años en el que el cine estaba lleno de comedias románticas y actores de acción de los 80/90 tratando de convencer a todos de que sus clichés seguían funcionando... Eso si, extraño las épicas coml Troya y LOTR
@@ArthurVand This is wrong. It's not the amount of greenscreen used, it's what was portrayed on it. Look at how vivid and dynamic the Prequel environments are, the attention to detail, the fluid, Disney-like motion on the animated characters, how well CG and practical are integrated together by the end. Lucas' CGI looked awkward because it was pushing the medium of computer animation incredibly hard, to the point where directors like Rian Johnson, James Cameron and Peter Jackson have all said that the Prequels advanced not just CG, but digital filmmaking by decades. Lucas wasn't bound by studio budgets or a million focus groups or strict limitations, he gathered a team of the best creatives of their time and let them go wild. Compare Naboo's CG models in the first film to the second film and the jump is staggering. Compare Watto to General Grievous and it's alarming how quick the advancements were made. Do remember that CG foundations such as motion capture rigs, render passes, sub-surface scattering, global illumination and other ubiquitous modern technologies were quite literally invented in these movies.
@@tsukopara2054 CGI was used in places where it should not have been. There was no need for CGI backgrounds in random scenes like Anakin and Windu walking down a corridor. It looks weird, sterile and unconvincing. The problem isn't the quality of the CGI which is understandable for the time, it's the overuse of it at times when it was completely unnecessary. Lucas's lack of restraint made the movies way worse, regardless of whether it was cutting edge tech for the time.
George had the beat behind the scenes footage. He really showed you what it took to make a movie. Peter Jackson is the only other director who I know of that did this.
People say George Lucas was surrounded by 'Yes Man' types, but I am seeing the opposite in this documentary. He really does appreciate and give the freedom to his team.
Say what you will about the prequels (I like them personally), but the thought and care they put into the design of the various creatures and aliens is just astounding.
I love these behind the scenes. Shows, how a certain film was made and the process, rather than today where it’s just cast and director talking about how great they are.
George Lucas: "So that I could have a story, that was more like the one I could think of in my head". This man has given us great stories and before he passes away justice to him and his marvelous work needs to be done so he sees that someone has begun and will continue to tell the stories down in his head the way they are meant to be told. He deserves that, in a way the characters he created deserve that and the fans who agree with his vision as it has unfolded on screen in the six films and anything Stars Wars on television he has done deserve that.
Fans will probably only begin to appreciate Lucas' genius in the prequels long after he is gone. If ever. Sad as it is, but George is not alone in this. Many great artists suffered the same fate.
Christopher Lee. An excellent actor and an amazing voice that fits his character so deeply. How he is missed, it's almost surreal seeing and listening to him describing the scenes he was involved in. God Bless and Rest in Peace
I feel guilty in saying that, now after his passing, I especially appreciate finding the clips and insider commentary of the late Sir Christopher Lee beginning at 17:01. "Again, it comes down to performance, performance, performance. You have to have a very vivid imagination. If you have that as an actor anyways it's a help. You've got to make the audience believe what you're saying is true and what you're doing could happen. It's a terrific challenge it's an even bigger challenge when in a sense they know it can't... but during that hour and a half or two hours... maybe it can." - Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015) A great storyteller even in a behind the scenes documentary. He is missed.
As a James Bond fanatic and a huge admirer of Christopher Lee, I second this. He was a literal war hero and one of the great actors of all time. What a legacy.
These behind the scenes films are just as if not more interesting than the films, and thats an incredible feat, you feel like part of the crew, looking on as they did while George makes his decisions. The entire Lucasfilm team are so unbelievably talented 😍
It’s such a massive work. Put all things togheter, you cant forget anything. Schedules with animators and editors. The pressure. Its a hard work like any other. The nice thing about this industry is that your job will leave a mark forever, while our ordinary jobs will be forgotten as soon as we retire or fired. Lol.
I have a weird relationship with the prequels, I go through spells of loving them or hating them. But watching these behind the scenes makes you realise how much work and effort goes into the movies and just how hard everybody of screen works. George may not be the best script writer and has some times not delivered in his execution but you have to give it to him how dedicated and how much he cares for this universe. And I know the sequel trilogy gets a lot of hate but you got to realise, just like people worked hard on the prequels, people also worked very hard on the new films and it’s unfair to them to call all of there work trash because of certain people behind the scenes. I just want people to get the credit they deserve
I think the heart of the difference between the Original Six film by Lucas and the three by Disney is that under Lucas a movie was made because there was a story to tell. Where as with Disney a story was told because a movie had to be made. The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker just felt like a cheap cash grab instead of a serious attempt to continue the story of Star Wars. I'm still trying to wrap my head around The Last Jedi.
@@ShamanMcLamie TLJ is a story, the problem is that its a very boring story that is all about being a bad version of M Night Shamylyan, which I would argue is kind of impressive.
I don’t understand that. There are so many people like you that say that as if you thinking it means it’s true. What that actually means is that you don’t think he’s a good script writer, that doesn’t mean that’s true just because you’re saying it. And he’s the billionaire who created the series, and everyone on here is not that and most if not all of them have not written even one script themselves. There’s something wrong with Star Wars fans, they have some of the unhinged aspect of K-pop fans. It’s like the same people who pay for the tickets so the series keeps going also attack it and everyone involved so much that they ruin it.
Within the first 4 minutes, most "fans" can see who exactly pushed for a CG yoda in the prequels, and how enthused they were, as well as George about the technology pushing his dreams forward.
From a technical perspective this is phenomenal without Georges pressure we may not have the completely CGI films we do. For better or worse. Thank you George and this incredible team! Always pushing the boundaries.
@@Pablo123456x Absolutely not. You see CGI all the time and don't even notice it. Most vehicles, cityscapes, streets, and crowds these days are all CGI. Stunts are now far safer because of CGI enhancement, and it saves the studio money and affords directors more time. You just see the bad CGI and assume its all like that.
@@Syklonus yeah, but those subtle digital enhancements are not at all what Lucas's prequel trilogy pioneered. Lucas pushed for completely CGI sets and characters that never failed to look fake and out of place (if not altogether uncanny). The box office success of that crap is what's allowed 'films' like Transformers, Green Lantern, and even freaking Cats to comprise such a huge portion of modern blockbusters.
@@sirpancherto sirpancherto On the one hand there are very few "full CGI sets" in the Prequels. In Phantom Menace there's only one, which was certain parts of the pod race environment. In Ep2, there's the Droid factory scene, which was filmed after shooting was long over. The vast majority of sets in the Prequels are real world locations(Spain, Tunisia, Italy, England), sets built in a studio, or miniatures. CGI was mostly used for animated characters. On the other hand, you name some "bad" movies as if the "good" ones don't use the same techniques, or are somehow more "subtle." Is Marvel subtle? Unlike the Prequels, the Marvel movies heavily feature fully digital sets. Some of them are filmed almost entirely on blue screen. Or even the new Star Wars movies, which are loaded with CGI, like The Force Awakens, which exclusively used CGI set extensions(and no miniatures). I haven't seen cats, or Green Lantern, but I've seen the first transformers movie in theater. I highly doubt anyone walked out there thinking it didn't look incredible. And if some people don't like that movie, it's not the fault of the visual effects. Even the most negative reviews of the Prequels still universally praised the visuals when they came out.
I think these three films made huge leaps in digital tech, but I strongly disagree that EVERYTHING is owned to them. CGI was used as far back as the early 80s with Tron, and then with Young Sherlock Holmes and Willow in the late 80s. The Abyss in 1989 was hugely innovative tech, and of course Terminator 2 was the real breakthrough that changed everything, and Jurassic Park took that tech a step further. The prequels definitely made the process much more intricate, and massive kudos go to them, but computer animated effects were around LONG beforehand.
Comes with the fact that none of us know him. Not his biggest fans. Not his biggest haters. We just know his public face. The real guy is more complex and human than any pop culture icon could hope to be.
+Krisb BeatS So, you've not seen the movies then? Of course they were not the best at the time, these methods were newly created let us not forget, and I can assure you, Yoda is ten times better in the new ones, he was rather laughable in the old ones. Both sets are good movies and for the most part 1, 2 and 3 are much better.
The Anti-Theist You're crazy dude. I've seen all 7 and Yoda is 100x better in Empire Strikes Back than any of the prequels, hence why Empire is regarded the best film of the franchise
Krisb BeatS Well, this must be the dimensional die-hard fan within you speaking since I just watched all seven, Yoda can hardly move and his voice and laughter is horrible, the swamp scene is not as I remembered as a child - it's just not good enough, I then watched Yoda's fight scene, now that is better! I have no idea what methods you are using to judge the two, but I would suggest you are the crazy one here.
He never stopped inventing and experimenting. Now things have hit a roadblock where every single blockbuster does the same thing, and never moves or innovates anything forward
Imagine how groundbreaking the ST would have been under him. Filoni (& Favrau ) think carries George's spirit with the mandalorian evolving things like the volume
They sold this on the actual cd if you bought it which is why this is so amazing, I can watch episode three with George and the producers with commentary over the entire 2 hour film and it’s still eye catching and intriguing. True art
I used to watch this movie a lot, especially before going to bed when the Kamino scenes would start. The rain and set design was just so peaceful and would usually knock me out fast. Before going to bed on nights I favored this to sleep to, I'd either watch the movie in full before sleeping or I'd watch this documentary instead. I was fascinated with CGI and everything 3D, and beyond the topic itself, this one was by far the most interesting to watch on the disc. It really showed a lot of the fun days working on Yoda and Dexter, while also taking a lighter look at the stressful days too, which was very real and refreshing to see. I'd say it even helped me gauge how actually working in a field like this would be from a young age which is nice because I over-romanticize things often.
These people worked their asses off. I can’t imagine how nervous some of them were to show George their worked they spent so much time on for him to approve or hate it. Luckily George actually doesn’t seem that bad and even when he didn’t like it he wasn’t a dick about it like some directors would be. I give it up to the animators and artist.
Only problem was he should have been in episode 1 as a council member. Would have been great to see the transformation and Lee actually having a story arc. Lucas did each movie script not all together at the start but after each movie, so nothing was thought through properly and that's why secondary characters in the prequels are meaningless.
I love they released these - whenever I need a little boost when I'm feeling down (im an artist) these help and inspire me to stop bitching and keep going. Thank you George.
My dad got me the episode ii dvd at a gas station when I was like 5, and that was my first starwars movie. I watched it like twice when I got home, then I watched this documentary on the extra disk. Oh the nostalgia.
Growing up in the 80s watching the original trilogy I will say the digital Yoda is the best decision Lucas made in the prequels. Frank Oz + digital Yoda is a great combo. I'm still trying to forget the cross eyed puppet in episode 1.
rb hws It's just that you're talking about something completely different... I was talking about the puppet in episode 1, not the empire. That's why I said what I said. If you seriously think episode 1 puppet looks better than digital Yoda you need to get your head checked. It's not even an opinion.
Who gives a shit! Pixar sucks and Disney ruined all their new movies using computer graphics instead of traditional hand-drawn animation. I'll take puppets and practical effects over pixels any day!
Actually, Pixar started out with computer graphics, and kept it by choice. Disney does not have too much say in the final picture. Toy Story 2 was supposed to be a musical for crying out loud.
@@TheOwlCreek you ignorant elitist, theres fantastic computer animated movies out there! The true issue is how you go about using the effcts knowing when n where to use practical or CGI in live action movies. as for animated film such as toy story the computer animation was an artistic choice and any work of art can be absolutely awesome regarless of the medium you choose to express yourself in.
At least George tried to do some different things in the prequels. He failed miserably but at least he tried. Very generic storytelling and wooden dialogue. He's a bad director for visuals, framing and even getting performances out of actors. Disney has a boardroom saying what they want to see and which race needs to have screen time. Basically a copy and paste of older movies and add in unfunny jokes.
People underestimate how much practical effects are in the prequels and on top of that how groundbreaking the cgi is. I DONT ENVY the people who had to create a cgi yoda with early 2000s technology
