The Shadow's Journey

[rickgriffin]

Okay now that this series is finished I can comment my thoughts from the beginning, and from the beginning my thoughts were that I'd heard about Skywalker Ranch but never grasped the purpose until Chuck laid it out.

So then my immediate reaction was: why would writers need this? Despite the fact Lucas was always a CREATIVE type, it has been clear for decades that he doesn't get what's necessary for writing, because if he did he'd probably have been able to write better. Maybe Skywalker Ranch was supposed to be there just for creative pooling and brainstorming, but that still necessitates a few questions.

Firstly, as a matter of hindsight, you see startups do this all the time to the point it's generally a running gag. "Our startup doesn't have 'offices', we find that too restrictive, instead everyone has a pow-wow around the playpen in beanbag chairs". Most people I know who are serious writers would rather have offices, or at the very least a nice chair in a nice room with a lot of quiet. Socializing is great for brainstorming, but if you want to get any actual work done you need solitude, and lots of it.

Second, a primary thing that helps drive creativity is being able to dissociate one's immediate personal needs from the needs of the work. This is basically how you should expect any work to get done in any industry. It doesn't have anything to do with being surrounded by luxury. In fact, if you really would like some luxury surroundings to get your writing done, there's hotels everywhere. "Oh but that's out of the way and expensive" yeah, well, so is Skywalker Ranch. That might be "getting away from it all" for someone as rich as Lucas but it's completely missing the point for people who actually have to give thought to their personal finances.

A lot of writers I also know love retreats to get writing done, but the thing with retreats is that they generally don't have that much trouble staying open since by and large they make their money through tourism and lodgings. Everything about Skywalker Ranch immediately screams "money sink". It doesn't seem to understand the practical realities of writing, and I think it's because Lucas never understood the details of writing beyond getting together the very broad strokes.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

Well, Chuck obviously put in a lot of time and effort into this series, and there were a lot of stories and tidbits that I wasn't familiar with. I'm looking forward to the next installment in the George Lucas saga.

Does anyone know what sources Chuck has been using for this series? Even with something as recent and as well-covered as Star Wars, it's easy for facts to become confused and for legends to become accepted as facts over time, and Lucas' half-truths certainly don't help in that regard. Like I said, Chuck obviously put a lot of effort into this and I'm sure he dug through a lot of crap to come to well-reasoned conclusions, but is there a definitive "making of" book or reliable primary sources? Rinzler's The Making of Star Wars maybe?

[GandALF]

Thanks for making my favourite movies really depressing Chuck. The next series is going to be the upbeat tale of Lucas' transformation into the Santa Claus of cinema right? Right?

[J!!]

So then my immediate reaction was: why would writers need this? Despite the fact Lucas was always a CREATIVE type, it has been clear for decades that he doesn't get what's necessary for writing, because if he did he'd probably have been able to write better. Maybe Skywalker Ranch was supposed to be there just for creative pooling and brainstorming, but that still necessitates a few questions.

Well, the simple answer is that the ranch wasn't just for writers, it was for filmmakers. That includes writers, directors, cinematographers, editors, sound and visual artists, technicians, producers, and about a thousand other things. And many of those people require expensive specialized equipment and facilities, which can be difficult to gain access to without studio backing. Having all that in one place, with the explicit purpose of being available to independent filmmakers would've been a wonderful resource.

Keep in mind too the time period; nowadays you can film in HD on a prosumer grade DSLR, and put together an editing PC in your bedroom for under $10k, but these were the days of film and paper. Hell, in the Pre-Wikipedia days, just that reference library alone would be a godsend for everyone, writers included.

[Wargriffin]

Using the analogy from the Gojira review

Skywalker ranch was suppose to be for Filmmakers what the Manhattan project had been for scientists

A Camp/Retreat where you could talk to people just as vested in the subjects you loved and mingle
Are you a visionary needing a writer, you would find them at the ranch
A director needing production genius you'd find them at the ranch

It be a gathering point for filmmakers wanting to break free... Sadly like many of dreams the harsh realities kicked in

[jadenova]

And sadly Disney now owns Lucasfilms and are just rehashing the original trilogy.

[rickgriffin]

Okay people going over some aspects of it (It's been weeks since I watched the video with the initial overview of Skywalker Ranch) make more sense again, but still.

Massive stain glass window ceiling. That part of it still screams "Not the most prudent use of funds". Retreats are nice and all but they do kinda have operating costs. Unless Lucas was planning on operating a charitable foundation alongside I don't see how he could have expected it to belong to indie filmmakers.

[Fixer]

To give a slight follow up to Lucas post divorce.

The scene in his next movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which involved a man getting his heart torn out of his chest and lowered into a burning pit while still alive was no co-incidence.

[Arkle]

All of this has sort of a classic Greek tragedy feel to it. I mean, Lucas brought a lot of it on himself, but it's still hard to not feel sympathy for what he went through.

[Wargriffin]

Okay people going over some aspects of it (It's been weeks since I watched the video with the initial overview of Skywalker Ranch) make more sense again, but still.

Massive stain glass window ceiling. That part of it still screams "Not the most prudent use of funds". Retreats are nice and all but they do kinda have operating costs. Unless Lucas was planning on operating a charitable foundation alongside I don't see how he could have expected it to belong to indie filmmakers.

because GL was building the ideal, and the IDEAL is an opulent shining bastion to what you want

Do you need a Fancy over opulent reference library when you can make a functional archive for probably a fourth of what you paid to furnish it

Need No, Want yes... cause to extent GL was building a Disney land for filmmakers

He just never realized what he had to pay to get it.