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Cinema Quotes by George Lucas

44 Cinema quotes by George Lucas

All Cinema quotes George Lucas’s page

George Lucas reminds us that watching a film on a big screen feels very different from a small, mediocre one. He says he cares more about creative control than the money his movies earn, and he believes a film is never truly finished—only set aside.

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Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard.

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The secret to film is that it's an illusion.

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From the outset, I conceived Star Wars as a series of six films, or two trilogies.

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I wanted to make a kids' film that would strengthen contemporary mythology.

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I'm one of those people who says, 'yes, cinema died when they invented sound.'

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I like to say that films are never finished, they're only abandoned.

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I wanted to make abstract films that are emotional, and I still do.

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None of the films I've done was designed for a mass audience, except for 'Indiana Jones.' Nobody in their right mind thought…

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It's not how well you're able to make a movie. It's how well you're able to make a movie under the circumstances.

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I've always been a follower of silent movies. I see film as a visual medium with a musical accompaniment, and dialogue is…

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Making a film is like putting out a fire with sieve. There are so many elements, and it gets so complicated.

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Film is a very tight little box. If you don't fit in that box, you're gone. Television, there's more room to move…

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One of the most telling things about film school is you've got a lot of students wandering around saying, "Oh, I wish…

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The script is what you've dreamed up-this is what it should be. The film is what you end up with.

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I've always tried to be aware of what I say in my films, because all of us who make motion pictures are…

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I came from a very avant-garde documentary kind of film making world. I like cinema verité, documentaries. I liked non-story, non-character tone…

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Sometimes people are surprised to learn that most of the films I've made don't work. They've been released but nobody has ever…

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When my films don't work it's usually because I tried some very experimental idea. I tried new ideas and they just didn't…

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I intend more of a kinship with silent films than more modern film. I like the old cinema. My films are more…

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If you really love films, and you really want to get the full impact, there's a huge difference between watching something on…

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In 3-D filmmaking, I can take images and manipulate them infinitely, as opposed to taking still photographs and laying them one after…

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I've had much more down in my life than I've had up. And much more struggle. First of all, when I went…

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On the professional side, I've helped move cinema from a chemical-based medium to a digital-based medium. That'll be one of the landmarks.…

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It took me three, four years, to get from my first film to my second film, banging on doors, trying to get…

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I want to live where I want to live, and I will make films because I love to make films.

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Film is not an easy occupation. There's a lot of occupations that are difficult and film is one of them.

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I made lots of movies while in school while everybody else was running around saying, "Oh, I wish I could make a…

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I've never been that much of a money guy. I'm more of a film guy, and most of the money I've made…

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When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and…

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I like racing. I love the speed and I'm a very kinetic person in terms of filmmaking. I love the movement of…

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A director makes 100 decisions an hour. Students ask me how you know how to make the right decision, and I say…

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I realized why directors are such horrible people - in a way - because you want things to be right, and people…

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Over time I began to realize that the level of cinema criticism in the last part of XX century in the United…

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As I talk to film students now especially, I say, "The easiest job you'll ever get is to try to make your…

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After you've done the first feature, then you have heck of a difficult time getting your second film off the ground. They…

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Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown…

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I loved photography and everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the…

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You have to have a thick enough skin to cope with the criticism. I'm very self-critical and I have a lot of…

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Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard. What you’ve really got to do…

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If I'd have gone to art school, or stayed in anthropology, I probably would have ended up back in film ... Mostly…

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More by George Lucas

The story being told in 'Star Wars' is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency…

I'm very proud of all the movies I made. I am very happy with everything I've done. I like to watch my movies. Some…

If this were a fantasy world, there would be ten of me and we would each be doing what we wanted to do.

All democracies turn into dictatorships - but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon…

I thought it [Star Wars] was too wacky for the general public. Right or wrong this is my movie, this is my decision, and…

A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.

It wasn't long after I began writing Star Wars that I realized the story was more than a single film could hold. As the…

If you look at 'Blade Runner,' it's been cut sixteen ways from Sunday, and there are all kinds of different versions of it.

“Dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you imagine it.”

Never tell me the odds!

There's nothing worse than the frustration of having somebody who you feel doesn't get what you're doing, trying to turn it into something else.…

If you really love films, and you really want to get the full impact, there's a huge difference between watching something on a small…

I've never been that much of a money guy. I'm more of a film guy, and most of the money I've made is in…

I made lots of movies while in school while everybody else was running around saying, "Oh, I wish I could make a movie. I…

One of the amazing things about 'Seven Samurai' is that there are a lot of characters. And considering you have so many, and they…