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Lesson #2: Know Yourself

Article Overview: In order to succeed, you need to know what you are good at. A talent, according to Lucas is “a combination of something you love a great deal, something you can lose yourself in – something that you can start at 9 in the morning, look up from your work and it’s 10 o’clock at night – and something that you have a natural ability to do very well.”

Lesson #2: Know Yourself

In order to succeed, you need to know what you are good at. A talent, according to Lucas is “a combination of something you love a great deal, something you can lose yourself in – something that you can start at 9 in the morning, look up from your work and it’s 10 o’clock at night – and something that you have a natural ability to do very well.”

Lucas succeeded because he knew where his talents lay. He knew what he was good at and he knew what he enjoyed doing and that is what he devoted the majority of his energy towards.

Known as a quiet and standoffish man, Lucas always preferred working with special effects than with people. He has had a self-proclaimed dislike of working with actors since his very beginnings as a filmmaker. He also greatly dislikes the process of writing a script. Having written the entire script for Star Wars by hand with No. 2 pencils, Lucas often complained of stomach cramps and headaches and would take to clipping off bits of his hair in frustration.

But Lucas knew that his genius lay in his post-production editing skills above all else, and it was this that he also loved doing most. After planning the entire film in his head before shooting begins, Lucas has a clear vision of what he wants it to look like. Strikingly different from those directors who often let actors improvise on the spot, Lucas sticks to the storyboards and fixes any problems there might be in the editing room.

“I don’t think, as a craftsman, that my films are extremely well made,” he says. “They’re kind of crude.” But, the magic behind Lucas’ films lies in his post-production editing and use of special effects. It is here where Lucas also recognized one of his weaknesses. “I’m not that keen on technology,” said Lucas. “I’m a storyteller, but to enable me to tell my stories, I’ve had to develop the necessary technology.” He recognized both his own limitations and the limitations of others in being able to provide the technology that he needed for his films, so he created ILM and developed what was necessary.

“A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it,” he says. “Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at.”

Lucas knew from an early age that his talent lay in filmmaking and he focused on that. He knew where his strengths lay in creating a film, and he focused on those. And, he knew what his weaknesses were and what new skills or technology he would have to acquire to succeed, and so he also focused on that.

And, although Lucas was a perfectionist, he recognized that no process was ever going to be perfect. “It’s not a matter of how well can you make a movie,” he says. “It’s how well can you make it under the circumstances, because there’s always circumstances and you cannot use that as an excuse.”

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Article Tags: actors, clear vision, craftsman, dislike, editing room, filmmaker, frustration, genius, headaches, keen, lucas films, natural ability, necessary technology, pencils, special effects, stomach cramps, storyboards, storyteller, talents, writing a script



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