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I don't have many memories from the first time I saw Star Wars. I believe it was at the old Warner theater in downtown Pittsburgh. I remember it was a Sunday afternoon, and my parents told my brother and I, over waffles or pancakes, that they would take us to see the movie that day. And I don't have a memory of being overwhelmed by it. But, I can tell you, my whole love for film stems from that movie. I was obsessed for years afterwards. I collected as many Kenner Star Wars toys as I could. What I couldn't afford to buy, I improvised using whatever old boxes I could find. In fact, I would use some boxes that my parents weren't even through using yet. I collected the trading cards. I read any magazine I could find. I bought the novelization and read it again and again. And I played Star Wars like there was no tomorrow. My backyard was Tatooine. The picnic table was my land speeder. And, when my parents weren't looking, the station wagon was the Millennium Falcon. I used water guns as laser blasters. I was no longer Rich. I was Luke, on a mission to save a princess from the evil Darth Vader. I was rogue pilot Han Solo, mercenary with a heart of gold. Soon, I was pulling out my father's 8-millimeter film camera and making my own Star Wars movie, using my trusty action figures and whatever ships I could borrow from my friends (the boxes wouldn't cut it for my epic). As I filmed, I wanted to know more and more about movies and movie-making. That was how it all began. This web site is simply a culmination of everything I've studied, read, watched and obsessed over since I was ten years old, and I first saw a little space epic named Star Wars. I think the most enduring thing about the film is the mythology it represents. The special effects, though ground-breaking at the time, took a back seat to the story that could have come from Greek literature, it was so simple and basic. My favorite shot in the film is when Luke Skywalker, who thinks he'll never get off his desert planet and find adventure, walks out of his home at dusk and watches the twin suns set. The look on his face, the yearning, is what the whole movie is about. Mythology. Star Wars. May the Force be with you. |