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What
is it?
Star
Wars is one of the most important cultural phenomena of the Western
world. The tale of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and the fall and
redemption of Anakin Skywalker has become modern myth, an epic
tragedy of the corruption of a young man in love into darkness, the
rise of evil, and the power of good triumphing in the end.
But
it didn’t start out that way.
In
this thorough account of one of cinema’s most lasting works, Michael
Kaminski presents the true history of how Star Wars was written,
from its beginnings as a science fiction fairy tale to its
development over three decades into the epic we now know,
chronicling the methods, techniques, thought processes, and
struggles of its creator. For this unauthorized account, he has
pored through over four hundred sources, from interviews to original
scripts, to track how the most powerful modern epic in the world was
created, expanded, and finalized into the tale an entire generation
has grown up with.
Updates
SECRET HISTORY OF STAR WARS NOW
AVAILABLE IN PRINT
02/01/10:
Todays update is a huge one. Since about 2005, I have been
conducting a study on reception and reviews of the original trilogy
during the time of their original release from 1977-1983. I am now
(sort of) finally finished. In
Part I I lay out my methods, aims and present the raw data. Part
II is the juicy one, where I interpret and analyze my findings,
provide context and greater detail, track the films into the
post-release period and compare them against the prequels.
Enjoy!
01/06/10:
Happy new year to everyone! First, I did a tiny update on the
previous article, thanks to my girlfriend Ioana, who has always
edited all of my work and has always been my biggest source of
encouragment and inspiration, plus an addition from longtime-reader
Bernd Doetzer, who informed me that "Aldeberan" is actually a
real-life star. More importantly though, I have a tremendously
lengthy article (it has its own page of end notes) on the life and
career of Marcia Lucas (nee Griffin). She was Lucas' wife until
1983, but more importantly was a central figure in his early cinema,
edited most of his films, and was a key minor player in the New
Hollywood movement of the 1970s. And, she's essentially been
forgotten. Lucasfilm, in fact, has been making a conscious effort to
basically write out her existance (I wonder why). On the web, there
are only a handful of factoids about her (at best), and in books she
is rarely treated as a film craftswoman in her own right. I felt the
piece I was writing, which I have been working on since the summer,
was so big that it ought to be a small book, but as I had to rely so
heavily on previous publications, there really wasn't anything
original, other than meticulous detective work on my part; I
attempted to contact her to collaborate on the piece, and got kinda
close, but it seems she is either unreachable or uninterested. I
tracked down a bunch of images of her as well (since Lucasfilm
rarely publishes her, if at all) to try to give some life to her
person, which is admittedly limited in information. Anyway, read
on to In
Tribute to Marcia Griffin.
12/27/09:
Christmas left me a bit busy (catching up on work, coming home to
family, getting Christmas food, girlfriend coming in from
Ottawa) so I am a few days late with the latest article, which is
now up. I hope everyone had a great Christmas break, and since I
probably won't be updating again in the next few days, I'll see you
all in 2010! Until then, you can read today's article, which
looks at Historical
Place-Names in Star Wars. Not terribly exciting, but fun
for the trivia lovers out there. And, if I can put my salesman cap
on for just a second, Secret History of Star Wars is still
reduced
in price in case anyone has any leftover holiday cash
:p . Other than that, I hope everyone that is reading this
had a wonderful year!
12/13/09:
A heads up today: Originaltrilogy.com has
a new petition to try to save the original theatrical edition of
the Star Wars trilogy. If you remember, the site previously had
gathered 70,000 signatures from its first petition, which was enough
to get George Lucas to do a sort-of release of the films in 2006.
Unfortunately, that release was a non-anamorphic transfer of the
shoddy, 15-year-old Laserdisk, and was presented as a bonus feature.
The new petition urges the films to be treated properly, in new
high-def transfers for any upcoming Blu Ray releases. This is
probably the most important issue facing the franchise today, so
please, add your
signature and let Lucasfilm know that film lovers are not okay
with the originals versions being resigned to VHS and Laserdisk
copies. In other news, I will have a small article before Christmas,
and I am coming close to completing a detailed study on the critical
reception of the films at the time of their release, which I have
been working on for a few years now. Also, Secret History of
Star Wars has been reduced
in price in time for the holidays, so for those that are
interested in getting it for yourself or someone else, now is a
great time.
11/03/09:
After a long break, I found time to do another article. Today's
isn't so much related to the script or storytelling aspect as most
of the focus of this site is, but nonetheless it is one that is
among the most important--and, it seems, least understood--aspects
of the film's identity: its physicality as a medium. It's also an
aspect that, as a former camera technician and proponent of film
history, is paramount on my list of priorities and which it once
again seems that I'm the only one who has been able to synthesize
the larger picture on. Today's piece takes a look at the restoration
process of the original film: how the negative was restored, what
parts of it remain, and how it was that the Special Edition was
created. Read on to Saving
Star Wars.
09/22/09:
Although I planned to do a three-part examination of the Indiana
Jones series, I'm afraid I have to put things on hold for the
moment. Real life has made finding time for such a drastic
undertaking a bit too much right now, though I hope to have
something else for the site written in the not too far off future.
While I'm here though, I wanted to just take the time to thank each
and every person who bought a copy of Secret History of Star
Wars. People's enthusiasm for the project has always inspired
me to continue to pursue the matter, and though I hardly make any
money at all out of it, the few bucks I do make goes a long way to
helping me pay my school tuition and I'm grateful for that.
07/27/09:
I thought this would be a very fun bonus for the site. Having
written over half a million words on the subject of the Star Wars
scripting/creative process, I thought it might be interesting to try
something else--like maybe Indiana Jones. Today's update is the
first of three which will examine the genesis and writing of the
Indiana Jones series, and probably the most interesting of all of
them--an in-depth look at the
Raiders of the Lost Ark Story Conferences , based on the
138-page transcript of the week-long pow-wow between George Lucas,
Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan. Witness history in the
making.
07/15/09:
The promised update didn't quite materialise due to research issues
related to the main piece that are a bit too complex to get into
right now. In spite of this, there is an article on writers
of the Star Wars Saga beyond George Lucas, an element often not
considered, as well as a brief interview
excerpt with Leigh Brackett . Enjoy!
06/28/09:
Today's update is a new website feature--a discussion board. I'm not sure
how well this will work out, so right now it is sort of
experimental. The board can be found here , so feel free to register
(though you can also use it if you are not registered). My hope is
that the board can be a place to discuss topics relevant to this
site, and also as a source of feedback if anyone has any comments
and questions concerning the site and/or book itself. Much of the
research and speculation relating to this site thrives on
discussion, debate, and shared research, and I hope that the board
can become a place of intelligent and interesting exchanges to call
our own. Check back on this page next week for one of the bigger
articles I have ever written.
06/06/09:
Better late than never. Work has left me, well, overworked and
things have gotten blocked up. But the article I intended to post
last week is yours to read, at least. Celebrate ten years of The
Phantom Menace by examining how the film, the prequels, and the
six-episode epic of the Star Wars Saga is structured, and how the
times which produced the films dictated this structure, for both
good and bad. Read on to Structuring
the Prequels: Sequel Construction in Historical Context .
05/26/09:
I found this
link while surfing today and thought I'd pass it on, since it's
related to the content of this site: a quick--and biting--look at
the first draft of Star Wars. I thought it was an interesting take
on demonstrating why Lucas kept re-writing it. While on Star Wars
anniversary material, I probably should have left a reminder
yesterday to take a read if you haven't at Star
Wars Memories for a nostalgic, and I think fairly enlightening
for those of us who weren't around to appreciate it, trip back in
time to 1977.
05/25/09:
Star Wars is officially 32 years old, so celebrate and such. My
articles I wanted to put up last weekend will have to wait until
this weekend, unfortunately. Six-day, 60-hour work weeks tend to
suck the life out of one's hobbies. To make up for it I have a random
Star Wars video that may puzzle and amuse you. See you in a
few days...
05/19/09:
Has it really been a decade of prequels? It appears so. Today marks
the day when eager anticipation turned into...well, complications,
to say the least. Being a Star Wars fan seemed so much simpler back
in the pre-prequel days. Strangely, I celebrated the day by seeing
the Star Trek prequel-reboot, which, sadly or
proudly, outshines just about everything I've seen with the
Star Wars name attached to it in the last decade. Hats off to J.J.
Abrams for a stellarly-crafted space opera. Yes, Star Wars fans, sue
me. But speaking of Episode I, I will indeed be taking another look
at it this week, in an article that I hope to have up before Friday.
In the meantime, there is a
piece I wrote a few months ago examining why Episode I isn't
actually rated as badly as its reputation as a cinematic
embarrasment may indicate yet still legitimately did not garner good
reviews (in contrast to some who apologetically argue that it was
well-recieved). The film certainly has a strange dual nature to it.
It does to me as well--personally, I find it lousy as the first
episode of the Star Wars Saga, yet I have quite a lot of adoration
for it as an utterly unique children's fantasy picture, made with
high imagination and genuine conviction. But as for its place as a
Star Wars film--you'll have to check back in a few days for an
interesting analysis of the mechanics of how the film was
constructed as a dual-purpose storytelling chapter.
04/25/09:
In light of the lack of updates recently, I should tell you that
I've been working on three really big articles. One of them will be
out in two or three weeks to mark the tenth anniversary of Episode
I, so check back. In sort-of related news--how many of you heard
that the story meeting transcript for Raiders of the Lost
Ark was leaked to the internet? Well, it was, and its a very,
very interesting read. You can see how clearly and intelligently
Lucas approached the character back then (you can also see how
much Crystal Skull deviates from the original approach). I
might do a piece on it in the future but this
guy already said a lot of the same things (give his article a
read--you can even download the transcript from there). Now if only
the Empire transcript was leaked instead...
03/10/09:
Probably should have mentioned this earlier, but Secret History
of Star Wars is now a university textbook. Allan Swords, who
teaches at Clemson University in South Carolina, has been using it
in his first-year introductory English class there, which began in
January. The library at Clemson University recently added me to
their author's database, so I suppose this means that Secret
History is also available there for anyone at Clemson that
wants to check it out.
CLICK HERE FOR
NEWS ARCHIVE
Web site
and all contents © Copyright Michael Kaminski 2007-2009, All rights
reserved.
Star
Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars
characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are
registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd., or their
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