Sometimes I just don't feel like thinking up a sig.

Star Trek references: All correct. Thank you for that.

Dot com: Whaaa?



THE
BETTER PART OF VALOR
AARDVARK

[quote="AArdvark"]So if Lucas had a ten line limit he would have made better movies. That's an interesting take.[/quote]
There's no "pithy quote" at the end so I have to question the veracity and validity of the prior posting.

Second, Jonsey dropped that restriction since I've learned to behave.

Third, your comment isn't that far off. I remember reading a book about the original [i]Star Trek[/i] in which many of the shows had to be made under limited budgets, which resulted in better stories. The Teleporter came about because they couldn't afford to show the Enterprise landing on a planet. In one case they needed a prop for a set, which would cost $3000 (in 1966 dollars) but all they had in the budget was $522. So the propmaster would grumble, and complain, then do a lot of thinking and come up with a way to create the prop for $522.

One scene required creating salt shakers and the prop guy comes up with some interesting ones that glow or make noises. Someone went down to the studio commissary and stole some salt and pepper shakers off a few tables, and said, "We'll use these, but you've just created some new diagnostic tools for Dr McCoy to use."

Companies that burned cash like crazy during the dot com bubble exploded when the bubble burst, but companies that had sound business plans and, more than anything else, operated on very tight budgets, survived.

So if Lucas had a ten line limit he would have made better movies. That's an interesting take.

I like this timely and radical stance you have taken.

I didn't really care for the first 3 [i]Star Wars[/i] "prequels" that tell the story before [i]A New Hope[/i], the original movie.

But a guy on Youtube who goes by the name of Mr. Plinkett posted a devastating set of video critiques that spends 90 minutes showing why the three films don't live up to the original 3. He basically carves them a new one, showing their faults and how Lucas did wrong, as well as how the story could have been better.

The entire set, 7 videos for Phantom menace, 9 for Attack of the Clones, and one for Revenge of the Sith, can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI&list=PL9A12F8F947849C30

It is well worth watching because it's clear that he's pointing out what's wrong with the films to show how they could have told the story in a much better way.

The real issue is George Lucas got caught by a problem well known to computer programmers, "Second System Syndrome" which was popularized either by Brooks in [i]The Mythical Man Month[/i] or by Gerald Weinberg in [i]The Psychology of Computer Programming[/i], I forget which.

What it is, is that often programmers get involved in very complicated systems where there are a lot of things being done, but in order to release on time you have to set limits. This can mean that they don't get to put everything they wanted into the first one. So, often they'll throw "everything and the kitchen sink" into their second project, which can cause cost overruns, missed deadlines, feature creep and software bloat.

The first three [i]Star Wars[/i] films (#4, #5, and #6) had ot be done under resource constraints and restrictions. Unfortunately, Lucas more-or-less had a free hand in making the first three prequels, and instead of having the constraints that forced him to be creative on the first three, when he went back to make the prequels, he really didn't have anyone to tell him "no" and make things work to more restricted limits, and thus potentially made a much better product.

Basically it's more like a case of the inmates running the asylum, to coin a phrase.