George Lucas has a bone to pick with Hollywood when it comes to focus groups and test screenings. The “Star Wars” creator, who walked away from the franchise in 2012 after selling Lucasfilm to Disney in a $4 billion deal, recently told A Rabbit’s Foot (via IGN) that Hollywood’s over-reliance on focus groups has created studio movies dictated entirely by fans over filmmakers.
“I don’t like focus groups,” Lucas said. “The audience doesn’t know what they want to see. If they don’t like a character, that’s interesting, and as a filmmaker I want to find out why. But when the studios hear that, they take the wrong message. They let the audience actually make the movie. Of course, now they go crazy with that. Now, it’s all about what the fans think. That isn’t how you make the movie. You make a movie by finding someone that knows how to make movies, that has a story to tell and is passionate about it.”
“You go to the movies because the stories move you emotionally,” Lucas added about what should be the guiding light for films in development. “Art is an emotional medium.”
Focus groups and test screenings have become a routine step in the studio moviemaking process. Maggie Gyllenhaal notably revealed earlier this year that test screenings for “The Bride!” took her to task over the movie’s depiction of violence and sexual violence. James Gunn test screened “Superman” and discovered that audiences opposed the moment when David Corenswet’s Man of Steel decides to save a squirrel as Metropolis is being attacked by a rampaging Kaiju monster. Gunn refused to listen.
“We showed it to test audiences and some people did not like the squirrel,” Gunn told Rolling Stone. “They’re like, ‘Why the fuck is he saving a squirrel? Why is he taking time out, saving a squirrel?’ There was a cut where I cut it out and I’m like, ‘I really miss the squirrel. He’s gotta save the squirrel.’ In addition, there were also some geographic problems with where he ended up if I didn’t have him fly over with the squirrel. So I put the squirrel back in despite the protestations of some of my people on my crew.”
Lucas’ interview with A Rabbit’s Foot also included his thoughts on AI. Similar to other blockbuster directors like Peter Jackson, the “Star Wars” visionary is looking at AI in a more positive light when it comes to moviemaking.
“Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies,” Lucas said. “It’s very much like sitting here saying, ‘Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it’s at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there’s all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they’ll be making them into tanks, and then they’ll be killing people. It’s terrible.’ There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future.”
While Lucas acknowledged there are risks that comes with AI, there are also solutions. He added: “If you want AI that tells you when something is fake and where it came from, AI can do that,” he says. “Humans can’t, we’re not that smart. The whole idea is you’re a human being, you’re responsible for what you say and what you do, and if you’re doing something that’s illegal you should be punished for that. Whatever you do, you should be recognized. It’s just like real life.”
Head over to A Rabbit’s Foot’s website to read Lucas’ interview in its entirety.
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