Attached Link: http://www.siggraph.org/s2005

George Lucas to be Keynote Speaker at SIGGRAPH 2005 Conference

World-renowned director, producer, and screenwriter George Lucas will present the SIGGRAPH 2005 (www.siggraph.org/s2005) keynote address, "George Lucas: A Keynote Q&A with the Father of Digital Cinema, on 1 August during the 32nd International Conference on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques, 31 July - 4 August 2005 in Los Angeles.

Lucas' remarkable storytelling and cinematic technical achievements have awed and inspired the computer graphics community for more than 30 years," said James L. Mohler, SIGGRAPH 2005 Conference Chair from Purdue University. "Drawing from his three decades of experience making movies, Lucas insights promise to intrigue and engage conference attendees across all industries and interests."

Lucas (www.starwars.com/bio/georgelucas.html) is the creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars saga and Indiana Jones (www.indianajones.com/) series, and the themes of his films underscore his own firm belief that the individual has boundless potential, and can overcome any limitations. While these themes are strong in his early films, THX 1138 (1971) and American Graffiti (1973), it was Lucas third film, 1977s Star Wars that changed everything. An epic tale of good versus evil told across a fantastic landscape of exotic planets and bizarre creatures, Star Wars became an international phenomenon. Refusing to accept the limitations of filmmaking at the time, Lucas created his own visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, to deliver the more than 300 shots required to make his vision a reality.

Lucas has been the storywriter and executive producer of a series of box-office hits beginning in the 1980s, starting with the continuation of the Star Wars saga. In 1981, he created the classic adventurer Indiana Jones, and co-wrote and executive-produced the successful series that won eight Academy Awards. Later, a television series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, won 12 Emmy Awards.

In addition to his motion-picture and television work, Lucas has worked with Disney to create such theme park attractions as Star Tours and The Indiana Jones Adventure. He has also produced such acclaimed motion pictures as Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Willow and Mishima. In 1999, Lucas wrote and directed Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, the top box office hit of that year. Three years later, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, was the first major live-action movie to be shot entirely digitally. Lucas is currently in post production on the third and final prequel, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which will be released worldwide on 19 May.

Lucas is also chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd., a fully integrated entertainment company that, in addition to its motion-picture production activities, includes Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, Lucas Licensing and Skywalker Sound.

Lucas has also taken a leadership role in applying his technical and storytelling expertise to the classroom, engaging students through interactive multimedia environments. He is Chairman of the Board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, and serves on the board of the Film Foundation and the USC School of Cinema-Television Advisory Board.

In 1992, the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored George Lucas with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is presented to creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.

Over 25,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents will gather at SIGGRAPH 2005 to showcase their best work to a multi-disciplinary international community. A comprehensive technical program and special events focusing on research, art, animation, games, interactivity, and the web are planned. SIGGRAPH 2005 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services for the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 2 - 4 August 2005.

SIGGRAPH 2005 is sponsored by ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading professional society for computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Information on ACM SIGGRAPH membership and other conferences and activities can be found at www.siggraph.org.

Cool ! Is Renderosity going to have a booth there this year by the way ?

Father of Digital Cinema? :chuckle: He promoted it, but Kubrick was there first. If it wasn't for "2001", Lucas wouldn't have gotten off the ground.

bleem

Still wish that I'd bid on that lunchbox with Jar-Jar's ears as the handle! :sigh: He created a wonderful story... then became a producer of 2-hour ads for his toy and merchandise lines while his story shrunk just like the universe. I hate watching a long boring movie segment knowing it was filmed for the game or being underwhelmed by too-cute little furry critters that will end up as plush toys. Carolly

Jar Jar Binks and commercialism ruined the Star Wars fan in many of us. Was a grand three first episodes until rediculous silliness and making money from star wars kiddie fans took precedence over quality and storyline. Now dollar stores everywhere are still trying to peddle Jar Jar Binks keychains and Jar Jar Binks pen toppers and Jar Jar Binks toilet paper. I heard some frazzled bum comment he wouldn't take them free, nevermind pay a buck for them. Same old, same old.

Hi agiel, Renderosity will have representatives at the show and we'll have our name in several places. We won't have our own booth, but we'll be having a great time networking and getting the scoop on all the latest and greatest stuff going on in the industry. We will be giving away 200 free passes in the near future. So keep watching for more details! Hope to see lots of Renderosity folks there ;-) Thanks, Lillian

Thanks for the reply Lillian. I am considering making that trip. I went to the 2003 one in San Diego and I had a great time. Once every two years should be easier on my finances :)

"He promoted it, but Kubrick was there first. If it wasn't for '2001', Lucas wouldn't have gotten off the ground." They're probably referring to the fact that "Attack of the Clones" was the first major cinematic release to have been shot entirely using digital cameras, although if I recall correctly, "Toy Story 2" was the first major film to be shown digitally (in the very few theaters that were specially equipped with digital projectors.) (Also, "Young Indiana Jones" and "Radioland Murders" used digitally generated sets.) Ultimately, true "father" credit should probably go to the creators of "Tron," which was the first major release to blend live action with CGI. Anyway, and I know I'm picking nits, while Lucas has been pushing for all-digital filmmaking for several years now, he can't accurately be said to be the father of digital cinema, but then, neither can Kubrick, who only dreamed of all-digital cinema, but didn't have faith in CGI until he saw "Jurassic Park," which prompted him to toy with the idea of filming "A.I." digitally. By the time he was wrapping up "Eyes Wide Shut," he'd already decided that Spielberg would probably be a more appropriate director for "A.I." Maybe so, but the "A.I." that Steven made was sorely compromised by typically Spielbergian sacchrine turgidity, a half-baked attempt at Kubrickian mannerisms, and overlength. Again, picking nits, nothing about "2001" was digital, IIRC even the computer readouts you see on the Discovery's screens were animated conventionally. Maybe, just maybe the "father" label comes from the fact that even on the first Star Wars film, ILM used computers to track and match multiple model and background shots. I dunno, it's hype. :-) It's true that "2001" was a landmark film (and that Kubrick was by far the superior director.) It set the tone, look, and feel for mainstream science fiction films (e.g. "Silent Running") until the space opera called "Star Wars" came along to set a new standard ... the action-based blockbuster with all the commercial tie-ins. Hopefully, Mr. Lucas' keynote will be interesting and of substance. He tends to talk a lot without saying much these days. :-) Alas, my contacts who worked on "Revenge of the Sith" say the film stinks, except for truly spectacular space battles. Not that bad reviews will prevent many of us from going to see it. :-)

There is a confusion about that 'digital film-making' thing. Georges Lucas is largely credited for pushing the use of digital capture and distribution of film - from digital cameras to sound systems and cinemas. This is not about Digital Special Effects, which can be credited to a lot more people, although the first Starwars was indeed intrumental at developing new ways of creating special effects (but they were not digital).