A Biography

Logan has been working on his fourth - yes, fourth - big project for school for the last week or so. He had to write a biography, and he chose to do it on George Lucas.

Talk about getting sidetracked!

Every time we'd read something new about the man Logan would have to tell me something about Star Wars or Indiana Jones! I think this project really took a toll on me. I was the one who just wanted to get it done!

Today Logan dressed up in a tux and presented his biography to his class as if he were George Lucas (at the Academy Awards). And he did a great job!

Here he is taking questions afterward. Don't you love his hair?!

His teacher, Mrs. Cahill really liked his hair. She thought it was a dead giveaway as to who he was and was so taken with it that she had me take Logan down to the office before he changed so the guidance counselor and principal could guess who he was. I think they were surprised to see him in a tux. It caught them little caught off guard and the counselor asked for a hint. Logan told them he made Indiana Jones, and their first answer was Steven Speilberg. Then when I suggested they think "Star Wars" the principal immediately yelled George Lucas!


Here's Logan's report:

Biography Project - George Lucas

Hello, my name is George Walton Lucas, Jr.

I was born on May 14, 1944, in Modesto California. I have three sisters and grew up on a walnut ranch. My father, George Sr. and my mother Dorothy, owned a stationery and office supply store. My dad wanted me to take it over one day.

When I was your age, I played with my friends like you do, but I really loved comic books. My sister Wendy and I used to look at them all the time! Comic books are what got me interested in drawing.

We didn’t have a television in our house until I was 10 years old. Some of my favorite shows were Westerns and Flash Gordon, where “the good guys” fought the “the bad guys.”

I didn’t do very well in school because I didn’t think schoolwork was important. I wanted to be a racecar driver and cars were the most important thing in my life. Then I was in a bad accident three days before my high school graduation.

I was speeding home after school and another car hit mine and sent it flipping into a tree. My seatbelt broke in the accident and I was thrown out of the car. The police said if I had been in it when it hit the tree, I would have been crushed to death. That was scary and I was very lucky.

While I was in the hospital I decided I wanted to go to college. My grades weren’t good enough to go to a four-year school so I went to Modesto Junior College. That is where I became interested in film.

My grades got better and after graduating I thought about going to art school. Then I heard about a cinematography program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. I thought cinematography was like photography. It wasn’t. It was motion picture photography and I loved it. I also learned film editing while at USC, and that is where I think my real talent was.

There was a war going on in Vietnam when I graduated and I was drafted into the military. But when I went to have my physical the examination showed that I had diabetes, so I couldn’t be drafted.

Because I couldn’t serve in the military and it was too late to go back to school, I got a job doing editing work and took a scholarship from Warner Brothers. Then I went on to get my Masters degree from USC.

I have made lots of movies. My favorite part of making movies is editing them. You may have heard of some of my movies, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. The THX sign you see before a movie in a theater is also mine. Sound and lights are a big part of movies and I have companies for both of them.

I am famous for making movies and using computer generated visual effects in them.

If I could teach you something I would say, “Dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you can imagine it!”

Logan chose to do his report on me because he likes my Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. He especially likes to dress up like the characters!

Some things he thought you might find interesting are that:
1) I was in Revenge of the Sith. My daughters were extras in a crowd scene and made me be in it with them.
2) Star Wars was nominated for ten Oscars at the 1978 Academy Awards. It won six. And is still one of the highest moneymaking movies ever made.
3) I bought myself a gift after making Star Wars. I was driving a 1969 Camaro and bought a used Ferrari.

Thank you.

I think for the adults who were there, the highlight of his presentation was when he said "Thank You" at the end while holding up his award! Way to go Logan!