Small Towns Without Movie Theaters Show Movies Outdoors

Outdoor movie events bring the movie theater experience outside to create a fun and unique cinema experience. Modern equipment allow outdoor movie viewers to enjoy the same high quality experience enjoyed by traditional movie house patrons. For towns without movie theaters, outdoor movies are a great alternative.

Currently, there are small towns all over the country without cinema complexes. By 2013, more small movie-picture theaters could be closing their doors when the movie industry switches to all-digital technology. Films will no longer be released in traditional 35 millimeter film prints, and theaters without the technology to show digital films will be forced to shut down. The cost of converting to digital in a movie house is around $65,000, leaving this conversion out of reach for many small, older movie theaters.

There are already many towns without a motion picture theater, and this change will lead to more. Residents of towns like this are left with the options of missing out on these movies or traveling to a town with a movie theater. Portable inflatable cinema technology gives these communities another option: outdoor cinema.

Inflatable movie screens are available in a variety of sizes to fit into many different locations, and accommodate small or large crowds. High quality theatrical screens and HD projectors, along with clear sound, bring the movie theater experience to any location. An outdoor movie can be held almost anywhere; holding it at a historic site or downtown can enhance the experience and make it more special for the community.

Going out to see a new movie with friends or family is a completely different experience than watching it at home. Small towns without theaters and those that stand to lose a theater with the digital conversion will be missing out. Outdoor cinema technology can provide a replacement that sometimes proves to be even better than a traditional movie theater.

Movies under the stars provide entertainment and can bring a community together. Event organizers can take their pick of locations, maybe a popular community park, or another location that is special to the community. An outdoor cinema also allows community members to come together and watch a movie all at the same time, rather than being limited by the size of a movie theater. Outdoor movies are being shown in communities all over, to provide a unique cinema experience. For towns without traditional movie theaters, outdoor cinema is even more special. In these towns, outdoor movies replace the movie theater experience by providing another cinema option. Providing articles, reviews and writings on movies online.

Television Influence on Small Children

The Greek and Latin languages are where the word 'television' has its origin. The word is a derivative from 'tele', which is a Greek word translates, to 'far sight' and 'visio' is a Latin word that means 'sight.' In the latter part of the 1930s, the television made its way to the commercial markets. These days, television is the single most popular type of audio-visual in commercial set-ups and home. Merely mentioning the word 'television' calls to mind a medium which assists individuals in keeping abreast with entertainment issues and current affairs. No longer is the television set a single communication unit. The television has evolved in the complexity of the design to transmit recorded material that is stored on Blu-ray discs, laser discs, DVDs and video cassettes.

Television History

The television history spans over time zones and regions, in view of the fact that the technology has evolved in different places and at different times. This communication system, as it is known these days, is not the brainchild of any one specific inventor. The process has taken the endeavours of a number of engineers, over several decades, to develop along various overlapping designs, to utilize commonly accepted electronic and mechanical principles. Despite the fact that electromechanical television sets have been abandoned for the completely electronic, ultra-modern designs, the fundamental design rests on the discovery of selenium photo-conductivity in 1873. That discovery which was made by Willoughby Smith brought about the scanning disk invention from Paul Gottlieb Nipkow in 1884. In 1926, a demonstration of televised moving images was carried out by John Logie Baird, that technology was joined with the image dissector that was designed in 1927 by Philo Farnsworth, to provide viewers with the fundamental principles of the television that we currently know.

These days, the world of television is discovered by children at an incredibly tender age. A number of studies have indicated that kids who are younger than 6 years old watch television, DVD or video on a daily basis, at an average of 2 hours. In a number of instances, watching television can be useful, particularly the wildlife and educational programs that have the capacity to broaden the understanding and knowledge of your child in relation to the world around him or her. In addition, it can introduce them to a variety of communities and cultures of the world. However, at the moment the negative effects are seemingly outweighing the uplifting ones.

The Negative Influences of Television on Children

The formative years in the life of child, particularly the first two to three years, are vital to the mental growth and development of the child. Those are the years in which a child learns by way of interacting, observing, playing and discovering new things. As a result, these first few years are extremely vital for the physical and mental development. Therefore, a pattern of watching television excessively could hinder his or her social activities such as spending quality time with members of the family, reading and playing with friends.

There are a number of television programs that portray extreme violence and this could induce lots of changes in behaviour in young children. In view of the fact that kids can relate easily to what is being shown on the television screen, they will be more prone to imitating the behaviour that is depicted. As a result, you may notice aggressive behaviour in your child. In addition, it could cause the little one to develop sleeping disorders and have nightmares because his or her sense of anxiety and fear has been stimulated by what is shown on the television. In addition to this, it will possibly result in creating confusion in the mind of the young child as it relates to knowing the difference between good and bad. That is because parents most likely teach their kids that aggression and violence is bad but the program on the television will possibly show the heroes or 'good guys' perpetrating violence.

Apart from the violence, drinking and smoking scenes are depicted widely in commercials and television programs, without giving an explanation of the unfavourable consequences. The repeated and continuous exposure to these programs will make children feel as though these activities are quite acceptable and normal. As a result, kids who watch these programs on a regular basis are a great deal more likely to mimic and develop these unhealthy habits from an early stage in their development.

In the developed world, obesity is a widespread problem and television is among the important factors that are responsible for the increasing incidences of obesity among kids. Excessive watching of television decreases physical activities of the kids and simultaneously amplifies the popularity of unhealthy foods, such as potato chips, soft drinks and other snacks that they see on the commercials. Providing articles, reviews and writings on movies online.

The Reaper, Movie Review

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap" is a popular English idiom originally from Epistles to the Galatians of the Bible. The central theme and the very message of the movie was centered on the Biblical story found in Exodus. This is when the Pharaoh of Egypt was made obdurate by God Himself by not letting the Israelites be freed from slavery. The ten plagues presented in the Bible that were brought down to Egypt by Moses are the same plagues depicted in the movie, i.e. from the first plague of the river turning to blood to the death of the first born sons and daughters of the locals.

But it is worthy to note that the last plague was not brought about by the unseen supernatural force as all the others. Instead, the group members of the cult of the land were the ones killing their own. Also, unlike in the Bible, the second born children were the ones sacrificed instead of the first born. This is clearly so as to put an element of a Hollywood tinge on the movie and not be a copy cat of what's in the Bible (which admittedly would have made the movie less exciting or plain boring). Effectively, the tenth plague was made the climax of the movie.

Tension was built up little by little with each plague unfolding and peaked at the last plague holding the viewers momentarily confused by deviating from what was expected (death of second born instead of first born). And then here comes the vision shared by the child Loren to Katherine where she was about to be killed for being a second born but miraculously survived after being stabbed by her brother. At the time of being momentarily dazed, the viewers are fired with explanations as to why was Katherine chosen to be in that town at such crucial time. She was, in the past, an ordained minister.

She turned away from her God when the locals of the town she was serving sacrificed her family in exchange for the long drought. The cult members in the place where the child Loren lived believed that Katherine would help them kill Loren since she was after all like them, backsliders in faith. But of course, as the protagonist in the movie, she did not succumb to their wishes but instead saved the girl from them.

Since we've started interpreting the movie in Biblical terms, we might as well finish it on the same tone. In the Old Testament, God is presented as a jealous God, an angry God and all other similar actuations. The message of the movie was effectively delivered in the light of such interpretation, i.e. it was made a horror film with events lifted from the Bible. In the Old Testament, God came with thunder and lightning. But rest assured that in the New Testament, it was promised that He will come again with love and justice.

So then after all the 'scary moments' depicted in the movie, we go back to that promise, then sit back, relax and enjoy. After all, it's a beautiful world (Amen). Providing useful articles, reviews and writings on movies and films online.

American Idol: The Spotlight on the Judges

It was just over a decade ago where we saw the landscape of television change due to the success of the hit tv show, American Idol. The show managed to produce a fair share of talents in every season that kept viewers wanting to see more. Aside from the talent that was showcased, the viewing public also got exposed to three different personalities standing as a judge for the show. Randy Jackson, a well-known producer in the music business, Paula Abdul, a popular singer/dancer and probably the most memorable of them all, Simon Cowell, a music producer from the UK who handled the careers of several musicians and was known for his straightforward opinions which means contestants usually receive harsh criticisms from him without feeling remorse.

The relationship between the judges also became one of the reasons why people tuned in to the show. Paula and Simon's nonstop bickering turned out to be a form of entertainment for most people. However, that trio was not meant to last long as the judges had a change of line-up in the latter years of the show. We've seen the judging panel grow to four when comedian Ellen DeGeneres joined the panel. Some have criticized her for not having enough experience as a judge and for not having enough music credentials. She later left the show after one season. We also saw Kara DioGuardi, a music producer and song writer, join the show. The major turning point of the show would have to be the time when Simon decided to leave the show. Many thought that the show will not continue without his presence but the concern that was in everybody's heads was the question of who was going to replace him. Several names popped up until we saw the entire shake-up in the judging panel.

They were cutting the judges back down to three like how it used to be with Randy Jackson being the only original judge to be retained. It was later announced that he was going to be joined by famous rock star and lead singer of the band, Aerosmith, Steven Tyler and popular singer/dancer/actress Jennifer Lopez. There were mixed reactions regarding the new panel of judges but in the end, the three of them did their best to have some chemistry between each other, much to the delight of the fans. But while some were pleased with the decision, some thought that the three of them were too nice to the contestants and they fail to give enough constructive criticisms like Simon Cowell used to do.

It has now been a problem for talent competitions to be criticized for their selection of judges and not just contestants. Some criticizes them for getting judges only for high ratings instead of producing a good talent molded by a credible set of judges. For a show like American Idol, they have endured these criticisms for more than a decade and it doesn't seem to affect them as they have clearly gained a loyal fan base whoever they put on the judging panel. Providing articles, reviews and writings on movies online.

Housewife Wars, My New Reality TV Show Idea

Attention cable and network executives; I have a great idea for a new game show or Reality TV series. It 's called "Housewife Wars" and is based on true-life situations in households across the United States. Actually, it is based on my life and the daily challenges that I have faced that would put "Survivor" cast mates to shame. I actually applied to be a "Survivor" contestant a few years ago but broke my leg in three feet of snow trying to build a snow castle for the kids.

The premise of the show is to scour the United States for confident, professional housewives (or perhaps househusbands) that sign up to be part of the challenge. At the drop of a hat a Hollywood film crew will show up at your door with a challenge. You must complete the challenge in a certain amount of time in order to make it to the finals. All finalists will compete "on air" and the audience can vote for the winners! I think it would be hilarious and inspirational to see how stay at home moms and dads get creative and make it through life's challenges.

Here are some of the challenges that real life stay at homers will have to successfully complete in order to win the contests:

1. Sock Challenge - You have a full load of clean, dry socks. The winner will have to successfully match as many pairs of socks as humanly possible in 5 minutes. I have tried this challenge and it is impossible. I have piles of mysterious socks that I have never seen in my life. How can these socks sneak into the laundry and only show up in the dryer? They are pink, green, baby sizes (no babies in my house) soccer socks (my kids don't play soccer) and often have mysterious holes in them. It is maddening that the expensive knee high Nordstrom socks that my husband buys constantly disappear. He keeps waiting for them to magically reappear one day, and sometimes they do! My son can never find two socks that match in his drawer so he just goes to the laundry room in the morning to grab two white ones while he heads out the door.

2. Supermarket Sweep - this was a Reality show in the 90's that I actually won. My friend Patty and I were on two episodes and I have VHS tapes of us winning the battle of the shopping cart grocery store challenge. It was hilarious but not as funny as the real life daily challenge of racing into the grocery store with a short list of emergency items; eggs, full fat half and half, non fat vanilla Greek yogurt, Lucky Charms, Chipotle Tabasco, 2 bottles of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay (Cougar Crack... ), and RIPE avocados (good luck with that one.) You have to find all of these items and pay for them within 15 minutes or you will be late for the after school day care pick up and fined $10 per minute. Your child will also be humiliated by being the last kid left on campus. As an extra challenge at the grocery you have to politely avoid the "stop and chats" by friendly neighbors and annoying homeless organizations asking for handouts.

3. Short Order Cook - This is a good one and happens daily at my house. Your son shows up with 4 pals around mealtimes. Why do they always seem to hang out in the kitchen like stray cats until you feed them? In this challenge you have to make 5 delicious meals out of leftovers from whatever is in your refrigerator or freezer. Luckily most of my son's friends are not that picky and are happy with quesadillas, grilled cheese, leftover rice or mac n cheese. But remember, it has to be tasty, fast and ENOUGH to satisfy the boys and make them go away. The Bonus round is to be able to prove that your condiments are not expired and will poison the boys.

4. The Meeting Challenge - why do women love to schedule 9 am meetings that last for hours? I don't get it. I prefer lunch meetings. I mean we all have to eat, or better yet, happy hour meetings with cocktails and appetizers. Heck, I'll even offer to be on the live auction committee if I can have a glass of chardonnay. Can't we multitask and figure out how to raise money while munching on chicken salad? I would be happy to bring pot luck if we could just not waste my precious morning hours sitting around with an agenda from hell. In this challenge you have exactly one hour to get the kids up, make them a healthy school lunch, send them out the door, run a mile on the treadmill, shower, put on a decent outfit, MAKEUP (no cheating), dry your hair, and get to the meeting on time. I love to volunteer for good causes but hate meetings.

I am sure we can all come up with enough of these Housewife War Challenges to keep the series alive and in the top 10 for years. Once the producers in Hollywood realize the true life heroes in this country are hidden in the homes across America performing amazing feats of courage, honor, and faith on a daily basis. It takes a real woman (or man as the case may be) to make it through the day without saying "that's it, I'm just going to go back to bed, watch TV all day, and eat bon bons." I have actually threatened to do that... Providing useful articles, reviews and writings on movies and films online.

Watch Movies Online, How to Protect Yourself

Movies are the excellent stress busters that never let you fall prey to boredom. You can enjoy them wherever you want, in a cinema hall, at home on DVD player or online. Whereas these ways accompany varied benefits, they also have certain associated pitfalls. For example, visiting a theater and making all those expenditures on tickets, popcorn and soft drinks could take a heavy toll on your pocket. Likewise, the quality of DVD you play at home may or may not be up to the mark. Interestingly, the freedom to watch movies online without paying single penny sets you free from adopting the first two options. But whether this method is safe or not, let us find out.

Security concerns while watching flicks online:

Like all the other activities you perform online, enjoying online movies as well demands sedate security measures. Unfortunately if you lag behind at any step, you are likely to get trapped in the network of hackers and consequently your computer data could be at grave risk of being stolen. In addition, copyright owners could file lawsuits against you on the offense of copyright infringement. You would definitely not like the idea to get caught amid such hassles, would you?

Suitable protective measures:

With so many demerits of accessing movie websites, and downloading one to enjoy in your free time, you can easily decide to avoid this activity. But if you can bear a little bit patience and follow certain essential tips, protecting yourself from online hassles during your stint with online movies won't be that hard affair. Below are some important tips in this context:

• Keep distance from unsolicited links that ask you to download your preferred movie, they can trick you to open doors for the malware to enter into your system

• Utilizing a Virtual private network could let you add an additional security layer towards your endeavor of relishing a movie over the internet. It will hide your real IP address with a different IP and hence will keep you anonymous online.

• Browse through websites that allow you to watch or download movies legally. Prominently two types of films fall under this category, viz a viz, public domain flicks and movies that are licensed for online viewing.

Insight into safe film categories:

Public Domain Films: These types of motion pictures are copyrighted but have their links over the web for a very short span of time. You are free to enjoy them through live streaming or by downloading them, to watch later on. These films mostly belong to classic genre and hence could be of interest for a selected category of movie buffs. You may be asked to register with the concerned websites before moving ahead.

Licensed Films: This second category of legal films is duly licensed to be watched online. Compared to the first type, movies falling under this class are latest, laced with superseding sound feature and own high quality graphics. These flicks are often accompanied by short duration commercial ads, which could be termed as one the downsides to this film type. You would not be asked to register while accessing any such site, offering licensed films. Providing articles, reviews and writings on movies online.

Choose from the Different Free Full Movies Online to Watch

In this article we will discuss about the availability of free online full movies without downloading. We will also discuss ways to watch them.

The Internet is gradually changing the way people live, from communicating to watching movies. Earlier one had to send letters or call someone for some purpose but now one can simply send an e-mail. Buying tickets for a movie has also become a little passé when one can enjoy a movie at the luxury of a home with internet. The best part is that getting online has become very easy now.

There are a number of sources that allow free full movies online to watch. Some are free while some are paid services, but things they all have in common is the simple access, instantaneous gratification, and the total convenience.

Now one can easily watch free online full movies without downloading while sitting in the office or in the car too. With the help of mobile wimax, one gets the opportunity to watch them anywhere anytime. In the Internet there are principally a few types of movie sites. The most frequently known are sites that offer online streaming videos which can be seen online via "Divx Player", for example Stage6.com. The other sites present Direct Downloads that can be downloaded directly to the computer to be burned or viewed instantly.

Sites that list free movie links are other sites that hugely interest people. People are able to get direct streaming of free online full movies without downloading them. Streaming is better since most of the countries nowadays track downloads of illegal movies.

These sites are generally like Directory Sites, but as an alternative of indexing web site addresses, they index Free Movie Links. This allows people to watch free movies which are as a rule hosted by free video sharing sites like YouTube, Stage6, and Veoh. However the movie links tend to end very quickly since they are unlawfully uploaded to these free video sharing sites.

Free full movies online to watch are also available in the form of the networks themselves. People can now easily find full episodes online on the network's site after they have been aired on TV. For those people who do not subscribe to the channels to save money, watching the movies or the TV shows online, gives them little reason to pay the ridiculous fees charged by the cable companies.

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Mov To DVD!

Videos are the massive container of the multimedia entertainment. There are two major operating systems; which are Mac and Windows. Windows come with windows media player, which is responsible for playing the entertainment stuff over windows operating system. Mac is another famous operating system, which facilitates you with quick-time media player for playing your multimedia file formats over Mac operating system. Quick-time is compatible with MOV file format. This is why; Mac operating system users will normally have their files in MOV file format. You will need to convert your entire files to MOV file format, so that you can easily play and handle your entertainment over Mac operating system.

DVD player is portable and mobile multimedia players, which can easily play and handle your file. You will enjoy your multimedia over big screens of your LCD's and LED's. Did you ever like to play your quick-time files over DVD? Of course, you might have tried that. You cannot play and handle your quick-time mov to dvd, as these files are not compatible with those portable devices. You will need to convert you quick-time files to some other file format, which should be compatible with DVD-Players. You will find lots of applications, which may claim to finish your job. You should be careful, while you choose any application for you. A good choice will require you to conduct a good analysis. A good choice will serve you much better, as compared to wrong ones. This mov to dvd converter, which is reliable, quick and affordable at the same time. This application comes in windows and Mac compatible versions.

This application can easily burn your mov file to dvd. Once burned, you can easily play and handle your MOV files over DVD-Player. You just need a good application, which can easily burn your file to DVD. This file format is compatible with Mac and Windows operating system. This application will not show any signs of incompatibility on any of the operating system. There are multiple advantages of this file format; some of the key advantages are discussed for your assistance.

1- This application comes in Mac and Windows compatible version. You do not need to worry, if you are Mac operating system users. This application will serve you over all operating systems.

2- This application will process the work fast. It will not ask you to wait for the completion of the process. It is not like other application, which may lead you towards losing your time.

3- It will not require you to have some crucial information or technical help to complete the job. This application will facilitate you with a decent GUI to work over your operating system. You just have to choose the DVD file format, as you output file format. This application will take the entire responsibilities over its shoulder. It is a user friendly application. Once you got this application, you do not need to worry about converting your MOV to DVD.

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You Need More Than 1 Video On Your Site, Why?

Using online videos to improve the volume and quality of your website's visitors is a necessity these days. In 2010 30% of all internet traffic was video, according to Cisco. The same report estimates 90% of all the internet will be video by 2013. Your visitors will expect video and they will increasingly prefer video compared to text as their primary source of entertainment and engagement. Deciding to create just one video to throw up on your site is better than not using any videos on your website, but overall you're going to find a lot more success with multiple videos on your website. Here's why.

The Two Different Purposes of Online Video for Your Website

The different videos on your website will serve one of two different purposes- to build traffic or to convert that traffic.
Any internet marketer worth their salt will tell you the key to online success lies solely in those two variable, in traffic and conversion. One without the other will lead to failure so optimize both using online videos on your website.

Traffic building videos are the videos you post on the front page of your website. The principle behind placing a video on your website's home page to produce traffic is a simple one- a properly optimized video on the front page of your website will increase your shot at first page Google ranking by 53 times, or 5,300%.  Conversion raising videos are product or service videos you include on your website which increase your sales numbers. There are plenty of studies and case studies showing videos increase sales conversion rates substantially. For example Internet Retailer found the average online video/product page combination increased conversion rates by 85%.

Even though the general content of your videos will be very similar between these two different types of videos (informative and engaging) their purposes will be different and synergistic and primarily defined by where on your website you place them.

Will Online Video Replace Text Completely?

To answer that question quickly- no, but that doesn't mean online video won't become more important than text within the next two years. Text will still exist and be a necessary part of every website because text travels faster and more conveniently than video. This won't change no matter how much internet connection speeds improve due to the inherent properties of each medium.

That being said video will continue to rise in importance over text because people are already beginning to prefer receiving information online by watching it instead of reading it. Forbes found 59% of senior executives self reported their preference for video over text when it came to absorbing online information. Rich Media found audiences engaged between 400% and 700% more when watching videos than when reading a static text-based website. Emails with video included in them create up to 3 times the click through rate of emails which are based in text and graphics.
All of these statistics point to one emerging truth- video is quickly becoming the most effective way to reach and communicate with audiences online.

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Review for Netflix and its Application for PlayStation 3

Reviews for Netflix

Netflix application for PlayStation 3 has tremendous streaming, higher picture quality, easy to use user interface along with some other best features. If we talk about traditional platforms for watching TV-series and movies in comparison to that I personally found Netflix for PS3 a way better. Now no more I have to insert the discs into the console for watching a movie. Unlike discs it doesn't changes the resolution and enhances the movie experience exceptionally. Apart from increased price of Netflix services, it is still offering more than other service providers so definitely I prefer to stick with it!

Let's have a quick glance on the features and benefits of downloading Netflix app on PS3:

Downloading Netflix on PS3 lets you, enjoy movies in 1080p high definition, with Dolby 5.1 channel surround soundYou can watch your favorite movies and TV shows on Netflix through fast streaming with the help of built-in Wi-Fi in PS3Directional buttons on the PS3 controller simplifies the access of  Netflix app and makes its use very easy for youNetflix app for the PS3 not only offers movies but also let you choose amongst documentaries, BBC shows and other biographies.

Running Netflix on PS3

Netflix application can be simply downloaded on your PlayStation 3 by going to the XMB, which is the Video/TV services column on the Cross Media Bar. Now you have to log into with your Netflix account to get the activation code sent to you on your account and set back to enjoy your favorite movies. You can easily view some recommended TV shows, movies in other categories. Moreover, from your PS3 system you can also browse through the PlayStation Netflix Watch instantly library, can add it to your queue, or can simply begin watching the movie.

5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and eventually high definition streams let you enjoy high quality and superior entertainment with the download of Netflix for PS3. Best part of the app is the always expanding subtitles in the content library! It seems that PlayStation 3 and Netflix are all set to give their users the finest entertainment experience ever, by enabling them watch movies anytime they want.

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George Lucas

His experiences growing up in the sleepy suburb of Modesto and his early passion for cars and motor racing would eventually serve as inspiration for his Oscar-nominated low-budget phenomenon, American Graffiti (1973). Before young Lucas became obsessed with the movie camera, he wanted to be a race car driver, but a near fatal accident in his souped-up Fiat just days before his high school graduation quickly changed his mind. Instead, he attended community college and developed a passion for cinematography and camera tricks. Following the advice of a friend, he transferred to the University of Southern California filmmaking school. There he produced a short futuristic Sci-Fi film called THX-1138:4EB, and garnered a comfortable spot under the wing of Francis Ford Coppola, who took an active interest in unleashing new filmmaking talent.

Coppola convinced Warner Brothers to make a feature length version of the film, and although a few critics recognized some philosophical depth behind all the technical wizardry, THX - 1138 (re-titled) flopped terribly in its 1971 release. Although intimidated by the failure of his first film, Lucas went back to work on his next project, American Graffiti. Released in 1973, the film featured such burgeoning young talents as Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford, and was recognized as a stunning portrait of listless American youth in 1962 - depicting, in Lucas' own words, "a warm, secure, uninvolved life."

The film, made for only $780,000, grossed $50 million in the box office. It was nominated in five categories at that year's Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director for Lucas, and is still considered one of the most successful low budget features ever made. Now that Lucas had won back the confidence of his supporters, he set out to make a children's Saturday morning serial that would be part fairy tale, part Flash Gordon, and complete fantasy and adventure set in the imaginary frontier of outer space. The project eventually evolved into a full-length feature entitled, Star Wars. 

In its 1977 release, Star Wars blew audiences away with its awe-inspiring special affects, fantastical landscapes, captivating characters (the erroneous pairing of two bumbling droids providing, ironically, the most heart and comic relief), and the familiar resonance of popular myth and fairy tale. Made for $11 million, the film grossed over $513 million worldwide during its original release. Lucas continued the story of the Jedi Knights and the Dark Side in The Empire Strike Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983). In the meantime, he set up a state-of-the-art special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), as well as a sound studio, Skywalker Sound, and began to execute more and more control over the finished product of his films. He eventually built his own moviemaking "empire" outside of the controlling influence of Hollywood in the hills of Marin Country, California.

While Lucas weathered a considerable slump after the success of the Star Wars trilogy, ILM made money doing TV commercials. In 1993, the company finally got to flex its muscles when commissioned to bring the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park to horrifying life. The progressions in technology convinced Lucas that it was time to go back to Star Wars. He embarked on the development of three new prequels - beginning with the menacing Darth Vader as an innocent, but forceful, young boy. The first in the series, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, was released in spring of 1999 to high expectations and unprecedented hype and fanfare. The response was mixed; some critics and Star Wars fans found the characters childish and racially stereotyped, and the story lacking in dramatic depth; but the magical quality of Lucas's technologically masterful creations was incontestably fantastic and mind-blowing. Defending his latest creation, Lucas argued that The Phantom Menace was a children's movie - as all the Star Wars movies were meant to be before their cult like magnetism took hold of the American public.

Considering the fact that George Lucas raises his children as a single parent, his preoccupation with children's interests is not surprising. After he and film editor Marcia Griffin divorced in 1983, he gained custody of their adopted child, Amanda, now 17. Since then he has adopted two more children: Kate, 11 and Jet, 6. They live together in the Skywalker ranch compound in Marin County. Lucas told Orville Schell of the New York Times in a 1999 interview, "Children are the whole point of life" - a surprisingly humble comment from a movie mogul worth somewhere around $2.5 billion. Lucas's other projects have included writing and producing the Indiana Jones films and 1988's Willow. Star Wars: Episode II is currently in preproduction, and scheduled for release in 2002. .

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