While looking at George Lucas's student films, it is easy to imagine the average person saying something along the lines of "Rather hard to believe that from these simplistic, brief movies one of the greatest filmmakers in cinematic history would develop". Yet given the context of the making of these shorts, I don't find it too difficult to project. The early independent movies of the infamous Lucas are indeed simple, with little or no plot, but they effectively feature some original and creative concepts, and showcase good craftsmanship to boot. "Look at Life" is brief but effectively edited with a nice music choice; "Herbie" makes use of some interesting cinematography and visuals topped with a pleasant jazz score. Not exceptional judging them from the standards of modern filmmaking, these two, but their ideas and the skills executed to show these ideas are top notch.
"Freiheit" is a great example of a student film from Lucas with a narrative to back it up. The story, in which a German student attempts to cross the Berlin border and reach safety, is short but is enhanced with the appropriate music choice, the solid acting of Randal Kleiser, and the camerawork that functions to add suspense. The finale is well-handled, and the voice-overs at the end that convey the theme on the importance of freedom is a wonderful finishing touch. I can well imagine Lucas's professor at the university being impressed with this work; for a student film, it is highly above the job an average person would do, and hence it is believable enough that the same man would go on to create on of the most popular film franchises in history. Sometimes all a film needs to be good is a successful point to drive home, and a decent story to bring that point across, and that's what this has.
"Freiheit" is a great example of a student film from Lucas with a narrative to back it up. The story, in which a German student attempts to cross the Berlin border and reach safety, is short but is enhanced with the appropriate music choice, the solid acting of Randal Kleiser, and the camerawork that functions to add suspense. The finale is well-handled, and the voice-overs at the end that convey the theme on the importance of freedom is a wonderful finishing touch. I can well imagine Lucas's professor at the university being impressed with this work; for a student film, it is highly above the job an average person would do, and hence it is believable enough that the same man would go on to create on of the most popular film franchises in history. Sometimes all a film needs to be good is a successful point to drive home, and a decent story to bring that point across, and that's what this has.