Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars is without a doubt one of the greatest films of all time. In my opinion, the most amazing thing about it is the fact that unlike Star Trek, even though it’s a science fiction movie about living in outer space, it’s not so weird that you want to smash your TV with a baseball bat five minutes in. Writer, director, and producer George Lucas made it as human as possible, which allows us to relate to the characters and be involved in the screenplay.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was released in 1977. As I said, it was written, produced, and directed by George Lucas. John Williams wrote the music, Gilbert Taylor was in charge of Cinematography, and it starred Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher. Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker, a farmer who dreams of fighting in the rebellion against the evil empire of his galaxy. After imperial soldiers destroy his home and kill his aunt and uncle, he makes his way into the fray with an old Jedi warrior, Obi-wan Kenobi. With the help of smuggler/pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), they end up rescuing a very important figure in the rebellion, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), who had stolen blueprints of the Empire’s space station, the Death Star, to use in an attack. Before the Death Star is able to destroy the planet holding the rebels’ base, the rebels launch an attack on the station, and Skywalker ends up delivering the fatal blow that destroys the entire moon-sized station.
At the very beginning, Taylor uses an extreme long shot to show the setting of open space, and the distance from the two planets visible in the screen. He uses these shots many times throughout the film to show the setting. The next time it is used is in the desert with deep focus to see the distant rocks and the barrenness of the land. When Luke, Han, Leia, and Obi-wan near the Death Star in Han’s ship, we see an extreme long shot to show the hugeness of the station and the tiny size of Han’s ship in comparison. This lends to the feeling of helplessness they have against such a huge adversary.
One of Star Wars’ most famous aspects of cinematography is the music. Composer John Williams won an Oscar in 1977 for the music he wrote for the film. The use of his nondiagetic music creates a mood for every possible scene, from intense battles to suspenseful missions to sad or morose moments.
Taylor also uses low-key lighting to his advantage often. It is used a lot to show hopelessness or to add suspense or a sense of fear in the characters. When the droid R2-D2 is roaming alone in the canyon, the dark lighting and shadows help us feel the fear in him and make us anxious for what is coming up. Then, when he is put into the vehicle with the other stolen droids, it is very dark again to show the hopelessness of the situation. However, shortly after he meets up with partner C3PO we see high key lighting again to bring us back out of that hopeless feeling. Low-key lighting is used again in the bar when Luke is attacked, and in the cockpit of Han’s ship when they are trying to outrun the empire’s ships.