Library at Skywalker Ranch
***
Let me tell you about Indiana Jones. Think of this as the wife’s perspective, okay?
In the late 1980s, we were sitting around a table with some editors in New York and Risa asked Rob if he would be interested in doing some novelizations for a TV show. He said sure, and did two novelizations of a TV show, Private Eye, that never went anywhere because by the time the books came out the show had been cancelled. But this connection led to an invite to adapt the script for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
I was pregnant with Megan then. I remember we went to the theater to see the movie. When the novelization hit the NY Times Bestseller list, Lucasfilm asked Rob to write some prequels. When Megan was about a year old, we flew out to California and spent some time at Skywalker Ranch. In those days, you could simply drive into the ranch and right up to the house.
Megan doesn’t remember it, but she is probably one of the few babies who ever crawled across the floor of the library at Skywalker Ranch.
And what a library it was. As a former librarian and newly published writer, I was struck by the books on the occult, metaphysis and quantum physics. This library was so huge that it featured a spiral staircase, shelves from floor to ceiling, with a moveable ladder that took you from one section to the other. Our guide during this visit was a woman named Lucy, one of Lucas’s first employees, and, if I recall correctly, she was a big mystery reader.
We were supposed to go sailing on Lucas’s boat the next day, but the weather didn’t cooperate and we spent the day in the library. This was in the days before cell phones, otherwise I would have photos. Otherwise I would have photos of the Star Wars display in an exhibit case, or of Indy’s whip, or photos of the 2,000 acres that comprise Skywalker Ranch.
Some years later, when Megan had seen a couple of the Indiana Jones films, I mentioned that she had crawled around on the library floor at Skywalker Ranch.
“What?” she exclaimed. “Really? How come you guys never told me that? That’s stuff I should know. It’s, like, my personal history.”
I had never thought of it like that, but of course she’s right.
A few years ago, Rob was hired by Lucasfilms to write another book on Indy’s adventures. This time, though, Megan and I weren’t permitted to accompany him. This time, he had to go through multiple security checkpoints, the place, he said, was like an armed camp.
He described something that I found intriguing – a storyboard that was “probably fifty feet long” that detailed every character, every plot point, every subplot, in Indy’s life. One of my best tools in fiction writing is a storyboard. Mine is never fifty feet long. It’s a black poster board that I tack to my office door. I choose different color post-its for each character point of view, so I can tell with just a glance at the storyboard whose POV should come up next.
I suspect that George R.R. Martin, the author whose books are now on HBO as Game of Thrones, must use a storyboard, too. In that series, seven different families are vying for the throne and there are a lot of characters, with multiple plot lines and intrigues. The only feasible way of keeping so many characters straight is a storyboard – or a brain much larger and more organized than mine.
Now, more than 20 years after our visit to Skywalker Ranch, Megan is writing a novel. She knows about storyboards, but hasn’t used one yet. Instead, as a detail-oriented writer, she has written several extensive outlines. She wants to know where her story is headed. She’s in good company. Ken Follett, one of the best historical and thriller writers around, also writes extensive outlines.
Jerzy Kosinski, author of such classics as The Painted Bird and Being There supposedly wrote the endings of his books first. I’ve never tried this, but it sounds like an excellent idea. If I do that, though, I first have to know what the trigger event is – the what if that gets the ball rolling. It might be a mass beaching of dolphins and whales, a psychic vision, a murder, a haunting, a powerful synchronicity, a psychic vision…
But when you have an archetypal character like Indiana Jones, you’ve got to know your triggering event, the characters and their intrigues, the plot points and subplots, and where it’s all going to take you. Your franchise depends on it.
what a story – i, too, always love hearing those insider ones of your experiences – about the story board – since i’ve written only one short story, it isn’t something i ever needed/used – however, in the legal arena i would develop something very similar in re-constructing the case before trial –
Wow, thanks! These little tidbits are helpful for all of us wannabees out there!
What a great story about the Lucas’s library and little Megan. It surely is part of her history. A great story.
Hope you’re enjoying Hawaii!
I don’t believe that you mentioned storyboards and the novel “Being There” in this post as in the Kitchen Sync Facebook group I just did a post about a passage from the Lyall Watson book that I’m reading,about chance –
“”The word “chance”comes from the Old French cheance,meaning “the way in which things fall”,and seems,right from the start,to have referred to the lie of gaming dice – the oldest,and still one of the most effective,randomising devices.The French word cheance,in it’s turn,derives from the Latin cadentia,which also means “falling”,but carries in addition,a sense of rhythm.Hence the English word “cadence” that describes a measured movement,something pleasantly musical.This etymology implies that chance was never seen as haphazard or altogether neutral. It hints at an early awareness of the existence of some kind of pattern,at the presence or absence of what we have come to call luck.It is something that echoes through history like a pulse beat.”
Then I referenced the movie “Being There” –
“Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841/
Then I referenced my “God Does Not Play Dice” logo on my blog and Jake Kotze’s sync film of the same title –
https://vimeo.com/61986313
Then noticed that Melvyn Douglas stars in ‘Being There’ and I remembered Andras Jones saying that he was Illeana Douglas’s grandfather when Andras was on the Andy Dick radio show with Illeana Douglas (by chance according to Andras).
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002048/?ref_=tt_ov_st
Illeana Douglas “In 1988, working for a publicist in New York led to her first movie role. Illeana appeared in several Martin Scorsese films in small roles, but she learned from actors and directors, all the while developing her talents.” If you look at Jake’s video “God Does Not Play Dice” it is about Grimes and De Niro’s films. Illeana Douglas was in ‘Cape Fear’ with De Niro,as well as ‘Goodfellas’,plus she was a crowd member in ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’,which syncs with the comedian comparing De Niro to Christ in Jake’s sync video above.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001152/
Illeana Douglas and Andras Jones on the Andy Dick radio show as chance brought them together –
https://tradiov.com/la/videos/the-andy-dick-show-10-16-13/
WARNING: SOME BAD LANGUAGE IN THE ANDY DICK SHOW FOR THOSE OFFENDED BY FOUL LANGUAGE.
But here is an example of how “the dice fall” to connect unlikely people.The author of the book “Beyond Supernature” is Lyall Watson whose book “Supernature” I read ages ago before I even knew who he was.He would often mention his niece Katherine who he took to Egypt for her 21st Birthday to see the pyramids.Katherine Lyall-Watson lives in Brisbane and is a playwright ,not that I knew this until I went to her play ‘Motherland’ last year,because a friend of mine from work (IKEA) Warwick Fraser was doing the lighting and video for her play and mentioned that I should come and see it,so I did and Katherine was sitting in the next row from us at the play.
Lyall Watson never lived in Australia,but he died here when attending a wedding in a small Queensland town named Gympie where his brother (Katherine’s father) owned a farm there.My mother’s family come from the Gympie area which is a weird sync.In fact the only time I have ever been to Gympie was to attend the funeral of my uncle (mum’s brother) when I was about 10 years old. Illeana Douglas makes ads for the company I worked for for 24 years ( I won’t hold that against her though) ,before getting laid off with a group of other full-time workers,so IKEA could replace us with part-time workers.
https://katherinelyallwatson.wordpress.com/kerensky/
Warrick Fraser, did the video for Katherine Lyall-Watson’s play “Motherland”
(which is about to open again in Brisbane) and is my ex-workmate from IKEA.
https://www.warrickfraser.com/WF_Multimedia/Warrick_Fraser_Multimedia.html
and I was just checking out Warrick’s animated storyboards at his website before coming here and reading your post.
I’ll check out the links. Neat sequence here. Loved being there, both the novel and the movie. Kosinski was brilliant.
I’ve never read the novel,but I liked the movie.
Maybe I’ll have to read the book now as well ?
You should try it! The first book of his that I read was The Painted Bird. It blew me away.
Sounds like I should read them both,I think.
This was Warrick’s piece that was projected onto the back screen of the stage for Katherine’s play ‘Motherland’ –
https://vimeo.com/43793730
Back in November 1997 I went up to the ranch when I visited some relatives in northern California. I walked the length of the fence on Lucas Valley Road, took pictures of the Skywalker Sound building and the front gate, and collected a souvenir rock from the driveway. Not as glamorous as a personal tour like the VIPs get, but at least I can say I’ve been there! 🙂
As an Indy fan-fic writer, I can attest to the benefit of writing the end of the story first, because it gives you a clear goal to aim for; a good point-of-reference to keep the story on the rails. I wrote the finale to Fate of Atlantis only one month after I began working on the novel and everything dovetailed together perfectly at the end.
You walked the fence, dale. How cool is that?!
@Dale
Re: “and collected a souvenir rock from the driveway.”
Your lucky you picked up the right one,I heard if you select the wrong one a massive round boulder rolls out and chases you down Lucas Road 😉
Good one!
Yeah, sometimes that happens! LOL
Tell the story, how did he come to call your house??!
Painted Bird isn’t the most cheerful book you’ll ever read, but it’s powerful.
It was the 2nd coolest day of my life, after the day that Harrison Ford phoned my house to talk to me (except I was at school when he called!), and I scored an autographed Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster in the bargain! 🙂
Wow, do tell, Dale!!
Back in 1995 I found the Los Angeles address of Harrison’s agent, Patricia McQueeney, and spent 3 days writing the most perfect, effusive fan letter to tell him how much I admired Indiana Jones, and how Harrison was my all-time favorite actor, etc. Then one day about 4 months later I get home from school and my dad says: “You’re not going to believe who just called awhile ago. Harrison Ford.” Of course I went berserk, because it was absolutely the last thing I’d ever expect to happen. Since I didn’t provide my phone # in the letter, he must’ve had his agent track it down using my address on the envelope. Dad told me that it was a brief conversation, only a minute or so, because I wasn’t there to talk, but Harrison evidently said that he was very impressed by my letter, and he’s glad to have such dedicated fans like me. Then dad said: “This kid is your biggest fan. He even has the whole Indiana Jones outfit – right down to the bullwhip.” Harrison chuckled at that, amused. Once I composed myself an hour later, I began to write a nice thank-you letter about the phone call, and I mailed it with a Raiders poster, because in my first letter, I had written: P.S.- If I mail you an Indiana Jones poster, could you please autograph it for me? Well, I figured that a personal telephone call is a resounding ‘yes’, and off it went. The poster returned about 6 months later, autographed in bold marker across Indy’s torso! Then I went crazy again, running all over the house and bouncing off the walls like any deranged Indy-obsessed 15-year-old! LOL But it really made my day, because I’d never written to a celebrity before, and I totally scored on the first attempt! It’s just awesome when celebs go out of their way to show appreciation for their fans. 🙂
Here’s a pic: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4148/5018902437_3ecf6a0f7c_o.jpg
That is a neat piece of movie memorabilia Dale.
Indy’s hat reminds me of the hat I won with Jerry O’Connell’s signature on it when I entered a “Kangaroo Jack” competition years ago.
You can see the hat in this post I did a while back – https://brizdazz.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/kangaroo-jackson-syncs.html
Neat hat! I have an authentic Herbert Johnson Indiana Jones fedora crafted by Richard Swales, the same guy who made all of Harrison’s fedoras for the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Aside from being a treasured collectible, it’s also the very first thing I ever purchased when I got my first job (due to the cost, I had to use the collective funds from two paychecks to afford it). Swales included an autographed HJ business card attesting to the hat’s pedigree, an irreplaceable COA since he passed away several years later. Needless to say, The Hat is one of the most prized Indiana Jones items in my collection! 🙂
Fantastic story. It says something important about ford, too, I think.
Definitely. Harrison is a genuinely nice guy, one of the rare celebrities who hasn’t let success go to their head. Of course he’s cool – he’s Indiana Jones! And it’s probably a good thing that I wasn’t at home when he called, because I would’ve been a tongue-tied, hyperventilating fool, incapable of more than 3 words of speech. I definitely communicate much better in writing! LOL
Very interesting post. Since I lived in Marin County for 23 years, I was aware of Skywalker Ranch but of course never was at the property, just near it. Don’t you have to go down Lucas Road to get there? I know that the road name was there before Lucas was. Interesting shyncro that is.
I think of storyboards in terms of the images. I didn’t know that writers used a story board for the writing. I think of my illustrated hexagrams for I Ching as little story boards that could be expanded, each it’s own little drama. Does that make sense?
Your little story boards make perfect sense.
That IS a good synchro about Lucas road!
The story boards that I saw at LucasFilm in San Francisco a few years ago all contained illustrations along with a short scene description. It was amazing to walk along that long expanse of story boards. These were not for a movie, but for a new version of the Indiana Jones video game – The Staff of Kings.
why for what’s written in there,,, the lights… boss the lights…. south Atlantic….
hey George what’s hap nin….
Trish,
You do know that George R.R. Martin bought the cocteau theater in Santa Fe? He only show Sci Fi! Lives about ten minutes from it. As he says, real butter real popcorn….
As a good animator will tell you start with first image then do your end image and work backwards to first.
Stories usually have only a few types of themes, redemption is always going to be my theme, so i end up with my character(s) having redemption or redemption denied, then go back to first … Easy peezy… Right? Am. I right? Easy peezy… HA!
Be well
Laurence
Didn’t know this about Martin! How cool.
I recently finished writing a script with a friend, based on one of my novels, and what an education that was! Not easy peezy!
7 x 8 = 56 perfection for the comment, child friend (teammate) likes to see the glass always half full…redemption…the thing that makes this fact infinitely possible…another one for that faith
Great post as this is full of personal nudges and more, for me. Not only am I in the storyboarding/outlining stage of creating a novel – but years ago I had pitched this idea as “Indiana Jones meets Alice in Wonderland.” 😀
Good one! Indiana and Alice! What a wild ride that will be!
I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know about Skywalker Ranch. I do now, and I see it supposedly cost Lucas $100 million to complete – wow, and you’ve been there! That was an interesting read.
Wow, 100 mil?! I didn’t know the cost, but figured it had to be way up there. When disney bought him out for $4 billion, he gave the $ charity.
I think it’s fascinating that you have been involved with people like Lucas over such a long time. And it also fascinates me to realize how entrenched cellphones have become in our lives, when you mention “a time before cellphones.” I can’t even imagine not having one now!
I didn’t know about storyboards, either. I had heard the term, but I didn’t know how they are used. Thanks for the education. Hope you have a great day, Trish. 🙂