Question:Many years ago a book was written about the seven directors who control the world. If you had to rewrite it today, would you include also yourself and Steven Spielberg?

George Lucas:This was only my fourth film as a director, so I'm just a young director, I haven't really come that far yet.

Question:I heard that you're going to film a big fight scene in the Vesuvio, is that true?

George Lucas:No, the only thing that we are shooting here is in this beautiful Palace.

Rick McCallum:You know you should never believe what you read in the newspaper!

Question:Do you feel responsible for a part of the transformation of cinema due to technology?

George Lucas:I definitely feel a part of the transformation of cinema. I feel fortunate to be living during this exciting period in filmmaking. It's equivalent to the beginning of cinema or the point when sound was discovered or color. Digital technology is a new color for an artist in cinema to expand their imagination.

Question:Why did you choose the Reggia di Caserta and did you have other locations in mind?

George Lucas:When we started to scout for locations we looked in various countries and cities but Caserta was one of the most beautiful palaces on the planet and once we saw this there was no question that we wanted to shoot here.

Question:After the prequel that you're now going to do are you going to maintain the promise to finish the other three episodes that you promised?

George Lucas:I don't know if I actually promised that but whenever I do one of these trilogies it takes anywhere from six to nine years to complete. I may be young as a director but I'm not THAT young!

Question:Can you say something about the plot and what you have been shooting in Caserta?

George Lucas:This is a film about young Anakin Skywalker, he's nine years old in this film and he is the character who eventually becomes Darth Vader and the father of Luke and Leia.

Question:Why Caserta?

George Lucas:There is a queen in a society in the film who is a pivotal character and the Caserta palace is part of her home city.

Question:Why did you decide to shoot on location if you have so much technology to build whatever you like on the computer?

George Lucas:We're developing the technology to create sets but there are some things you wouldn't want to create in the computer. The Palace is an incredible piece of architecture and to try to recreate it digitally would be a vast amount of work so it's much easier to take advantage of some of the creations that already exist than to reproduce them digitally.

Rick McCallum:We were also getting tired of eating in England...

Question:As a young director, do you recognize you would direct the other episodes of Star Wars?

George Lucas:I'm not that young... There will probably be other directors who will do the other two because I have other projects I also want to work on at the same time.

Question:In all the new wave of fantasy movies there is a sort of spiritualism that has taken place inside the plots do you feel this is happening also in Star Wars?

George Lucas:Generally what I have heard is that all new movies don't seem to have any heart or soul and that they're all action. I think Star Wars has a heart and soul and goes beyond action.

Question:I read something that you said about the possibility of shooting on video the next film.

George Lucas:Yes, we've been doing a lot of research and development in working closely with some of the electronic companies to hopefully develop and shoot the next film electronically rather than using film.

Question:First hundred years of cinema history are somehow marked from Georges Méliès to George Lucas ...how do you feel about it?

George Lucas:I don't know...it's an exciting time to be in the cinema. I think the only other exciting time was the very beginning of Georges Méliès.

Question:Is Steven Spielberg going to direct the other two movies?

George Lucas:No.

Question:Who are the actors here in Caserta?

George Lucas:Natalie Portman who plays the queen is the only principal actress here.

Question:Somehow Star Wars targets kids and teenagers.

George Lucas:Star Wars is really a film for everybody, a family film.

Question:How much of Caserta do you think it will be possible to recognize in the movie?

George Lucas:I think you will definitely recognize the interior of the queen palace. All those scenes were shot here in Caserta.

Question:Are you having the same roles as in the first trilogy, robot with a human soul...

George Lucas:This film introduces the R2-D2 and C-3PO into the series. You find out where they came from and how they got started.

Question:If Darth Vader is young who is the bad boy?

George Lucas:The Emperor will still be the bad boy.

Question:How much will you shoot in Tunisia and when will we see the movie?

George Lucas:I think we're shooting about ten days in Tunisia which is the same amount of time I shot in Tunisia for the first Star Wars. Episode I will be coming out in May of 1999.

Question:What is the relationship between you being the founder of the George Lucas Educational Foundation and your activityas a filmmaker?

George Lucas:I have always had a very strong interest in education and in working with the new interactive technologies. I got really interested in how that works in the learning process and so my Foundation is dedicated to that. Obviously as a filmmaker one of the things I am primarily concerned about is communicating and that is also one of the major issues in education. But my work as a filmmaker is not really involved in the Foundation.

Question:How close are we to represent human beings with digital technology?

George Lucas:I thought the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park seemed very real. We are just about able to create human beings just as real and some of the characters in this film will be digital characters.

Question:But do they have a human look or a monster look?

George Lucas:The ones in this movie are all creatures. I only use digital technology to create something that I can't get actors to do. Actors are still the best way to portray people.

Question:In your movies there is an interactivity between humans, aliens and other creatures and do you ever think that there are other different kinds of worlds and people?

George Lucas:Well, one of the elements in Star Wars is to try to promote the understanding of different kinds of creatures. If there are any universes like this I don't know...

Question:Do you know anything about the Roswell alien?

George Lucas:I know quite a bit about it but I'm not sure it is true.

Question:How much is true of the fact that ET and Indiana Jones were born from conversations on the beach between you and Steven Spielberg and how much is on the other side of merchandising?

George Lucas:I don't really think about the merchandising before I make a movie -- I make a movie because it's a subject that I'm interested in. But after the movie is made, because I am an independent filmmaker, I have to figure out lots of different ways of making sure that I get my money back and merchandising is one of them.

ET actually started as a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and that's where Steven thought that up and Indiana Jones is something that I thought up when I was doing Star Wars many years before that little incident on the beach where I told Steven the story and he decided he wanted to do it.

Question:Is it true that the Royal Palace of Caserta is going to explode at the end of the film?

George Lucas:No, hopefully it will survive all three of the movies.

Question:Can you say something about your next projects?

George Lucas:It's really too early to say since I have two more years to work on this one and then when I finish I want to go on a long vacation and figure out what I want to do. I will be working on the next two films even though I won't be directing them so most of my time will be spent doing that but then I'll start writing screenplays for myself to direct after we finish the other Star Wars films.

Question:Will Indiana Jones IV happen?

George Lucas:We're working on a screenplay for Indiana Jones and its really now a matter of trying to get Steven and Harrison and all our schedules so that we can actually work on it because everyone is so busy.

Question:One of the challenges for directors is to take 500 pages of screenplay and turn it into 100. How was it for you this time?

George Lucas:The first time I did it I cut it into 3 movies. But this time I knew I was going to shoot 3 movies so it was much easier.