'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1977) is probably the most influential film of my generation. That work was the personification of good and evil and the way it opened up the world to space adventure, the way westerns had to our parents' generations, it left an indelible imprint. So, in a way, everything that any of us does is somehow directly or indirectly affected by the experience of seeing those first three films.

J. J. Abrams

Categorized in : War Adventure Stars

We used to have more references to things that we pulled out because they almost felt like they were trying too hard to allude to something.

J. J. Abrams

felt used trying

I try to push ideas away, and the ones that will not leave me alone are the ones that ultimately end up happening.

J. J. Abrams

leave-me-alone trying ideas

It's not a bad way to live once you let go of the idea that you deserve more.

J. J. Abrams

deserve-more letting-go ideas

Mystery is more important than knowledge.

J. J. Abrams

mystery important

It's more important you learn what to make movies about than how to make movies

J. J. Abrams

important

I feel like in telling stories, there are the things the audience thinks are important, and then there are the things that are actually important.

J. J. Abrams

telling-stories important thinking

When you work on something that combines both the spectacular and the relatable, the hyperreal and the real, it suddenly can become supernatural. The hypothetical and the theoretical can become literal.

J. J. Abrams

hypothetical spectacular real

I find that it's hard to fully examine one's life and not have faith be part of the discussion.

J. J. Abrams

discussion hard have-faith

I've always liked working on stories that combine people who are relatable with something insane.

J. J. Abrams

insane stories people

What's a bigger mystery box than a movie theater? You go to the theater, you're just so excited to see anything - the moment the lights go down is often the best part.

J. J. Abrams

excited mystery light

Honestly I'm excited about the possibilities of what comes next, and the funny thing is, that is sort of what "Star Wars" is kind of about. I mean, I remember being 10 years old and seeing that movie and leaving the theater and feeling like, oh, my God, anything is possible. And I feel like anything is possible right now. I don't know what's next, but I look forward to it.

J. J. Abrams

stars war mean

It's cool to be a nerd. There's a general understanding that smartphones didn't come from jocks. The digital age was foreseen by a group of short-sleeved, buttoned-down, white-shirted guys and their female equivalents designing the very stuff that's now ubiquitous.

J. J. Abrams

smartphones white success

Maybe there are times when mystery is more important than knowledge. I realized that the white page is a magic box. Ultimately, the mistery box is all of us. Ubiquitous technologies. What comes next ? Mystery as catalyst for imagination.

J. J. Abrams

technology imagination white

There's something about looking at Super 8 films that is so evocative. You could argue it's the resolution of the film somehow because they aren't crystal clear and perfect,so there is a kind of gauzy layer between you and what you see. You could argue it's the silence of them. You could say it's the sound of the projector that creates a moodiness. But there's something about looking at analog movies that's infinitely more powerful than digital.

J. J. Abrams

powerful silence perfect

Pitching is always a weird, difficult thing.

J. J. Abrams

pitching difficult-things difficult

There are always a bunch of ideas floating around and I do the best that I can to try to not do them. The ideas don't go away and, over time, are finally like, "Okay, it's been around so long, I have to get this thing out," and it somehow ends up coming to some version of fruition.

J. J. Abrams

going-away long ideas

You can never guess or assume what anyone is going to think.

J. J. Abrams

assuming thinking

I feel like the beauty of this age of filmmaking is that there are more tools at your disposal, but it doesn’t mean that any of these new tools are automatically the right tools. And there are a lot of situations where we went very much old school and in fact used CG more to remove things than to add things.

J. J. Abrams

age mean school

I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.

J. J. Abrams

grateful may kids

When I was a kid, it was a huge insult to be a geek. Now it's a point of pride in a weird way.

J. J. Abrams

pride kids way