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Early Career
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

American Graffiti (1974)

Torn out of his days cruising the streets of Modesto, American Graffiti is Lucas's love letter to a long since dead mating ritual. Seeming perhaps a sidestep in relation to Star Wars, when compared to the science fiction worlds of THX 1138, it was crucial in shaping the populist approach with which Star Wars conquered the world.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
American Graffiti (1974)
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

Maker of Films (1971)

Before Star Wars, before American Graffiti even, a young film maker is interviewed for a PBS special. Remarkable for its foresight in interviewing Lucas this early in his career, and for Lucas's persistent vision, much of which he lays out for Gene Youngblood.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
Maker of Films (1971)
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967)

​Lucas's breakout student effort, a dazzling display of guts and vision which took the student film festival scene by storm. A young Steven Spielberg saw this and felt horribly inadequate.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967)
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

Anyone Lived in a Pretty (How) Town (1967)

​A photographer walks around a small town, and as he takes pictures of its inhabitants, they disappear. Shot in widescreen and color, a technically impressive short, albeit somewhat uninteresting.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
Anyone Lived in a Pretty (How) Town (1967)
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

Freiheit (1966)

A young man runs through the wilderness, when suddenly he's gunned down by an unseen border guard. An early precursor of sorts to THX 1138, and Lucas's first (kind of) narrative effort.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
Freiheit (1966)
Michael Heilemann
Early Career

The Spiritual Disenchantment of the Super Machine Age

One of Lucas's earliest influences, Arthur Lipsett was an avant-garde Canadian at the National Film Board. His style had a tremendous impact on Lucas's early films, and The Force was rooted in his films.

Michael Heilemann
Early Career
The Spiritual Disenchantment of the Super Machine Age