Shownotes: THX-1138

More background information for those who want to know.

Here are some of the items we referenced in this week’s episode of Ancient Geeks.

Tom’s soundtrack choice:

Bonus: an example of Conan’s “In the Year 2000” bit.

Steven’s soundtrack choice:

Here’s the Golden Flicker mini-documentary that we referenced. We found it very helpful in gaining insights about the production and the director’s cut.

And here is the original student film. Give it a watch (if you dare!).

Here’s a comparison of the two versions via stills: click.

Also, Robert Ebert’s review. Not surprisingly, he mentions the sound from the film twice in his brief review.

Here’s the torture scene that Tom noted.

Here’s a photo of the screen taken by SLT that made him think of Terry Gilliam:

Here’s the white void:

And as reused, years later, by John Oliver.

Our discussion of how Lucas directs and deals with characters is rather remarkably confirmed by this clip of Mark Hamill.

After all, the best way to avoid actually creating characters and/or directing actors towards a certain characterization is just to hire people who resemble the character and let them loose. Hamill specifically notes that Lucas did not like to talk about character backstory or motivation, which is kind of odd considering he was also the writer! This may help explain the thinness of the prequels.

It does make one wonder, however, despite the video’s title, if this makes Lucas a genius as a director.