Editing American Graffiti (section)

==Production==
===Casting===
The film's lengthy casting process was overseen by [[Fred Roos]], who worked with producer Francis Ford Coppola on ''The Godfather''.<ref name=DVD/> Because ''American Graffiti'''s main cast was for younger actors, the casting call and notices went through numerous high-school drama groups and community theaters in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].<ref name=personal/> Among the actors was [[Mark Hamill]], the future [[Luke Skywalker]] in Lucas's ''Star Wars'' trilogy.<ref name=change/>

Over 100 unknown actors auditioned for Curt Henderson before Richard Dreyfuss was cast; George Lucas was impressed with Dreyfuss's thoughtful analysis of the role,<ref name=personal/> and as a result, offered the actor his choice of Curt or Terry "The Toad" Fields.<ref name=change/> Roos, a former casting director on ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'', suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander; Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor.<ref name=personal>Hearn, pp. 56–57</ref> Howard would later appear in the very similar role of [[Richie Cunningham]] on the ''[[Happy Days]]'' sitcom.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cj5LfIhSaoIC&pg=PA184|title=Last Season of Innocence: The Teen Experience in the 1960s By Victor Brooks|quote=Happy Days began airing only a few months after Graffiti came out, and much of the plotline revolved around Howard's character, Richie Cunningham, who was almost an exact clone of Steve in the film.|isbn=9781442209176|last1=Brooks|first1=Victor|year=2012|access-date=January 21, 2015|archive-date=June 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609084755/https://books.google.com/books?id=cj5LfIhSaoIC&pg=PA184|url-status=live| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref> [[Bob Balaban]] turned down Terry out of fear of becoming typecast, a decision he later regretted. Charles Martin Smith, who, in his first year as a professional actor, had already appeared in two feature films, including 20th Century Fox's ''[[The Culpepper Cattle Co.]]'' and four TV episodes, was eventually cast in the role.<ref>{{Cite magazine|author=<!--Not stated--> |url=https://ew.com/article/2008/10/10/hardest-working-actors-showbiz/ |title=The Hardest Working Actors in Showbiz |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=October 17, 2008 |access-date=May 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425162334/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C20232072%2C00.html |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status = live}}</ref>

Although Cindy Williams was cast as Laurie Henderson and enjoyed working with both Lucas and Howard,<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aoyaaDcsCw |title=Cindy Williams on working with George Lucas on "American Graffiti" - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG|date=August 7, 2013|interviewer=Amy Harrington|publisher=
FoundationINTERVIEWS|publication-date=January 27, 2016|via=YouTube |access-date=August 3, 2019 |archive-date=February 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224155038/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aoyaaDcsCw |url-status=live }}</ref> the actress hoped she would get the part of Debbie Dunham, which ended up going to Candy Clark.<ref name=DVD/> [[Mackenzie Phillips]], who portrays Carol, was only 12, and under California law, producer Gary Kurtz had to become her legal guardian for the duration of filming.<ref name=change>Baxter, pp. 124–128</ref> For Bob Falfa, Roos cast [[Harrison Ford]], who was then concentrating on a carpentry career. Ford agreed to take the role on the condition that he would not have to cut his hair lest he be offered other movie or TV roles set in the "present day" of the 1970s. The character has a flattop in the script, but a compromise was eventually reached whereby Ford wore a [[Stetson]] to cover his hair. Producer Coppola encouraged Lucas to cast Wolfman Jack as himself in a [[cameo appearance]]. "George Lucas and I went through thousands of Wolfman Jack phone calls that were taped with the public," Jack reflected. "The telephone calls [heard on the broadcasts] in the motion picture and on the soundtrack were actual calls with real people."<ref name=title/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/8/24/23843170/american-graffiti-anniversary-50-years-rerelease-george-lucas-harrison-ford-wolfman-jack | title=50 years ago, 'American Graffiti' showed '70s audiences a simpler time | date=August 24, 2023 }}</ref>

===Filming===
Although ''American Graffiti'' is set in 1962 Modesto, Lucas believed the city had changed too much in ten years and initially chose [[San Rafael, California|San Rafael]] as the primary shooting location.<ref name=change/> Filming began on June 26, 1972. However, Lucas soon became frustrated at the length of time it was taking to fix camera mounts to the cars.<ref name=Wex/> A key member of the production had also been arrested for growing marijuana,<ref name=drugs>Pollock, pp. 105–111</ref> and in addition to already running behind the [[shooting schedule]], the San Rafael City Council immediately became concerned about the disruption that filming caused for local businesses, so withdrew permission to shoot beyond a second day.<ref name=Wex/>

[[Petaluma, California|Petaluma]], a similarly small town about {{convert|20|mi}} north of San Rafael, was more cooperative, and ''American Graffiti'' moved there without the loss of a single day of shooting. Lucas convinced the San Rafael City Council to allow two further nights of filming for general cruising shots, which he used to evoke as much of the intended location as possible in the finished film. Shooting in Petaluma began June 28 and proceeded at a quick pace.<ref name=Wex/> Lucas mimicked the filmmaking style of [[B movie|B-movie]] producer [[Sam Katzman]] (''[[Rock Around the Clock (film)|Rock Around the Clock]]'', ''[[Your Cheatin' Heart (film)|Your Cheatin' Heart]]'', and the aforementioned ''[[Hot Rods to Hell]]'') in attempting to save money and authenticated low-budget filming methods.<ref name=change/>

In addition to Petaluma, other locations included [[Mel's Drive-In]] in San Francisco, [[Sonoma, California|Sonoma]], [[Richmond, California|Richmond]], [[Novato, California|Novato]], and the [[Buchanan Field Airport]] in [[Concord, California|Concord]].<ref name=San/> The freshman hop dance was filmed in the Gus Gymnasium, previously known as the Boys Gym, at [[Tamalpais High School]] in [[Mill Valley, California|Mill Valley]].<ref name=locations/>

More problems ensued during filming; Paul Le Mat was sent to the hospital after an allergic reaction to walnuts. Le Mat, Harrison Ford, and Bo Hopkins were claimed to be drunk most nights and every weekend, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local [[Holiday Inn]] sign.<ref name=":0">Baxter, p. 129.</ref> One actor set fire to Lucas's motel room. Another night, Le Mat threw Richard Dreyfuss into a swimming pool, gashing Dreyfuss's forehead on the day before he was due to have his close-ups filmed. Dreyfuss also complained over the wardrobe that Lucas had chosen for the character. Ford was kicked out of his motel room at the Holiday Inn.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, two camera operators were nearly killed when filming the climactic race scene on Frates Road outside Petaluma.<ref>Baxter, pp. 129–130.</ref> [[Principal photography]] ended August 4, 1972.<ref name=San/>

The final scenes in the film, shot at Buchanan Field, feature a [[Douglas DC-7]]C airliner of Magic Carpet Airlines, which had previously been leased from owner Club America Incorporated by the rock band [[Grand Funk Railroad]] from March 1971 to June 1971.<ref name=locations>[http://www.americangraffiti.net/movie_locations.html American Graffiti Filming Locations (June – August 1972)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120203128/http://www.americangraffiti.net/movie_locations.html |date=November 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.air-and-space.com/Douglas%20DC-6%20and%20DC-7%20Tankers.htm |title=Douglas DC-6 and DC-7 Tankers |access-date=January 16, 2011 |archive-date=November 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108232049/http://air-and-space.com/Douglas%20DC-6%20and%20DC-7%20Tankers.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=American_Graffiti |title=American Graffiti |access-date=January 16, 2011 |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721153212/http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=American_Graffiti |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Cinematography===
Lucas considered covering duties as the sole cinematographer, but dropped the idea.<ref name=change/> Instead, he elected to shoot ''American Graffiti'' using two cinematographers (as he had done in ''THX 1138'') and no formal director of photography. Two cameras were used simultaneously in scenes involving conversations between actors in different cars, which resulted in significant production time savings.<ref name=Wex/> After [[CinemaScope]] proved to be too expensive,<ref name=change/> Lucas decided ''American Graffiti'' should have a documentary-like feel, so he shot the film using [[Techniscope]] cameras. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting on [[35mm movie film|35 mm film]] and using only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling [[16 mm film|16 mm]]. Adding to the documentary feel was Lucas's openness for the cast to [[improvisation|improvise]] scenes. He also used [[goof]]s for the final cut, notably Charles Martin Smith's arriving on his scooter to meet Steve outside Mel's Drive-In.<ref name=Verna/> [[Jan D'Alquen and Ron Eveslage]] were hired as the cinematographers, but filming with Techniscope cameras brought lighting problems. As a result, Lucas commissioned help from friend [[Haskell Wexler]], who was credited as the "visual consultant".<ref name=Wex>Hearn, pp. 61–63</ref>

===Editing===
Lucas had wanted his then wife, [[Marcia Lucas|Marcia]], to edit ''American Graffiti'', but Universal executive Ned Tanen insisted on hiring [[Verna Fields]], who had just finished editing [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[The Sugarland Express]]''.<ref>Baxter, pp. 132–135.</ref> Fields worked on the first [[rough cut]] of the film before she left to resume work on ''[[What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)|What's Up, Doc?]]''. After Fields's departure, Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. He had originally written the script so that the four (Curt, Steve, John, and Toad) storylines were always presented in the same sequence (an "ABCD" plot structure). The first cut of ''American Graffiti'' was three and a half hours long, and to whittle the film down to a more manageable two hours, many scenes had to be cut, shortened, or combined. As a result, the film's structure became increasingly loose and no longer adhered to Lucas's original "ABCD" presentation.<ref name=Verna/> Lucas completed his final cut of ''American Graffiti'', which ran 112 minutes, in December 1972.<ref name=Jesus/> [[Walter Murch]] assisted Lucas in post-production for [[audio mixing (film and television)|audio mixing]] and [[sound design]] purposes.<ref name=Verna>Hearn, pp. 64–66</ref> Murch suggested making Wolfman Jack's radio show the "backbone" of the film. "The Wolfman was an ethereal presence in the lives of young people," said producer Gary Kurtz, "and it was that quality we wanted and obtained in the picture."<ref name="Marcia">Baxter, pp. 129–135.</ref>