Summer Movies--#4

In our quest to explore summer movies, let’s move to the 70s and away from the beach. How about exploring a small California town’s obsession with cars and music and teens riding around enjoying both on warm summer nights?

American Graffiti, [1973] written by George Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck, is that iconic coming of age film that focuses on two recent high school grads in 1962 as they spend their last night in their California town before flying off to the East coast the next day to go to college.

The major activity every summer night in this small town is cruising up and down the main street, music blaring from your car, and socializing with your friends who are all doing the same. I expect this happens everywhere—it certainly did in the town where I went to high school: Mason City, Iowa. We called it “scoping Federal” as Federal was the main drag. You’d start at one end of the street, drive until the end, then turn around and come back. This happened every Friday and Saturday night. The main street got so congested that they passed an ordinance that the same car couldn’t go down the street more than twice in any given night… or something like that. But I don’t think that stopped anyone. Is it still done? Not sure—I haven’t been back to Mason City since I left to go away to college! But I expect with texting, things might have changed.

One of the amazing things about American Graffiti is how timely it seems—even 47 years since it was made and 58 years since the year it portrayed—1962. Take a look at the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SKQ80fSPQk

Though the movie’s set in 1962, how different would it be if it was set in the present? The insecurities of being a teenager haven’t changed, the desire to connect hasn’t changed, not being sure of what your future holds hasn’t changed…so in many ways, the underlying themes of the film transcend time and place.

Also, there is something—in many a summer movie—about blending music in with the plot that makes the movie more accessible, special, evocative of its time period. And as music changes from generation to generation, so do the movies.

Give that some thought—if you could choose a time period in which to set a film about summer, how would the music of that time impact your choice of a certain year? Would you want to do something contemporary and use the music of today or would you want to do something in the disco era or the roaring twenties or the dawn of hip-hop?

American Graffiti is a movie worthy of study. It can show you how to blend music with plot, how to showcase characters through music… and it’s also, like so many good summer films, one that has a strong story at its heart that most people can relate to—a story about leaving your old life to head off into the unknown to discover a new life. Wait a minute, that’s pretty much what writing a script is all about, isn’t it? Heading off into a world of your creation to see what you can discover… so hit the road!

Next week, another 70s gem… and this time, it’s back to the beach!

Copyright © Diane Lake

19Jul20

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com