View source for Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB

{{Infobox film
| name           = Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB<ref name="usc">{{cite web |url=http://cinema-tv.usc.edu/archives/lucas/thx.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130143355/http://cinema-tv.usc.edu/archives/lucas/thx.html|archive-date=2008-01-30|title=Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB|access-date=2012-09-23}}</ref>
| image          = Thx1138_labyrinth.gif
| caption        = THX escaping the electronic labyrinth
| director       = [[George Lucas]]
| writer         = George Lucas
| starring       = Dan Nachtsheim{{efn|The actor's family name is incorrectly listed in the film's closing credits as Natchsheim.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Gorman|first= Ronald J.|date= February 1972|title= Ready&nbsp;... Aim&nbsp;... Fire!|journal= [[All Hands]] |publisher=[[Bureau of Naval Personnel]] }}</ref>}}
| music          = [[The Yardbirds]], "Still I'm Sad" (opening credits)
| cinematography = F. E. Zip Zimmerman
| editing        = Dan Nachtsheim
| distributor    = [[University of Southern California]]
| released       = {{Film date|1967}}
| runtime        = 15 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
}}

'''''Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB''''' is a 1967 [[Social science fiction|social science-fiction]] [[short film]] written and directed by [[George Lucas]]<ref name="usc" /> while he attended the [[University of Southern California]]'s [[USC School of Cinematic Arts|film school]]. Lucas reworked the short into the 1971 theatrical feature ''[[THX 1138]]''.

In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2010/10-273.html "2010 National Film Registry Announced - News Releases (Library of Congress)"], ''Library of Congress'', December 28, 2010 (Revised January 4, 2011). Retrieved 2012-09-23.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-06-15|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Plot==
In an underground city in a [[dystopian]] future, the protagonist, whose name is "THX 1138 4EB", is shown running through passageways and enclosed spaces. It is soon discovered that THX is escaping his community. The government uses computers and cameras to track down THX and attempt to stop him; however, they fail. He escapes by breaking open a door and runs off into the sunset. The government sends their condolences to YYO 7117, THX's mate, claiming that THX has destroyed himself.

The USC program guide accompanying the film describes it as a "nightmare impression of a world in which a man is trying to escape a computerized world which constantly tracks his movements".<ref name="usc" />

==Cast==
* Dan Nachtsheim as THX 1138 4EB
* Joy Carmichael as 7117
* David Munson as 2222
* Marvin Bennett as 0480
* Ralph Stell as 9021

==Production==
Lucas had an idea for a long time "based on the concept that we live in the future and that you could make a futuristic film using existing stuff".<ref name=PollockSkywalking /> Fellow USC students [[Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)|Matthew Robbins]] and [[Walter Murch]] had a similar idea which Robbins developed into a short treatment,<ref name=ArtifactFromTheFuture>{{Cite video|date=2004|title=Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138|medium=DVD [on the bonus disk accompanying ''THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut'']|location=USA|publisher= Warner Bros.}}</ref> but Robbins and Murch lost interest in the idea, whereas Lucas was keen to persist.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /> Years later, in "The Making of THX 1138" DVD featurette, Robbins recalls that the "EB" in the title (and the character's serial number name) stands for "Earth born".

One of Lucas' USC instructors suggested an opportunity for Lucas to make the short film that he had in mind: since the 1940s, the USC film school had a working arrangement with the [[United States Navy|US Navy]], whereby Navy filmmakers attended USC for additional study.<ref name=PollockSkywalking>{{cite book|first=Dale|last=Pollock|title=Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas|publisher=[[Harmony Books]]|location=New York City|date=1983|pages=59–61|ISBN=0-517-54677-9}}</ref><ref name=FenschCampus>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last=Fensch|title=Films on the Campus|publisher=[[A.S. Barnes & Co.]]|location=New York City|date=1970|pages=50–51|ISBN=0-498-07428-5}}</ref> Teaching the class was not popular amongst USC staff, as the Navy filmmakers often had rigid, preconceived ideas about filmmaking, and sometimes misbehaved in class.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus /> However, the Navy paid for unlimited color film and lab processing costs for their students.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus /> Lucas offered to teach the class, and was allowed the opportunity.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus />

The Navy men formed the crew of the film, and some appeared in the cast.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus /> Because of the Navy connection, Lucas was able to access filming locations which would not otherwise have been available to him: the USC computer center, a parking lot at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]], the [[Los Angeles International Airport]],<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus /> and the [[Van Nuys Airport]].<ref name=PollockSkywalking /> Much of the filming was done at night,<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref name=FenschCampus /> with some on weekends.<ref name=PollockSkywalking />

The film was completed in 12 weeks, with Lucas editing it on the [[Moviola]] at the home of [[Verna Fields]], where he was working during the day editing [[United States Information Agency]] films under Fields' supervision.<ref name=PollockSkywalking />

===Score===
An eclectic soundtrack includes organ music from [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]]'s [[Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582|Passacaglia in C minor]] and modified excerpts from ''[[Virgil Fox]] Plays the [[Wanamaker Grand Court Organ]]''.

==Reception==
In January 1968, the film won first prize in the category of Dramatic films at the third National Student Film Festival held at the [[Lincoln Center]], [[New York City|New York]], where it was seen and admired by [[Steven Spielberg]], who had not previously met Lucas.<ref name=PollockSkywalking /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101029062605/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837841,00.html "The Student Movie Makers"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', February 2, 1968.</ref><ref name=CompleteMakingOfIndy>Rinzler, J.W., ''The Complete Making of Indiana Jones; The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films'', Del Rey, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0345501295}}.</ref><ref name=CameraAndAction>Bapis, Elaine M., ''Camera And Action: American Film As Agent of Social Change, 1965-1975'', McFarland, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3341-4}}.</ref> It also came to notice of parts of the mainstream film industry, such as ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' film critic [[Charles Champlin]], and [[Ned Tanen]], then a [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] production executive, who was later involved with Lucas' ''[[American Graffiti]]''.<ref name=PollockSkywalking />

==Feature film==
{{Main|THX 1138}}
In 1971, Lucas re-worked the short as a theatrical feature, ''[[THX 1138]]''. The last act of the feature-length ''THX 1138'' roughly corresponds with the events in this film. In the final scene, people are warned not to exit the underground city through the door,  which allegedly leads to death. In truth, the exit leads to their freedom. Cosmetically, there are similarities in coloring and appearance, although one noticeable difference is the actors did not have to shave their heads for the short film, unlike the later feature version.

==Versions==
The film became widely available on the bonus disc of the 2004 ''George Lucas Director's Cut'' DVD release of ''THX 1138'', and later on the Blu-ray release.  The film also exists as a 16&nbsp;mm reference print and on videocassette with a run time of 15 minutes.<ref name="usc" />

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{Internet Archive short film|electroniclabyrinth}}
*[https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/THX.pdf "Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB"] essay by Matthew Holtmeier at [[National Film Registry]]
*"Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB" essay by Daniel Eagan in [https://books.google.com/books?id=PxMWDQAAQBAJ&source=gbs_similarbooks ''America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide to the 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry in 2009-10''], Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011, {{ISBN|1441120025}} pages 115–118. 
*{{Cite web |url=http://cinema-tv.usc.edu/archives/lucas/thx.html |title=Film page from the USC Moving Image Archive |access-date=September 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130143355/http://cinema-tv.usc.edu/archives/lucas/thx.html |archive-date=January 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}
*{{IMDb title|0062331|Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB}}

{{George Lucas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electronic Labyrinth: Thx 1138 4eb}}
[[Category:1967 films]]
[[Category:1960s science fiction films]]
[[Category:1967 short films]]
[[Category:Short films directed by George Lucas]]
[[Category:American student films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Social science fiction films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction films]]
[[Category:English-language short films]]