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Spielberg: The Making of an AwardWinning Director
Spielberg
The Making of an AwardWinning Director
The Early Life of Steven Spielberg
• Born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio
•Son of Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer
working in the emerging field of computers, and
Leah Adler, a concert pianist.
•Was the only son, and was the oldest of four
children.
•Spent his childhood moving around because of his
father’s job. They first moved to Haddon Township,
New Jersey later moving to Scottsdale, Arizona.
•He was raised Jewish, but when he was young he
felt ashamed to be a Jew.
Early Movie-Making Interests
• As a child, Spielberg used his family’s 8mm home movie
camera to record camping trips and other family events.
•Growing dissatisfied with that, he began to film narrative
movies while attempting to use special camera angles
and primitive special effects.
•At age 16, Spielberg filmed his first feature-length
science fiction movie he called Firelight. The movie, over 2
hours long, was about an encounter with aliens, and cost
Spielberg about $500 to make. Spielberg’s father rented
out their local movie theater to show the film, and in that
night, Spielberg made enough money to cover the cost of
making the film.
Steven Spielberg’s Personality
• Steven Spielberg is considered as, "simple, honest
and with immense candor“ (Amitabh BachchanBollywood Actor)
• During his childhood, Spielberg was very
unenthusiastic when it came to academics, but his
love for movies was immense
• He would cajole his way past guards at
Universal Studios just so he could see movies
being filmed.
Personal Struggles
• His average grades caused him to get denied from the
University of Southern California film school
•Instead he attended California State College as an
English major since they had no formal film
program.
• In 2007, Steven Spielberg was properly diagnosed with
dyslexia. In a video for the website The Friends of Quinn,
Spielberg revealed that when he was little he, “dealt with
it by making movies.” This explains why Spielberg was
not very enthusiastic about academics.
•Spielberg divorced his wife Amy Irving after 4 years of
marriage in 1989. He was forced to pay her $100 million
which was half his fortune at the time.
Careers
• Aside from directing, Spielberg produced
and wrote the screenplay for many of his
movies.
• His first production company was Amblin
Entertainment
•It was named after a short film Spielberg
entered at the 1969 Atlanta Film Festival.
He also entered the movie in the Venice
Film Festival which got him a 7 year
contract with Universal Studios.
•In 2009, Spielberg along with Jeffrey
Katzenberg and David Geffen formed
DreamWorks Studios.
Awards
• Spielberg films have been nominated for
over 200 major awards.
•In total, he has won 33 Academy Awards,
11 Golden Globes, and 16 BAFTA Awards
for movies like Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler’s
List, E.T., Saving Private Ryan, and the
Indiana Jones movies.
•His films have won many minor awards
as well
Summary
The Extra Terrestrial (E.T.) is
a film made in 1982. It is
about a 10 year old boy
named Elliott who finds an
abandoned alien trying to
find a way to go home.
Elliott and his siblings must
defy the government’s
authority in order to make
sure the alien returns back
safely.
Major Characters:
E.T. – part of a group of alien botanists who is forgotten
on Earth after government agents tried to chase their
space ship.
Elliott- a 10 year old boy who is generally ridiculed by
his siblings for his crazy imagination. Elliott finds E.T.
and takes him in.
Michael and Gertie- Elliott's siblings who help him.
Government Agents- try to find the abandoned alien.
Conflict:
• E.T. needs to find a way to contact his home.
• U.S. government agents are trying to capture E.T. for
their research.
Themes
•Spielberg is trying to show that no matter
who we are or how we look, we all are the
same in our desire for a home.
• By using the researchers, Spielberg shows
the importance of keeping an imagination
(good vs. evil)
Summary
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, made in 1977,
was another of Spielberg’s notable science fiction films. This
movie is about an alien encounter by some civilian which cause
them to be compelled to reach a certain mountain. Meanwhile,
after experiencing some unexpected events, government
researchers try to find a way to communicate with extra
terrestrials.
Major Characters
•Roy Neary- electrician who has a close encounter when the
power in the town unexpectedly shuts off.
•Jillian Guiler- single mother who has a close encounter trying
to chase after her son Barry.
•Barry Guiler- 3 year old boy who finds that his toy
unexpectedly started moving. He runs out of the house to find
out what was causing that to happen.
•Claude Lacombe- French scientist trying to figure out how to
communicate with the extra terrestrials.
•David Laughlin- Former mapmaker who helps Lacombe.
Conflict
•After having a close encounter, Roy and Jillian are compelled
to find some sort of mountain, but do not know where it is.
•The researchers are trying to figure out how they can
communicate with the extra terrestrials.
Themes
• Nothing is impossible
• Do not be fearful of the unknown
Summary
The first of the Jurassic Park movies ,
made in 1993, is about a billionaire philanthropist
and his team of scientist who make a amusement
park filled with cloned dinosaurs. When Dennis
Nedry deactivates the security system to steal some
dinosaur embryos during a private preview tour,
chaos breaks loose.
Major Characters
John Hammond- Creator of Jurassic Park
Dr. Alan Grant- Paleontologist called to check the
safety of the park
Dr. Ellie Sattler- Paleobotanist who comes with
Alan
Lex and Tim Murphy- John’s grandchildren
Dennis Nedry- scientist who deactivates the
security system to give embryos to John’s
competitors
Conflict
The dinosaurs are able to run free because the
security system was deactivated, but by fixing the
system, they find that they have now released
velociraptors.
Themes
• With great power comes huge responsibility
• Even new technology can have it own failures
•Good always prevails over evil
Spielberg’s Technique
Lighting: In both Close Encounters of the Third Kind and
E.T., Spielberg uses less lighting so it can contrast to the
brightness of the UFOs. This way he can emphasize their
uniqueness. In Jurassic Park, less lighting during the parts
when the dinosaurs roam free keep a scary and
suspenseful atmosphere.
Music: Spielberg uses only custom scores by John
Williams. Williams has composed music for all, but two
of Spielberg's major films. (The Color Purple and Duel)
Characters
Going against the will of others
Close Encounters- Roy going against his family and
the government
E.T.- Elliott and Michael going against the researchers
Jurassic Park- Dennis going against John
Ridiculed by others for their imagination
Close Encounters- Roy by his family
E.T.- Elliott by his family
Jurassic Park- John by Dr. Grant and Sattler
Patterns
Examining Spielberg’s Imagination
All of the films use something non- existent or
extinct. This show the inner imagination Spielberg
had as a child which he uses in his films. Spielberg
used this imagination to get over his parent’s divorce
and his childhood problems with dyslexia
Themes
Abandonment- In all three films there is
abandonment which plays a role on the main
characters. For Roy it was the abandonment of his
family. For Elliott, it was the abandonment of his
dad. Lastly, for Lex and Tim, John initially abandons
them because he does not want to get killed. This
would be part of Spielberg’s film because he felt
abandoned by his parent’s divorce.
Good vs. Evil- In Jurassic Park and E.T., good always
prevailed over evil in the end.
I would definitely recommend Steven Spielberg
to anyone who enjoys movies of any genre. From
his imaginative animation films to his films based
on historical time periods, Steven Spielberg has a
movie for everyone which will keep you hooked
until the end.
Sources
•http://www.presidentialufo.com/steven-spielberg/344spielbergs-saucer-secrets
•http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/SpielbergSteven.html
•http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/?ref_=sr_1
•www.youtube.com
•http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/history
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/09/ste
ven-spielberg-escaped-his-dyslexia-through-filmmaking/