spielberg
STEVEN SPIELBERG’s Earliest Films are better than yours.
Steven Allan Spielberg, (born December 18, 1946)[1] film director and producer. Two time Oscar winner (and victim of the Oscar Snub) and one of the most influential filmmakers in history.
I’ve been a fan of Steven Spielberg since I was about 5 years old, when I first saw the films JAWS. But I’ve never have seen his earliest works, until I looked up and realized You Tube had them. What don’t they have that isn’t MGM related material anyways ?
I have ran across a few people from time to time that decry the man and say it’s all BS and yes, it’s usually from the Art House Crowd wannabe who can’t see past the rose colored brain disorder they seem to have. If it ain’t Tarkovsky or Wenders, it’s crap ! Don’t get me wrong, I love those guys but if one cannot look at Schindler’s List and just not accept the genius, then you must be an idiot.
Speaking of Ray Carney, anti film fan with the thickest pair of rose colored goggles you’ll ever find and who has said that “Spielberg’s films lack depth and do not take risks”. Schindler’s didn’t take a risk ? The Color Purple didn’t take a risk ? Oh yes Ray, those films are sure blockbusters. Ray! You’re missing the point badly. It’s okay to like more than one type of cinema style or genre.
Before we get to the films …
My favorite(s)
Jaws (My GOAT)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Top 30 Ever)
1941 (Yes, absurd, but a timeless film from my childhood.)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Top 20 Ever)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Poltergeist (Phantom Director)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Jurassic Park (The T-REX scene alone seals the deal)
Schindler’s List (2nd Best Film Ever for me)
Amistad
Saving Private Ryan (Top 20 Ever)
Minority Report
Munich (Top 30 Ever)
War of the Worlds
Not Favorites, but worth the time
The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
Always
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Artificial Intelligence: A.I.
Catch Me if You Can
The Terminal
Bad
Hook
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Sorry Steven. George’s involvement with Indiana Jones has screwed up the entire thing.)
Amblin
Amblin’ is a short film released in 1968. It is the first completed film shot by Steven Spielberg on 35mm. The film is a short story set during late ’60s about a young couple who meet up in the desert, become friends, then lovers and make their way to a paradisiacal beach.
A young guy, carrying a closely guarded guitar case, hooks up with a free spirited girl when hitchhiking across the desert in southern California en route to the Pacific coast. Along the way, the man engaged the girl in an olive spitting contest and the girl initiates the guy into the joys of cannabis smoking and sex in a sleeping bag. As the pair reach the beach, the guy frolics in the surf and the girl checks out the contents of his guitar case: a suit and tie, toothpaste, mouthwash, a roll of toilet paper and a copy of Arthur Clarke’s The City and the Stars. The girl smiles in bemusement, perhaps sensing all along that her companion was a geek. She then proceeds to stand up and leave the beach, leaving the man behind.
ESCAPE TO NOWHERE
WW2 Super 8. Just like the ones I used to make when I was 14. Except not as good.
FIRELIGHT
Firelight is a 1964 science fiction adventure film. It was written by Steven Spielberg at the age of 16 and he directed it on a budget of $600. The film was his first commercial success, was shown at a local cinema and generated a profit of $100.
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No introduction is needed in this latest Visual Language article. Yall know the deal. Let’s get started and then let’s get to the shots.
Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski. Masters. This film went into pre-production in August 2004, with shooting dates of December 8, 2004 through March 7, 2005. It was released, June 29, 2005. Thin about that and the scope of the film. 10 Months from Pre-production to Theatrical Release. This is because these guys know exactly what their doing and why it’s so important to understand the art of filmmaking.
The Machines.
War of the Worlds is a 2005 science fiction disaster film based on H. G. Wells’ original novel starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It was released on June 29, 2005.
If you are serious about learning the art of film’s visual language, keep in mind this Quote from Steven Spielberg:
“I’m more interested in concept shots and money shots than I am in tons of MTV coverage, which certainly takes a lot of time. But if I can put something on the screen that is sustained where you get to study it and you get to say, ‘How did they do that?’ That’s happening before my eyes and the shot’s not over yet, it’s still going and it’s still going and my God, it’s an effects shot and it’s lasting seemingly forever. I enjoy that more than creating illusion with sixteen different camera angles, where no shot lasts longer than six seconds on the screen. To pull a rabbit out of a hat, because you are really a smart audience and you’re in the fastest media, the fastest growing new media today and you know the difference between sleight of hand visually and the real thing. I think what makes War of the Worlds, at least the version that we’re making, really exciting, is you get to really see what’s happening. There’s not a lot of visual tricks. We tell it like it is, we show it to you, and we put you inside the experience.”
War of the Worlds
I want you to look for certain elements and techniques, as I have noted in the breakdown.
Camera Angles - One of the hardest things to absorb is the 180/30 Axis and Line rules (Google it), Spielberg wields his wand and smacks the line around, using angles that flirt with the line.
Hand Held - The camera is the mind of Tom Cruise’s character. His mind races, as does the camera. The camera dictates to the audience and Tom what we’re going to do next.
Alright check it out, I have to get back to writing my feature.
VISUAL LANGUAGE - Jaws
Jaws. The defining film in my life. The first film I remember seeing as a child remains my favorite film of all time. Steven Spielberg was a Welleian 26 years old when he directed this masterpiece and it forever changed the landscape of the Worldwide Box Office, the film formula and Hollywood’s marketing machines.
Theatrical One Sheet
Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws tells the simple story of a small New England town terrorized by a great white shark but it’s in the 2nd act with what starts as a simple horror story turns into a Moby Dick tale at sea fueled by the 3 archetypes of Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint, our salty Ahab.
As much as it’s been compared to Melville’s Moby Dick, I don’t recall Dick giving people true fear. What Hitch did with Psycho and shower curtains, Spielberg to this day makes me think of what’s underneath me whenever I step foot into the ocean.
The film is perfect and I chose a very simple sequence too look at. A sequence which on the page was 3 sentences long. Keep this is mind all of you