E. T. The Extra Terrestrial Sparknotes
Analysis of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
People really don’t know what all goes on into making a film unless they work in the film industry. There is so much that goes into making a film from start to finish. From starting with an idea, to putting words on paper, it can take years to get the idea into a story. From there you have to present that story to someone who would be interested enough to make that story into a film. The work it takes to getting a director interested into producing, choosing the cast and crew and where this filming is going to take place can also take a while to put together. Analyzing is where one studies how something becomes something from the beginning to end.
We will be analyzing the film called “E. T. The Extra …show more content…
Terrestrial”. (E. T. The Extra Terrestrial. 1982) This is a film that was directed by Steven Spielberg, who is a very well-known director. This particular film story started off as an idea from Spielberg’s own childhood on feeling lonely and abandon by his own father. How he had his own “friend” to play with and talk to. After several big hits, director Steven Spielberg wanted put together another film but with a more personal story. The title of this film at that time would possibly be called Growing Up; it was inspired by Spielberg due to his parents’ divorce when he was just fifteen years old. (Hutchinson, n.d.) The story line included his own feelings of alienation he felt being Jewish growing up in Arizona in a Gentile neighborhood. The story was put away as Spielberg took on another film to do and would not be made into reality for a while to come.
The film called “E.
T. The Extra Terrestrial” is a film that deals with a suspenseful adventure of an alien that got left behind when government men showed up in the forest where the aliens were collecting samples to take back home with them and the life of a boy who feels lonely due to his parents getting a divorce. (E. T. The Extra Terrestrial, 1982) The story is about a boy named Elliot, played by Henry Thomas, who is a lonely kid that finds an alien and tries to befriend him by enticing him with Reese pieces candy. A mental connection started forming between the boy and the alien. Anything the alien creature did, affected the boy. In one scene, E.T. is watching a movie where the hero kisses the girl and while at school, Elliott grabs a girl and gives her a big kiss. Elliott needs someone to believe him, so he has to show the alien to his siblings. Elliott’s sister, Gertie, played by Drew Barrymore, teaches E. T. how to talk. This is when Elliott named the alien E. T. His mother is so caught up on the recent divorce and her job, that she does not see the signs of E.T. in the house. E. T. tells Elliott that he needed to call home. This is where the famous quote comes from: “E.T. phone home”. The children helps E. T. gather items up to create a radio to call home. E.T. started getting sick and because of the mental connection, so did Elliott. To be able to sneak E. T. out of the house and travel to the place in the woods to assemble the radio, the children dressed E. T. up …show more content…
in a costume for Halloween and pretend him as Gertie. Gertie had already left the home with Elliott’s bicycle and the items to the designated area to meet up with her brothers and E.T. What the children did not know was that there were men in the area looking for the little alien. These are the same men that had showed up in the forest at the beginning of the story. When Elliott and his brother Michael, played by Robert MacNaughton, shows E. T. to their mother, Mary, played by Dee Wallace after Michael finds E. T. barely breathing. Elliott explains to his mother that they are sick and possible dying. The mother gathers up Elliott and tries to leave their home and when they open the door, they find men in suits. Here is the same man that was in the forest due to the keys one can see hanging from his belt. E. T. disconnects himself from Elliott’s mind and dies. When mourning over E. T.’s pasting, Elliott discovers that E. T. is not dead. Michael gets some of his friends to help them get away from the government men and get back to the forest, where a ship arrives to pick up E. T. E.T. asks Elliott to go with him but Elliott tells him no. E.T. lifts his hand up and his finger starts to glow as he touches Elliott on the forehead and tells him he will be right there.
This movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, the story was written by Melissa Mathison, Cinematographic was done by Allen Daviau, Visual Effects Supervisor was Dennis Muren and the film was released on June 11, 1982. The main cast in the film was: Elliott – played by Henry Thomas, Gertie – played by Drew Barrymore, Keys – played by Peter Coyote, Mary – played by Dee Wallace and Michael – played by Robert MacNaughton.
This film was made for the Box Office release that made it a blockbuster. It was casted with the genre of adventure, family and sci-fi. The cinematographic were done by Allen Daviau. One of his best feats was in the scene where one was watching the bicycle chase scene. It is an astonishing feat by the delicately framed screen compositions and the use of highlighting and camera movement. (Film Refences, n.d.) Spielberg had the production designers build the sets raised on silts. He wanted the robotic puppet to be seen as realistic as possible. Being bolted down and its wiring hidden under the floor helped the puppeteers to observe and manage the performance from watching the TV monitors that were located in another room. To keep things as realistic as possible and to get maximum believability, he told the young actress Drew Barrymore that the puppet was a real live alien. In the scene where E. T. dies, she really believed he had died and her tears were real as she was mourning E. T. dying.
In trying to create scenes, the visual effects supervisor, Dennis Muren and his team had the task of creating realistic special effects. One of the most famous scenes was the full moon shot with the characters flying across the skyline with the moon in the background. This took weeks on their part, going over maps and charts to find just the right location. The characters were added with special effects in post-production. Another issue was trying to find a hospital suitable for filming. While Spielberg was returning from a overseas flight, his flight was delayed due to major construction going on at the airport. There were cylindrical tubes, hugh plastic sheeting and scaffolds everywhere. This gave Spielberg the idea to wrap the house in plastic sheets with plastic tubes coming from the doors. All of the scenes were shot in California. They used several different forests to shoot the scenes that were in the woods. In the first scene where the aliens had landed, they used the effects of fog to give it that creepy but excitement feeling.
In casting the young people for the parts, Spielberg had Henry Thomas come in and improvise for his audition. Henry was told to act out the scene where he had to keep the government agent from taking the alien away. Henry actually broke down in tears while trying to convince the government agent from taking the alien. Drew Barrymore was the first kid that Steven casted for the part as Gertie. It was claimed that young Barrymore told Spielberg that she was really not an actress but really a drummer in a punk rock band that painted their faces with makeup and the area was always packed with a lot of people. Steven Spielberg was impressed with her vivid imagination and she was given the part. (Hutchinson, n.d.)
When looking into finding a major theme of a movie, one can refer to what Goodykoontz and Jacobs said, “The events must have some sort of cause and effect relationship that the viewer can recognize or may be challenged to figure out.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) It is an important part of the cause and effects, where the viewer rally relates to the characters. In the beginning scene, the lighting here was set to very dim because it the cinematographer wanted to convey to the audience. The forest was given that foggy look that gives the eerie and loneliness feeling when people are by themselves. Given the same instant in the back yard, again it is foggy and at night time. As stated by Linwood Dunn: “There are two major categories of special effects: Reality effects and fantasy effects.” (Dunn, 1974) Getting the close up shots of when Elliott and E.T. first saw each other and the frighten look they both portrayed. This brought reality to the effect of the story of a boy and alien meeting. With the lighting in the dark and foggy area surrounding them was great as it portrayed the scene as one might see at night with the temperature changing during the night time.
Steven Spielberg created many great films that are critically acclaimed to him, as producer, director and as a writer.
He also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. He had gone to the Mar’s company trying to get them to allow him to use their candy in the scene where Elliott attracts the alien into his house. When Universal Studios barred Mars Incorporated to seeing the script, Mars declined. So Spielberg went to the Hershey Company with the idea of using their Hershey Kisses. But Hershey Company came back with the idea of getting more exposure for their newest candy called Reese’s Pieces. It worked so well for Hershey Company, that they reported over 65 percent increase in profits just two weeks after the premiere of the film. (Hutchinson, n.d.) This started a trend with film makers and product
companies. This film seemed to bring out every child’s dream of doing something extraordinary in their life. E.T. was so alluring due to the fact that it seemed to be taking place in our own backyards. It had naturalism in the scenes like when the mom walked into a pool of light before nearly shedding tears about her ex-husband saying under her breath, (“He hates Mexico!”). The majestic redwoods in the forest, the fog, and the way they portrayed the characters in the bedrooms with the shadows falling across the rooms, giving off the effect of the time frame of being in the evening during a lot of the scenes. Steven Spielberg was very well known as a storyteller, director and writer. Most of his biggest hits were dealing with aliens during the time frame when the film E. T. came out. This film gave the feeling that every child who felt different from others could change their lives just by finding an alien in their backyard.
References
Dunn, Journal of the University Film Association, Vol. 26, No. 4 (1974), pp. 65-66, 81
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video
Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20687263
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. (1982, June 11). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dvuf_R6KtM
Film Reference. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Cinematography-THE-CINEMATOGRAPHER-S-TECHNIQUE.html
Hutchinson, S. (n.d.). 20 Things You Might Not Know About 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/56256/20-things-you-might-not-know-about-et-extra-terrestrial Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.
People really don’t know what all goes on into making a film unless they work in the film industry. There is so much that goes into making a film from start to finish. From starting with an idea, to putting words on paper, it can take years to get the idea into a story. From there you have to present that story to someone who would be interested enough to make that story into a film. The work it takes to getting a director interested into producing, choosing the cast and crew and where this filming is going to take place can also take a while to put together. Analyzing is where one studies how something becomes something from the beginning to end.
We will be analyzing the film called “E. T. The Extra …show more content…
Terrestrial”. (E. T. The Extra Terrestrial. 1982) This is a film that was directed by Steven Spielberg, who is a very well-known director. This particular film story started off as an idea from Spielberg’s own childhood on feeling lonely and abandon by his own father. How he had his own “friend” to play with and talk to. After several big hits, director Steven Spielberg wanted put together another film but with a more personal story. The title of this film at that time would possibly be called Growing Up; it was inspired by Spielberg due to his parents’ divorce when he was just fifteen years old. (Hutchinson, n.d.) The story line included his own feelings of alienation he felt being Jewish growing up in Arizona in a Gentile neighborhood. The story was put away as Spielberg took on another film to do and would not be made into reality for a while to come.
The film called “E.
T. The Extra Terrestrial” is a film that deals with a suspenseful adventure of an alien that got left behind when government men showed up in the forest where the aliens were collecting samples to take back home with them and the life of a boy who feels lonely due to his parents getting a divorce. (E. T. The Extra Terrestrial, 1982) The story is about a boy named Elliot, played by Henry Thomas, who is a lonely kid that finds an alien and tries to befriend him by enticing him with Reese pieces candy. A mental connection started forming between the boy and the alien. Anything the alien creature did, affected the boy. In one scene, E.T. is watching a movie where the hero kisses the girl and while at school, Elliott grabs a girl and gives her a big kiss. Elliott needs someone to believe him, so he has to show the alien to his siblings. Elliott’s sister, Gertie, played by Drew Barrymore, teaches E. T. how to talk. This is when Elliott named the alien E. T. His mother is so caught up on the recent divorce and her job, that she does not see the signs of E.T. in the house. E. T. tells Elliott that he needed to call home. This is where the famous quote comes from: “E.T. phone home”. The children helps E. T. gather items up to create a radio to call home. E.T. started getting sick and because of the mental connection, so did Elliott. To be able to sneak E. T. out of the house and travel to the place in the woods to assemble the radio, the children dressed E. T. up …show more content…
in a costume for Halloween and pretend him as Gertie. Gertie had already left the home with Elliott’s bicycle and the items to the designated area to meet up with her brothers and E.T. What the children did not know was that there were men in the area looking for the little alien. These are the same men that had showed up in the forest at the beginning of the story. When Elliott and his brother Michael, played by Robert MacNaughton, shows E. T. to their mother, Mary, played by Dee Wallace after Michael finds E. T. barely breathing. Elliott explains to his mother that they are sick and possible dying. The mother gathers up Elliott and tries to leave their home and when they open the door, they find men in suits. Here is the same man that was in the forest due to the keys one can see hanging from his belt. E. T. disconnects himself from Elliott’s mind and dies. When mourning over E. T.’s pasting, Elliott discovers that E. T. is not dead. Michael gets some of his friends to help them get away from the government men and get back to the forest, where a ship arrives to pick up E. T. E.T. asks Elliott to go with him but Elliott tells him no. E.T. lifts his hand up and his finger starts to glow as he touches Elliott on the forehead and tells him he will be right there.
This movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, the story was written by Melissa Mathison, Cinematographic was done by Allen Daviau, Visual Effects Supervisor was Dennis Muren and the film was released on June 11, 1982. The main cast in the film was: Elliott – played by Henry Thomas, Gertie – played by Drew Barrymore, Keys – played by Peter Coyote, Mary – played by Dee Wallace and Michael – played by Robert MacNaughton.
This film was made for the Box Office release that made it a blockbuster. It was casted with the genre of adventure, family and sci-fi. The cinematographic were done by Allen Daviau. One of his best feats was in the scene where one was watching the bicycle chase scene. It is an astonishing feat by the delicately framed screen compositions and the use of highlighting and camera movement. (Film Refences, n.d.) Spielberg had the production designers build the sets raised on silts. He wanted the robotic puppet to be seen as realistic as possible. Being bolted down and its wiring hidden under the floor helped the puppeteers to observe and manage the performance from watching the TV monitors that were located in another room. To keep things as realistic as possible and to get maximum believability, he told the young actress Drew Barrymore that the puppet was a real live alien. In the scene where E. T. dies, she really believed he had died and her tears were real as she was mourning E. T. dying.
In trying to create scenes, the visual effects supervisor, Dennis Muren and his team had the task of creating realistic special effects. One of the most famous scenes was the full moon shot with the characters flying across the skyline with the moon in the background. This took weeks on their part, going over maps and charts to find just the right location. The characters were added with special effects in post-production. Another issue was trying to find a hospital suitable for filming. While Spielberg was returning from a overseas flight, his flight was delayed due to major construction going on at the airport. There were cylindrical tubes, hugh plastic sheeting and scaffolds everywhere. This gave Spielberg the idea to wrap the house in plastic sheets with plastic tubes coming from the doors. All of the scenes were shot in California. They used several different forests to shoot the scenes that were in the woods. In the first scene where the aliens had landed, they used the effects of fog to give it that creepy but excitement feeling.
In casting the young people for the parts, Spielberg had Henry Thomas come in and improvise for his audition. Henry was told to act out the scene where he had to keep the government agent from taking the alien away. Henry actually broke down in tears while trying to convince the government agent from taking the alien. Drew Barrymore was the first kid that Steven casted for the part as Gertie. It was claimed that young Barrymore told Spielberg that she was really not an actress but really a drummer in a punk rock band that painted their faces with makeup and the area was always packed with a lot of people. Steven Spielberg was impressed with her vivid imagination and she was given the part. (Hutchinson, n.d.)
When looking into finding a major theme of a movie, one can refer to what Goodykoontz and Jacobs said, “The events must have some sort of cause and effect relationship that the viewer can recognize or may be challenged to figure out.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) It is an important part of the cause and effects, where the viewer rally relates to the characters. In the beginning scene, the lighting here was set to very dim because it the cinematographer wanted to convey to the audience. The forest was given that foggy look that gives the eerie and loneliness feeling when people are by themselves. Given the same instant in the back yard, again it is foggy and at night time. As stated by Linwood Dunn: “There are two major categories of special effects: Reality effects and fantasy effects.” (Dunn, 1974) Getting the close up shots of when Elliott and E.T. first saw each other and the frighten look they both portrayed. This brought reality to the effect of the story of a boy and alien meeting. With the lighting in the dark and foggy area surrounding them was great as it portrayed the scene as one might see at night with the temperature changing during the night time.
Steven Spielberg created many great films that are critically acclaimed to him, as producer, director and as a writer.
He also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. He had gone to the Mar’s company trying to get them to allow him to use their candy in the scene where Elliott attracts the alien into his house. When Universal Studios barred Mars Incorporated to seeing the script, Mars declined. So Spielberg went to the Hershey Company with the idea of using their Hershey Kisses. But Hershey Company came back with the idea of getting more exposure for their newest candy called Reese’s Pieces. It worked so well for Hershey Company, that they reported over 65 percent increase in profits just two weeks after the premiere of the film. (Hutchinson, n.d.) This started a trend with film makers and product
companies. This film seemed to bring out every child’s dream of doing something extraordinary in their life. E.T. was so alluring due to the fact that it seemed to be taking place in our own backyards. It had naturalism in the scenes like when the mom walked into a pool of light before nearly shedding tears about her ex-husband saying under her breath, (“He hates Mexico!”). The majestic redwoods in the forest, the fog, and the way they portrayed the characters in the bedrooms with the shadows falling across the rooms, giving off the effect of the time frame of being in the evening during a lot of the scenes. Steven Spielberg was very well known as a storyteller, director and writer. Most of his biggest hits were dealing with aliens during the time frame when the film E. T. came out. This film gave the feeling that every child who felt different from others could change their lives just by finding an alien in their backyard.
References
Dunn, Journal of the University Film Association, Vol. 26, No. 4 (1974), pp. 65-66, 81
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video
Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20687263
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. (1982, June 11). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dvuf_R6KtM
Film Reference. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Cinematography-THE-CINEMATOGRAPHER-S-TECHNIQUE.html
Hutchinson, S. (n.d.). 20 Things You Might Not Know About 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/56256/20-things-you-might-not-know-about-et-extra-terrestrial Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.