Close Encounters of a Third Kind 1977

Fig 1. Movie Poster.

Close Encounters of a Third Kind follows protagonist Roy Neary on his experience with his close encounter with aliens of the third kind. There are three kinds of close encounters with aliens: one being you’re close but nothing actually happens, two being the encounter that leaves physical traits like a hole in the ground, disturbed animals, telephone lines down etc. And lastly the third kind of encounter is when you actually meet them, the entire film follows Roy and other characters who have experienced this close encounter like Jillian Guiler. Roy’s gets sunburnt during his encounter and has a psychic implant which drives him to become obsessed with this mountain he sees in his mind which he begins sculpting first with shaving cream, mashed potatoes and then dirt from his garden (see fig 2), Jillian’s son gets abducted by aliens during her close encounter and also has the psychic implant of the mountain which she can’t stop drawing (see fig 3). It’s not until they both see this mountain on the news and they realise it’s a real place that they get too urgently. Tackling obstacles in their way they finally manage to get to the mountain where the UFO lands in the conclusion of this film.

Fig 2. Roy's Mountain.

Fig 3. Jillian's Drawings.

The effects were ahead of its time and the look of the aliens were non threatening, and lined up to greet and be welcomed, (see fig 4). However Spielberg challenges our expectations of the aliens, we presume they’re going to attack and start war however it’s a more peaceful encounter full of awe, the camera focuses too much on the awe gawking looks and switches back and fourth between the aliens and these looks which is probably intended to emphasise the interest and wonder but really is overdone and ruins the scene. However a praise for the ending scenes is the music score by John Williams, his score sets the mood and acts as a language barrier between the aliens and humans, “John Williams’s eerie five-note alien music-language, ending questioningly on the dominant (like a broken toy), is repeated over and over again until exactly the right cosmic tempo is found for communication.” (Bradshaw, 2016). Going back to camera work, Spielberg uses a face track on characters a signature movement of his and like in Jaws he uses high angle shots and special moments, in Jaws it’s when we see the shadow of the shark approaching the ship, in this it’s the shadow of the UFO. “One shot seems like a lighthearted quote from Spielberg's own "Jaws." In that film, a high-angle shot showed the shadow of the giant shark passing under a boat. In this one, a high-angle shot shows the shadow of a giant UFO passing over a pickup truck.” (Ebert, 1980).

Fig 4. Aliens.

Spielberg has brought out several editions of this film, it seems to be the film he is never happy with and this could be because he has changed a lot from his younger naive self when he first made the film. For example: Roy’s family leaves mid film and is forgotten about for the rest of the film, this suggests the idea that family gets in the way of ambition and adventure but later on in life had a wife and children. "I look at my movie and I see a lot of naïveté, and I see my youth, and I see my blind optimism... It's the one film I see that dates me, that I really look back and see who I was 20 years ago, compared to who I am now”. (Spielberg).


Bibliography:

• ‘Close encounters of the Third kind (1977) - original trailer’. (2010) Created by Movies Fan. 11 September 2010. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxp32VHaYdE (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Bradshaw, P. (2016) ‘Close encounters of the Third kind review – a must-watch director’s cut’ In: The Guardian [online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/26/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-review-a-must-watch-directors-cut (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Ebert, R. (1980) Close encounters of the Third kind movie review (1980). At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1980 (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Errigo, A. and Spielberg. (2000) Close encounters of the Third kind. At: http://www.empireonline.com/movies/close-encounters-third-kind/review/ (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 

Illustration List

• Figure 1. Close encounters of the Third kind. (1977) [Poster] (2017) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Figure 2. Roy’s mountain. (1977) (2016) Reviews. Roger Beaujard’s Stupid Place on the Intertubes. At: http://rogerbeaujard.com/2016/03/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/ (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Figure 3. Close encounters of the third kind drawings. (1977) At: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=close+encounters+of+the+third+kind&espv=2&biw=1281&bih=877&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwi-7batkL_SAhWlD8AKHfzIBFcQ_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=close+encounters+of+the+third+kind+mountain+drawing&*&imgrc=sBiEUxRNN64WqM: (Accessed on 5 March 2017) 
• Figure 4. Aliens (close encounters of the Third kind). (1977) Alien Wiki. At: http://extraterrestrials.wikia.com/wiki/Aliens_(Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind) (Accessed on 5 March 2017)