NOSTALGIA, MASCULINIST DISCOURSE, AND AUTHORITARIANISM in John Williams’ Scores for Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind

2018 ◽  
pp. 96-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEIL LERNER
Keyword(s):  
Star Wars ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
John Williams

Close Encounters: Genre and Context

2016 ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Jon Towlson
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Special Effects ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
Human Need ◽  
Science Fiction Films

This chapter discusses the genre and context of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). It begins by tracing the emergence of science fiction in literature and in cinema. The chapter then looks at how film serials popularised pulp science-fiction cinema in the form of rocketships, ray guns, alien invaders, evil intergalactic emperors, and damsels in distress. One can see them as the inspiration for the likes of Star Wars and the myriad superhero blockbuster movies that continue to dominate Hollywood today. In 1968, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey returned science fiction to its origins in Greek mythology. It is perhaps the first example of ‘transcendent’ science-fiction cinema, exploring the human need to place trust in a force larger than ourselves. In the early 1970s, science-fiction films were more overtly concerned with identity and environment, and how both were increasingly shaped or misshapen by technology. Meanwhile, post-9/11 has seen a move towards intelligent science fiction as a bankable commodity within Hollywood. Part of the genre's continuing appeal is, of course, the showcasing of state-of-the-art cinema technology within the sci-fi narrative. Special-effects technology has evolved in line with cinema's own development.

Close Encounters: Analysis

2016 ◽  
pp. 57-124
Author(s):  
Jon Towlson
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Emotional Involvement ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
New Hollywood ◽  
John Williams

This chapter presents a detailed analysis of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). The long take is a Spielberg staple: examples exist in each of his films, but it is an aspect of his work rarely commented upon, possibly because his plan séquences are characterised by their very invisibility. The effect of the long take on the viewer is to draw them into the scene, increasing emotional involvement; and this reflects Spielberg's essentially intuitive approach to filmmaking. Arguably, the plan séquence shots in Close Encounters are some of the most effective of Spielberg's career for this reason. The chapter then looks at Spielberg's collaboration with Hungarian-born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond on Close Encounters, which links Spielberg interestingly to the New Hollywood of the 1970s. It also explores the characters and themes of the film, as well as John Williams' contribution to Close Encounters.

Infinite Worlds

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-87
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Eller
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
Jules Verne ◽  
Federico Fellini ◽  
Birthday Anniversary ◽  
High Regard

Chapter 11 documents Bradbury’s 1978 trip to Europe and his participation in the 150th birthday anniversary celebrations for Jules Verne. He was an honored guest in Paris and continued with his wife to visit Italian film director Federico Fellini at his studio in Rome. The chapter also surveys the back story to Bradbury’s visit with Fellini, and Fellini’s sense that they were spiritual twins, sharing a love of fantasy and a distain of authoritarianism. The success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the high regard he found for science fiction and fantasy films in Europe, led Bradbury to change film agents back in Los Angeles.

scholarly journals Close encounters with scientific analogies of the third kind

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Nappo
Keyword(s):  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters

AbstractArguments from non-causal analogy form a distinctive class of analogical arguments in science not recognized in authoritative classifications by, e.g., Hesse (1963) and Bartha (2009). In this paper, I illustrate this novel class of scientific analogies by means of historical examples from physics, biology and economics, at the same time emphasizing their broader significance for contemporary debates in epistemology.

Close Encounters of the Third World

1981 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia A. Karch ◽  
G. H. S. Dann
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
The Third World

Jurassic Park

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Bullock
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Steven Spielberg ◽  
The Third ◽  
Close Encounters ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

‘Constellations: Jurassic Park’ explores how Steven Spielberg used the film to investigate several key themes that have been important to him across his career. These themes are: nature and humankind’s relationship with it, the importance of cinematic fantasy and how it shapes our view of the world, and the impact of toxic masculinity on both men and women. The book also looks at how Spielberg blends genres across his career as a whole and Jurassic Park specifically. This is particularly true of the science fiction and horror genres, which are used in Jurassic Park to create a film that is both cathartically scary and thematically satisfying. These points are contextualised within the wider scope of Spielberg’s life and career to understand how Jurassic Park acted as bridging point between the light entertainments he had been known for up to that point (Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for example) and the more serious filmmaking he focused on after its release (Saving Private Ryan and Lincoln).

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