Steven Spielberg: Bringing the Aliens and spaceships to Life

Film is a colaborative medium.  One of the finest collaborators is Steven Spiuelberg.

He collaborated with Robert Zemekis.

He collaborated with animator Don Bluth.

And, of course, every movie is a massive collaboration.

Including the special effects.

Most people don't know this, but Steven Spielberg's two masterpieces, Close Encounters and E.T., each had two special effects teams.

One to bring the aliens to life.

And one to bring the spaceships to life.

Carlo Rambaldi brought the aliens to life.

E.T.

The aliens in the climax of close Encounters.

The aliens in the original Alien.  Yup- that's him too.

1976's King Kong?  That too.

He won three oscars- for E.T., Alien, and King Kong.

He is the only special effects master who has had to prove to a court of law that his work is not 'real'.  At least, according to Wikipedia.

Hint: it involved the rights of animals that were not real.

The spaceships?  In Close Encounters, this was the pioneer himself, Douglas Trumbull, who had already brought spaceships to life in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The spaceships in E.T.?  Dennis Muren of Industrial Light and Magic, who had already worked with Trumbull on Close Encounters.

Who was one of the main special effects guys for the entire original Star Wars trilogy.

A hell of a body of work.

God loves you!

Sincerely,

David S. Annderson