Steven Spielberg & the Horror Inside Blockbusters (video essay)
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- A look at Steven Spielberg's set pieces and why horror may be the key to great blockbusters.
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Another thing that makes the t.rex scene work so well is the absolute absence of music. All the tension is created by the acting, editing and direction. The music being absent works well in that movie, because for much of the rest of it, the music is bombastic and full-on.
Yeah! I actually had a part about the lack of music that I ended up cutting. It's 9 minutes 44 seconds without a single note.
It's glorious. A "lesser" director would probably have put lots of ominous music in there.
@@Wintertalent Yeah it's because of Spielberg's relationship with John Williams. They're super smart about when to use music and when not to. It's just a fantastic bond.
Don't forget about the sound. The SOOOOUUUNND. So awesome.
Sound is 50% of a film, in most cases. :) It's one of the most over-looked things about film-making. Whether in analysis, or... the making of it.
@@Novastar.SaberCombat Indeed! I am studying to be a sound designer some day!
Fantastic video - I'd love an entire essay about the problem with "film student" perspectives on movies to begin with.
Go back and watch a video I made in 2011 called "Film Students Getting Punched." It's kind of like that.
@@zlodrim9284 and make it a documentary!
I have always maintained that the T-Rex scene is probably one of the best scenes in movie history.
Mr. Admiral Aweshum I saw the movie for the first time a couple of years ago (sheltered childhood) and I walked away feeling like I hadn't known what good filmmaking was until I saw that scene. We watched the recent Chris Pratt version immediately afterwards and I was astonished at how dismal it was at creating any kind of atmosphere or emotion. Spielberg is a master of the craft.
Agreed. So much tension slowly built then paid off. Audiences are putty in Spielbergs hands
I've never been much of a horror movie guy, but I do recognize their ability to create mood and manipulate the audio, visual and kinetic elements needed to create an effective scene. That's why I had enormous expectations for Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange, and though I really enjoyed the movie, I felt it didn't really went that far with the occult, horror palette. It could've been much more intimidating. On the other hand, look at James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy, what a beautiful peach that turned out to be!
I know what you mean. I thought Strange was gonna be a tad more scary considering the shit he can do. Regardless, I liked the movie a lot, even if it was very formulaic. My favorite scene was the ancient one telling Stephen "It's not about you." Powerful fucking stuff.
But yea, that's what's special about horror. What I love about horror is that it requires a lot of creativity since it's usually low budget. True horror isn't jump scares and scary faces, but shit that stays with you. That's why I'm excited for the new IT. The original made me feel like I wasn't alone in the dark. Shit like that is what makes horror...well..horror!
Civil War's third Act and some notable moments in Doctor Strange makes me believe the movies will implement some thrills to Phase 3.
@TheMemoman
I'm with you. Usually, horror isn't my preference as fear conquers my mind. Yet, hearing about recents (Conjuring, Split, Get Out) convinced me there's more to it than just scaring the crap out of you.
In 2005, I told my film class that Steven Spielberg was the reason why I wanted to get into movies. They looked at me like I just told them that my hobbies included drowning kittens.
spielberg movies are genre-defining, generic films.
That’s film snobs for you. I saw the same type of reactions in film school as well, and thought they were all full of shit.
I hate that line if thought so much
@@vgrepairsI only now realized how the words "genre" and "generic" are connected
@@sultim7570 they're safe films that don't challenge the audience's preconceived notions. The cinematography is played out with constant zoom ins on actor's faces to show their reactions to everything.
I'm so glad I never went to film school. I'm so glad I didn't waste my money on pretentious art snobs that forgot the FUN of making movies. You never cease to open my eyes more and more to my journey into film making. Thanks, Patrick!
This is one of these things you just don't think about and then when you hear it it makes perfect sense.
A lot of action movies have all been thrown on the same pile of "dumb action". But doing good spectacle is _really_ hard. With this video I think you've pointed out a relatively reliable way to make it work when aiming on the fear rather than the coolness.
What the fuck. So now an action movie has to have scary parts to be good?
Where the fuck are you coming from.
No. I think relying on tension is more reliable than relying on spectacle to make a good action scene.
Depends on your criterias then.
I haven't watched all The Raid 2, but I highly doubt there's tension in the sequences I've watched. (Jail fight, metro fight (hammers) and corridor fight (2 vs 1)).
Nor is there tension in John Wick.
I'm not a big fan of action films, even though I enjoy them, but I guess I understand where you're coming from.
The jurassic park scenes are extremely well made and exciting because you really feel there's danger.
But I think one could argue they're not "action scenes" in the way there are action scenes in more classical action movies.
Jurassic Park isn't an action movie. It's a good thrilling story.
On IMDB, i guess the labels are accurate : adventure, sci-fi, thriller.
On the other hand, Jurassic World fits much more in the category of an action movie. There aren't much scares, the main characters have the tools to fight back and the climax of the movie the characters are not fighting and it's a showtime with the T-Rex and the other dinosaur.
Oh, there it is. Labels on IMDB for Jurassic World : Action, adventure, sci-fi in that order.
Guess I make a point.
Jurassic Park 1 is not an action movie.
Nobody says : oh, what's jurassic park?
A good action movie..!
No.
People go like : it's fantastic! There's an island with dinosaurs, and of course a T-Rex, and it's just... great! Spielberg made it. The special fx are arguably still really good (the long neck dinosaur is not a pass... but god damn the T-Rex is) and it's a classic.
But what's John Wick?
-Oh, y'know, a really good action movie. The stunts choregraphy are really cool and you can actually see what's happening. Plus, the movie's lighting is really cool.
So yeah. You can't categorize JP as an action movie. It's more of an adventure... well, one can say, I must admit, action/adventure mixed with thriller elements.
But the T-Rex scene in this youtube video is definitely not an action scene, conventionally speaking. There's a lot of actions, but for me it falls more in the thriller category. It's scary and exciting. It's thrilling. Not trying to impress audiences, making them feel something.
Well I starting to run around in circle, you get the idea.
The Matrix movies are action movies.
The Mummy (1) is an action-adventure movie (characters can defend themselves and fight back and overcome the enemy)
Jurassic Park 1 is an adventure thriller action movie, characters try to fight back, but they're mostly just trying to survive the chaos.
oh. The Mummy on IMDB is labeled : action, adventure, fantasy.
See. JP 1 isn't an action movie. hehehe
You're just missing my point.
Both the Raid and John Wick are absolute rarities in that they _can_ rely on basically pure spectacle. But very few movies can.
And adventure movie will still have spectacular action-y setpieces and trying to rely on the "coolness factor" of it is a lot harder than trying to give a sense of danger.
I wish I had something more insightful to say than "great video," but this is really great work. I actually think the biggest single problem with Jurassic World is that Trevorrow and co. forgot that Jurassic Park was a horror film.
Interesting as Trevorrow says he's going to go in a horror direction for Jurassic World 3.
@@TheGeorgeD13 lol
I had the same 'fight' in film school re: Spielberg! Off-the-cuff dismissed because he was popular. And it was MOSTLY because he was popular; the lapses into sentimentality are a side argument.
What I've noticed with Spielberg is that people (usually) have three phases in their relationship with his work.
Phase one is when they're kids and just eating that shit up.
Phase two is when they're around college age and start to see the strings that Spielberg is pulling and the lack of subtlety behind his work.
Phase three is when they come around and realize just how fucking hard it is to be as good at that particular style of filmmaking and really come to appreciate it and fall in love with it all over again.
As for the sentimentality of his work... yes it can sometimes be a bit much, but it is very much part of his charm and what makes him Steven Spielberg. Deep down, it's a big reason why we all love him so much. His huge heart is refreshing and beautiful at the end of the day and I greatly prefer his sentimentality over some filmmakers' leanings into nihilism and misanthropy.
OOH! I have some inside info on the T-Rex scene! Spielberg looked at a very preliminary version of the scene, told his crew it looked and sounded great, and told everyone to go home. The crew played along, turned out the lights, and walked toward their cars. When he got to his car and drove off, the crew went back inside and kept working all night. As good as the scene is, it is FULL of mistakes from visible crew and equipment, to weird foley effects (The popping tire sounds awful) and the wall that was and wasn't tall alternately, as well as problems with the vehicles' glass and doors. The crew wanted to work the scene for much longer, but Spielberg rushed it.
All of that being said, yeah. The scene worked. Well. And made a huge impact on me. When I visited the home of multiple academy award winner Dean Drabin, an absolute master of sound, I asked him to queue up that scene to play through his unbelievably-expensive system, and that was when he told me the story above.
That's amazing! I'm not surprised he was working that fast since he made JP and Schindler's List in the same year (which is insane).
Jurassic park still holds up after all these years. Few films do. Stan Winston was largely responsible for the success of the film, because his puppets worked so well. For years, we thought Winston's puppets were CGI, and that the film had been a quantum leap in computer effects.
Dean Drabin worked with Spielberg, James Cameron and Ridley Scott. He said Spielberg is successful because he's loved, Cameron is successful because he's feared, and Scott is successful because he listens.
Hahaha that makes a ton of sense.
Amazing video man, I'm studying film at a liberal arts college and one of the guys in my class is a huge Spielberg fan and luckily everyone more or less feels the same way about his films. He even brought a breakdown of a scene from jaws that used a lot of the horror elements you talked about.
Thank you for defending Spielberg and thank you for the jabs at film students.
Any time. I could do both of those all day.
The line at (3:14) made me LOL because it's so true. I was in film school in '94 and helped friends with their film school projects in 2000 and I couldn't get away from those complaints. I'm also glad that you devoted a video to how steeped in horror Spielberg has been throughout his career. Duel alone is a masterclass exercise in suspense and my go-to example that Spielberg always had skill. Great work. Please keep it up.
6:13 NOW I know why I see a lot of directors who make big Blockbusters did a few horror films when they started their careers
Patrick, what the hell kind of film school did you go to where they would dismiss Jurassic Park ( or Spielberg for that matter)? At my film school, my professor wouldn't shut up about how great Spielberg was, and most students didn't mind. Some were even intrigued.
In my experience (and others I've talked to) that anti-Spielberg mindset is PERVASIVE among late-teens/early-20s film students.
(I studied Cinema Studies at Oberlin and spent a semester at the Prague Film School, and it was true of both places)
Spielberg mastered the craft of film making early on. Great at getting the most out of a single shot, long or short. For example the push in zoom out in "Jaws." Great at giving you the big picture by breaking it up into details,. The T-Rex being too big for the frame suggests more size and tension than showing the whole creature (ala "King King").
Wow, what a thoroughly detailed and enjoyable essay. Subliminally, I knew this about Spielberg but sorta denied it until watching your video. He truly is a master of directing horror masked as a blockbuster film director. I love his work.
V sauce for movies
musty max hey Vsauce, Patrick here
kaptainkristian is also good
musty max he even looks like Michael a bit
Woah
V Sauce is exactly who I thought of when I first came across this channel!...in like the first minute of his essay on Jaws if the shark worked!
I'll never forget The Airport battle and the ending of La La Land, beautifully done.
Thank you, Spielberg doesn't get enough love from film students. I totally agree it's better to have a back ground in horror when moving up in the film world, it shows you know how to grab and guide an audience
Awesome video! I have always told people who say they "don't like horror movies" that they actually do, they just don't know that, and I always mention Jurassic Park or Black Swan as exemples of blockbusters that have strong horror elements. It's a misunderstood and underestimated genre.
Never made that connection between action x horrors directors. Makes perfect sense. No wonder some of the best films in the past years are from new horror directors.
Interesting. I just had pretty much the same assignment that you had recently and I used Spielberg's shower in Schindler's List and pretty much everyone agreed with me that was a great scene and that Spielberg is one of the greats.
Jurassic Park is also a GREAT screenplay. It's so freaking brisk and efficient, and manages more thematic depth than any blockbuster movie I can think of. It's really got it all.
This is why I'm so excited to see James Wan's Aquaman...
Great vid - this reminds me of the memorability of Disneyland rides. I went to Disneyland for the first real time a couple years ago (not being a 3 year old, in other words). You can write entire novels on the genius of design of Disneyland, but one important thing for me was how scary the rides often were.
The Matterhorn, the lead up and drop at Splash Mountain, the in your face thrills of Star Tours, the Haunted Mansion's everything - they're all stories being told to you using fear to solidify the fun in your brain. When you look back, you don't necessarily remember every feeling individually so much as you remember it was the best time you'd had.
The best "Spielberg Face" moment is actually in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. The reactions of Henry and his men as the opposing army encroaches is the of the best hype moments ever in a movie.
Brilliant video man. You made me realise why most action films these days are big yet hollow
Steven also knows how to pick the right sound editors, actors, and composers. Movies should be more than just great cinematography.
Hearing his point about gold blockbuster directors doing good horror movies previously...they've opened my eyes SOOOO MUCH
And even the good directors who haven't know how to frame it in terms of danger rather than indulgent coolness. Christopher Nolan and Rian Johnson strike me as two directors who come from the horror-adjacent territory of thrillers, and both employ those principles in their action scenes.
Then again, with Dunkirk Nolan actually plunged fully into survival horror and clad it in army fatigues.
@@blokey8 yup
Hell even Rian's dp shot a few horror films
And that laundromat scene is pure horror
@@mrflipperinvader7922 I'm gonna have to go looking, Yedlin has quietly become one of my favourite cinematographers
@@mrflipperinvader7922 I was totally lost until I remembered the scene you meant. Good call. Heck, Cyd's gift in Looper is framed to be scary as hell too.
I had an assignment where we had to bring in an example if a perfectly directed scene and I chose the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The moment I said it the entire class laughed and I had to stand there for 20 minutes explaining why I felt that way.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an astounding filmmmaking masterpiece - and I will DIE on that hill!!!!!
I wonder what sort of scenes your fellow students brought as examples of good directing. Well worn SAFE choices like Hitchcock, Wilder or some obscure European? That's why I hate the college environment, an introduction to "How to be a Snob" without regard for reality. Spielberg is a great director for all the reasons you stated. Thanks.
I wondered this as well.
Having taught college as a film history professor, I'm betting that most of the students bring in something they think will impress the teacher, not a true example that they think represents good directing.
I think the ''Welcome to Jurassic Park'' scene where the characters first see the dinosaurs is one of the best scenes ever filmed. I always get goose bumps watching it, especially when they mention the speed of the T-Rex :). It's just perfectly made with a lot of emotion in it and a feeling of epicness few others can match.
This was a great video. Thanks for the clarification of why Senor Spielbergo is a great director.
This is something that i always noticed in a lot of (good movies) another great example of this, would be The Raid,wich plays pretty much like a horror-Survival movie.
Agreed. That's a great example.
When I was a film student, we were asked on day 1 to name our favorite director. I said, "My favorite movie is Jaws and my favorite director is Steven Spielberg." The reaction was total silence. Whereas when people named obscure foreign directors, everyone would nod and vocalize their agreement. However! I did gain a lot of respect from a select few who wanted to work with me because I was immediately seen as "unpretentious." Haha.
But what got me was, through the course of the first year, several different instructors referenced Spielberg movies. When talking about how to properly structure film's opening scenes, an instructor brought up ET's opening scenes. When talking about how to properly portray action, Raiders of the Lost Ark was used as an example. Etc. etc. etc. This happened multiple times... And yet EVERY SINGLE TIME the instructor would pause to qualify it with some snobbish statement like, "Not that I watch these kinds of movies but..." and then proceed to explain why it's a good example of precisely the kind of filmmaking he's hoping to teach us. Um, if you have better examples, show us! But nooooo. You chose Spielberg. Could it be that he IS a good filmmaker and his movies are often great? Hm? Hmmmm? Why not just admit it?
I think people just don't like to feel like they're part of the mainstream. Notice how diehard Hitchcock fans often have a disdain for Psycho. That one's just too obvious, I guess. But sometimes things are obvious because they're true.
Spielberg has a knack for mixing spectacle with the kind of intimate storytelling usually attributed to independent filmmakers. In fact, if Jaws didn't begin with the Universal Studios logo, one could easily mistake it as an indie film.
I love people who know to give Spielberg the credit he deserves. I grew up with him and that man knows how to deliver feelings...
I'm surprised he didn't mention the Darth Vader scene from Rogue One; it fits perfectly with this.
Revisiting this essay after Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, it feels like Juan Bayona saw this essay and was like "we are gonna make the second half of the movie a slasher flick with a dinosaur instead of Michael Myers" and honestly, that was the best part of the movie. I still remember that as one of the only things I enjoyed from that movie.
Thank you, Patrick. I've been thinking of making movies but i wasn't sure how to frame them. I think you gave me the answer here.
To Patrick and other fellow cinephiles, I'd like to try to restore a tiny glimpse of hope in film schools. In the class "Introduction to the Study of Film" (which is concerned with film analysis) we regularly watch movies every week in order to practice on them the newest things we learned and this week our professor chose, you guessed it, Jurassic Park, which he genuinely loves and chose, because it's the best material for applying what we've studied.
I should add, that our first semester is predominantly focused on classical Hollywood film and our professor was also explaining today, how the structure of character relationships in Independence Day contributes to its effective storytelling. I seems film studies are not doomed, at least not in the Czech Republic.
Oh, yes, and Spielberg is also pretty strongly liked by the rest of film academia here as well.
Anyone who thinks that Spielberg is dumb or over-rated doesn't appreciate a good movie. I think Spielberg also has a set of "pulp" sensibility to his films. Be it Jaws or Jurassic Park and especially Indiana Jones. It's not wonder even Lucas consulted him time to time on Star Wars stuff. Spielberg's films visual narratives play out as though they could be lifted straight out of the pages of some pulp magazine. Every line translated to a shot that doesn't waste space and throws the narrative and action forward.
Narrator guy is very articulate. Flows and stutter free. Nice work.
You had me at the comparison between Terminator and Titanic. Subscribed.
The shot of the jelly wobbling on the spoon while the girl stares on at something off screen in fear literally haunts me to this day.
Great vid. Great correlation. Can't believe film students would dismiss that scene. Definitely one of my most memorable theater experiences ever. It's so good.
I'd like to think that horror film directors are the people who understand the importance of visual storytelling. In horror, what the audience sees is the most important thing. Scenes can be played in complete silence and a good horror director will always know to make that silence be tense and eerie using just visuals.
Great video! JAWS is my favorite film of all time and, as a child of the 80s, Spielberg is my fave director. And it's for all the reasons you describe here. I'll never forget seeing Jurassic Park in the theaters on opening day and feeling the sheer terror from that T-rex scene! The audience was on the edge of their seats! Proof that Spielberg knows how to craft a scene. For me, though, his master class scene is the discovery of Ben Gardner's boat in JAWS. I know it's coming, but the timing of Ben's head dropping through that hole is perfection. I still to this day can't exactly call when it's going to appear. It's also a fantastic scene to watch in a theater with newbies! Great video, sir! Subscribed!
I used to be one of those Spielberg film school haters. Don't know why it's so fun to hate on him when you're in your early 20's. Glad I got over it. Awesome video!
There's a reason Spielberg is a household name. Film snobs may scoff at him, but he knew how to command tension on the screen, which is why he was able to create so many iconic movie moments. Not everything has to be above the intellect of the common moviegoer. I can't stand pretentious academics who dismiss the mainstream as not sophisticated enough for their taste. Like, I love Ingmar Bergman, but film snobs, you're not better than the average person just because you won't admit you also like blockbuster Spielberg films.
Couldn't agree with you more. My own screenplay "Nightmarica" was written solely based on the notion that I wanted to try for 90 solid minutes as intense as the abduction of Barry sequence from CE3K. Spielberg never gets enough credit for utterly fucking terrifying his films have been.
I'd tell you this: don't make everything tense. People stop registering tension if it's allowed to go on for too long. You got to pull them back and forth. It's like music.
Already written, optioned in LA some 3 years ago. Thanks!
Cleothaluum yeah sure it was.
You're right. Spielberg films has horror or a touch of horror in them. When I saw the Auschwitz shower scene in Schindler's List, it turned into a horror film for me. I still can't watch that whole scene from start to finish to this day.
Lol thats why I began to hate film school. All these snobs who think they are too good for these type of films. Most of them dont even have the talent nor will they ever be as good as Spielberg. I love movies period. Wether its terminator 2, star wars, or pulp fiction, or boogie nights, or la la land. A good movie is a good movie no matter what style or genre. Paul Thomas Anderson has a funny interview of why he dropped out of film school for this same reason. People are so full of shit.
Talent and taste are two separate qualities.
idk dude. I GREW UP well into the spielberg era. I drowned in the spielberg formula. I'm not saying I could outdo him in his field, but as an adult I just can't bore myself watching any more tame Spielberg blockbusters.
@@vgrepairsa Spielberg blockbuster is better than 99% of the best movies churned out today
@@bikramarora1819 Spielberg movies never challenge the intended audience's ideals. They're safe, pandering.
@@vgrepairs they’re sentimental. Not safe and pandering. But that’s part of the charm. It’s what makes a Spielberg movie his.
Safe and pandering is what we get from Hollywood nowadays.
I think that the horror genre and techniques allows filmmakers to expand their skills more than other genre. Not only can they learn to create vulnerability for a character in stressful situations and expand that over to drama, but just as you said, they can manipulate space itself, and create tension from it which is an essential skill in creating thrillers, action or even drama. What do you guys think?
Cristobal Olguin definitely agree, although I believe comedy works the same way. Both genres can be the hardest to make a great film, and great comedians have this wealth of knowledge when it comes to timing and pace. Good examples are Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade and Jordan Peele’s Get Out
I'd never really thought about looking at action scenes with a horror mindset. That makes a lot of sense with Raimi's Spider-Man films. In the best action scenes (the final fright from 1, train scene from 2 and Harry's attack on Pete at the start of 3) all feel super tense like Spidey only has to make one mistake and it's all over. Quite a few modern super hero movies could do with taking this approach as often the hero stomps everything with ease.
That's so true. The dinosaurs in Jurassic World weren't frightening for a second.
I really love watching your videos, it's just like going to film class for free. Please create a video about why Jaws is a good suspense movie.
I'm digging this channel - listening to it on earphones while working. Keep it up, man!
James Cameron's first 2 movies as director would be the "Piranha" sequel & "The Terminator". It's a pedantic point cuz it further bolsters your argument.
i really like your video essays man even though your channel doesnt necessarily focus on that. thank you for all these knowledge
One element that I recall of the T-Rex scene that works wonders for it's impact:
It has no music.
So many modern movies saturate every scene with constant music, overwrought, over-telegraphing, ceaseless. I wish more directors would be more strategic with the use of music. And I'm not talking about needle drops(ugh).
That final T Rex scream made my day...
Duel is also a very early example of how good Spielberg was on the Horror genre.
Patrick! I'm loving the analyses and breakdowns in your essays. It's truly opening my eyes to the more subtle elements in movie making and helping me too enjoy what I'm seeing on new levels. I just wanted to say thank you and please don't stop educating me! :D
the final fight from the raid redemption, damn it just thinking about it makes me feel tired
also, the moral here is watch horror, is good
Same. What a scene.
and great film
I'd say The Raid is also a great example of horror influence in a non-horror film. The hiding-place sequence made a friend of mine freak the hell out.
@@blokey8 yeah, i'd go as far to say that It Is a survival horror film as much as Martial arts/action. It's like a crossover thing
@@lamecasuelas2 Yeah, and the sequel blends with crime epics - with a level of finesse that still amazes me.
Loved this! I never looked at Spielberg films this way. Great job!
Great video. Loved the little jab at Trevorrow.
gj. grats on your revenge.
I've been thinking that, um, Legion, is basically Wes Anderson's older, poorer, more edgy more worldly brother, like, directed Xmen and Legion is that. in particular the first escape where we see the team, and, of course inside the ice cube.
one comment and one uplike for your thoughts.
That seems pretty accurate.
WartimeConsigliere +1 Username
JenSolo, likewise, i'm sure.
Your video essays are the way to go.
I'm a film student, and I love Spielberg. We're not all snobs...
Not everyone is. There are just a lot of them.
That's something I cannot deny.
I'm a film student, and Spielberg is my idol. I know I'll get laughed at for that claim, but it's true.
I honestly don't know why film students would laugh at other film students because they like Spielberg...
I mean, in my opinion he isn't the greatest director ever, but he certainly isn't bad. Not even close to bad.
Methinks it's unfortunate that those with good judgment are being dissed as "snobs" merely because they dislike the often-dismal work of a pop director.
Would have loved to hear a conversation between Spielberg and Hitchcock on how to build suspense
Class: "Ew, why did you bring in a Spielberg film?"
Me: "Because I have good taste."
Just found your channel, I am all about these video essays. Nice job man, keep this shit up.
The wonderful link of monster's fear through the rusty truck (Duel), the shark (Jaws), the T-Rex (Jurassic Park), the Tiger tank (Saving Private Ryan) & the tripod (War of the Worlds)
I have noticed this too. It's important for an adventure/blockbuster film to have a horror element to it to really create a sense of awe in the audience
This is a great video. Thanks for taking the time to do it!
Another great example of Horror elements elevating a blockbuster setpiece is Banner's transformation into the Hulk aboard the Helicarrier in Avengers. Shot from Black Widow's point of view, it shows us that the Hulk can be TERRIFYING.
Spielberg's most underrated film in the past 12 years is War Of The Worlds. I don't understand the hate it gets; it's bleak as Hell and terrifying, unrestrained and best of all, surprisingly believable.
Tim Maloney Justin chatwin and the ending
Yep. I watched War of the Worlds not too long ago and I realized why it's the best alien invasion film since Independence Day: it's freaking terrifying. And I love it.
I can watch Jurassic Park over and over again. It's so familiar that I can quote most all of the lines before the characters say them. I even memorized all the continuity errors. After all these years I still enjoy it Every Time. Very few films have that replay value, it's not the twist, it's the experience. Just some damn fine storytelling. Not every Spielberg film is that good, but that film is Great.
Wow man! I just binge watched your video essays and I'm gonna rewatch them and take notes. This is really helping me improve my directing skills. Thank you please keep it up. I would love a gaurdians of the galaxy video
The first 2 thirds of jurrasic park 2 had some great set peices
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are so nice. I wonder if I made a "Spielberg Face" when Steven Spielberg invited me onto stage at the 2011 Comic-con
This was such a good video!
Thank you for making it. I've wondered why it seemed like so many directors leading blockbuster movies started in horror. Like Scott Derrickson and Sam Raimi and David F. Sandberg. So your thoughts were really interesting to hear.
Film school Spielberg hate is nothing more than jealousy. There is a reason why his name is literally synonymous with movie-making... cuz he is a master of the craft.
Here's what I would suggest: Spielberg is a product of the age of the fiction of the Weird, from which modern horror springs. Aliens and UFOs, Fortean phenomena, all kinds of that stuff was really popular when he was growing up.
The snobbish attitude by film students about Speilberg has always eluded me. This is a man who has transformed the film industry, defined and redefined entire genres, created the summer blockbuster, pushed forward the need for visual effects, moved audiences with dark war movies and drawn audiences across the world into theaters better than any director before or since and has been greatly rewarded for that financially.......and yet "he's not good enough"🙄
Whoever says eww to Spielberg is absolutely in film line who are fucking jealous of his success 😑
T Rex Scene...one of my favorite scenes in film...it never gets old, powerful every time
I don't know about Director. I do know who my favorite Cinematographer is, and that is Richard Greatrex. He knows well how to compose a shot, and while I admit, I've only watched a handful of the films he's shot, there has hardly ever a dab shot in the final edits. He would be one of my dream team if I was putting together a fantasy film making crew.
Your comment about people complaining that Spielberg tells the audience how to feel too often is interesting. I've always seen it more that he conveys strongly how the characters feel. So the focus rarely feels like it's on trying to scare or excite me the viewer but on showing just how scared or excited these characters we're following are.
Spielberg clearly loves horror as evidenced by many now iconic horror moments in the Indiana Jones films, Jaws, Duel, Poltergeist and even his early tv work like Something Evil.
Thank you for at least slightly acknowledging The Lost World a little bit, as I feel it gets trashed a bit too hard. And as much as Jurassic Park is still beloved, not enough people give credit to how fantastic the direction and tension is in that film. It's my favourite film of all time and I doubt it will ever be topped. Keep working on all these great videos!
GOD thank you for being the other person that appreciates Spielberg as a horror director!
This makes so much sense that I'm kicking myself I didn't see it before. Even Edgar Wright does it!
When I was a kid, Jurassic Park was an horror movie for me. The first I saw it I couln't sleep for days lol!
I just got even more excited that Godzilla 2 is being directed by a horror director, Micheal Doughty (guessed at his last name )
Would you say that film school is worth it? Cinema is my passion and I want to follow my passion. I just don't want to suffer if I don't need to. (Great video btw)
Hopefully he will make a video on it, i'm in the same position
"Cinema is my passion and I want to follow my passion. I just don't want to suffer if I don't need to."
If you're truly passionate about something, you should be willing to suffer for it, otherwise, you're probably not as passionate as you'd like to think.
mikeylikesit100 Yes, and, I like to think of it as being willing to put in the work, not necessarily about suffering. When you are doing something because of a drive inside you, it's more about the daily practice, i.e. A writer writes, a designer designs, a filmmaker makes films because that's how they express who they are. The work is about improving the mastery of the expression. Not everyone has to suffer to learn how to communicate effectively with their chosen tool. However, there is a bit of a trend toward tortured artists, historically. YMMV. But some people don't mind working hard, or long hours, because they'd be doing it anyway, cuz it's who they are.
Haha I said tool
I think it's less a fear of working hard, and more a fear of being around snobby, uninspired people and grinding away in an inefficient learning environment that just kills your love for the art, when you could be teaching yourself more effectively, and in a way that caters individually to your needs. I think the real question being asked isn't whether film school is too hard, but whether it's actually a good education.
This video was far more thrilling than most modern action movies.
This was so dope! Jurassic Park was one of the first movies I ever saw and one of my favorites. The kitchen/raptor scene always scared me as a child.
As always, a really insightful commentary. I've been following Spielberg's career since his TV monies, "Duel" and "Something Dark" (?) which contains one of the scariest yet most understated scenes I've ever jumped at. What struck me while thinking about this video is that the very skill you illuminate that makes him so great a director of horror turn (for me as a viewer) into one of his greatest weaknesses: a propensity for manipulative sentimentality (see, for example, "Always "). I've no problem with tear-jerking scenes;but too often in Spielberg's weaker work I'm aware that he's trying to tug at my heartstrings, which I happen to find infuriating, of course, as your commentary illustrates, a great horror sequence is also manipulative, but somehow when Spielberg does horror he manages to be subtly manipulative and hence totally effective. It would be really fascinating if you were to follow up with one or more videos about how other great directors of horror create audience responses. Anyway, thanks for a brilliant video!
Awesome video, and completely agree on your scene choice.
Love it. Seeing your (brief) reference to The Lord of the Rings' effectiveness, could you make a video for them? I'm finding that my generation (high schoolers currently) aren't seeing films like The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and EVEN STAR WARS. I am an enormous Tolkien fan, and would like to see some analysis of Peter Jackson's brilliant adaptions to the screen, so that I can convince some friends of mine that these are artistically praiseworthy films that deserve a few hours of your time. P.S. Thank you so much for this channel. I love studying the art of storytelling in prose and on screen, and your video essays are fascinating.
Thanks, Sam.
Possibly! I'm long overdue for a rewatch of the whole trilogy. When I do that I'll see if it gives me any video ideas.
Well argumented Patrick, really well done. As for film students hating on Spielberg. In the academic film studies circles that I know (and I'm a part of) here in Norway, "Jurassic Park" is highly regarded as great filmmaking.