Steven Spielberg is a name not so easily passed by.

Through the years he has

directed and produced sky-rocketing films ranging from 1974 with his film debut with

Jaws, to the current day with The Color Purple, and Maestro. Spielberg has changed the

game when it comes to cinematography and directing. Many people fight over whether

Hitchcock or Spielberg is the superior one, but Hitchcock only connects the viewer to the

character through POV alone. While Spielberg uses thought, emotion, and empathy. Even

throughout his drastically different genres of films, he manages to keep that same

repeating style that draws in the viewer, and hooks them with the style of storytelling he

creates.

In Spielburgs films he uses his style to build nail-biting suspense that keeps the

audience engaged, hanging onto the edge of their seat. He does this by having the camera

pan between characters or objects. It creates a long period of waiting between them or

shows the importance of dialog or background. An example of this is within the first

Jurassic Park film, quite a few scenes show this style, but one in particular is when the

raptors are in the kitchen with the two kids. He only uses cuts between shots when it's

only on one of the characters, using them as cutaways. According to Jason Hellerman,

“By carefully controlling the spacing between characters, Spielberg can subtly emphasize

key aspects of the story and the characters' emotional journeys.” When the shot focuses

on both the kids as well as the raptors, he makes use of panning the camera, showing the

distance between the characters. It shows what the kids can’t see, but hear. How the

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dinosaurs could be anywhere, around any corner while they move from cover to cover.

Another example of this is within the movie The Color Purple. In the scene where Celie-

the main character- is shaving her abusive husband's beard. She’s faced with shaving him

with no cuts, or else he would kill her. And with his past threats, she knew he would do it

too. So as the scene plays out, Spielberg once again keeps the cuts only in for cutaway

shots, enhancing the vulnerability, danger, and suspension within the scene. He pans the

camera between Celie and her husband, furthering the danger of one wrong slice with

closeups on the blade, or any of the many distractions from kids or even the passing

mailman. Spielberg easily continues this style of connection with the characters across his

different films and genres.

Spielberg continues his brilliance throughout his other films, scaling genres. All

the while he keeps that same storyline, but it never manages to get old. “-it established

many of the touchstones of Spielberg’s work: an ordinary but sympathetic main character
is enlightened through a confrontation with some extraordinary being or force that

gradually reveals itself as the narrative unfolds.”(Barson.) He shows his style through the

use of perspective. We see this in movies such as Jaws and E.T. Within Jaws we see how

he conveys the question signified in the scene. He plays with how a character will notice

the slightest movement of the line when fishing, with the POV set to have the object as

big or bigger than the character to show the importance of what may or may not happen.

He keeps the audience engaged and guessing about what may happen next, building the

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tension with each cut, whether that cut is to a different angle or a cutaway shot. He also

uses perspective as a way to step into the character's shoes. This can easily be seen within

the movie E.T. For a majority of the film, the camera is positioned at a child's eye level.

While this may seem like it's just to keep the correct headspace or framing with kids

being the primary characters within the movie, it is not. Speilberg keeps the camera at

Elliot's eye level to show us how he sees things, how he feels and sees the world rather

than how the audience and adults see him. This way we can connect better, view the

world as he does, and feel what he feels.

The art of cinematography and film is something that anyone can do, but it takes

real work and talent to be able to create something so loved and game-changing in a

career where everything has been done. But Speilberg makes it look easy. His way of

filming has become a staple in the world of film, something that has changed it in its

entirety. “The film all but created the genre of summer blockbuster—big action-packed

movie released to an audience grateful to be in an air-conditioned theatre—and it

established many of the touchstones of Spielberg’s work.”(Barson.) He encourages the

use of creativity, working with actors to create the scenes we love and adore. Even when

using other directors' techniques he manages to make them his own. Spielberg is a name

we may forget, but it will always live on in his revolutionary works of art.

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Hellerman, Jason. “How Does Steven Spielberg Block and Shoot a Scene?” No Film

School, No Film School, 14 June 2023,

nofilmschool.com/how-does-steven-spielberg-block-and-shoot-scene.

Barson, Michael. “Steven Spielberg.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica,

inc., 5 June 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Steven-Spielberg.

“3 Ways Steven Spielberg Builds Nail-Biting Suspense.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 June 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5XB9eDVM4.