The success of Steven Spielberg

An American Filmmaker and producer who started with amateur productions and became one of the most talented filmmakers of his time.

His delayed Education

Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California of Theatre, film and television 3 times before he stopped applying. He did attend a different school however he dropped out as his career as a director was beginning.

About 20 years later, Spielberg went back to get his college education in film and electronic arts as he valued his goal for a degree.

His career

Spielberg began by making home movies with an old camera of his father’s and fell in love with his new hobby.

His first amateur film, ‘Escape to Nowhere’ was entered in a contest which won his multiple prizes including a new camera.

In 1964, Spielberg created his first feature film ‘Firelight’ when he was 16 years old which he made a profit from as his first commercial success.

Spielberg worked his way into Hollywood and directed various episode of TV series before he directed his first movie in 1971, ‘Duel.’

His love for Sci-fi and creating real lives clashing with extraordinary events or characters inspired his films in the future. The creation of ‘Jaws’ in 1975 created a mass popularity for the new perspective of the Shark.

The Horror of Jaws

His second feature film, Jaws became sensation on screen however, the production was less than smooth.

The book came out in 1974 and in hopes of riding the popularity wave they aimed to get the film released in a matter of months with a budget of $3.5m.

They managed to persuade Bob Mattey to come out of retirement to create a 25 foot mechanical shark for the film which had to thrash, swim and generally terrify the audience. When the shark was made and tested there was major disappointment as the salt water corroded the insides and the shark flipped over. They had to start by filming all scenes where the shark was not in shot waiting for the shark to work. Using the terror of the unknown began working to their advantage with the water being unclear and the depths of the sea becoming the horror of the film. This film before its success was a disaster for crew and Spielberg reports he believed it could have ended his career.

As Spielberg created a new way to shoot the malfunctioning shark the film finally came together even through crew strikes and fallouts. After 159 days of shooting, far after the deadline the film became a great success propelling his career further.