Editing John Carpenter (section)

==Early life==
John Howard Carpenter was born in [[Carthage, New York]], on January 16, 1948, the son of Milton Jean (née Carter) and music professor Howard Ralph Carpenter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/70/John-Carpenter.html|work=Film Reference|title=John Carpenter Biography (1948–)}}</ref> In 1953, after his father accepted a job at [[Western Kentucky University]], the family relocated to [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]].<ref name=kye>{{cite book |editor=Kleber, John E. |others=Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter |title=''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'' |year=1992 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0-8131-1772-0 |chapter=Carpenter, John Howard}}</ref> For much of his childhood, he and his family lived in a log cabin on the university's campus.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Pioneer Log Cabin |url=https://kentuckyfolklife.org/pioneerlogcabin/ |website=Kentucky Folklife Program|date=May 10, 2017 }}</ref> He was interested in films from an early age, particularly the westerns of [[Howard Hawks]] and [[John Ford]], as well as 1950s low-budget horror films such as ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' (which he would remake as ''[[The Thing (1982 film)|The Thing]]'' in 1982) and high-budget sci-fi like ''[[Godzilla (franchise)|Godzilla]]'' and ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sokol |first=Tony |date=2022-11-02 |title=John Carpenter: What Hollywood Doesn't Get About Godzilla |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/john-carpenter-what-hollywood-doesnt-get-godzilla/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Den of Geek |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lanzagorta |first=Marco |date=2003-03-01 |title=John Carpenter |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/carpenter/ |access-date=March 7, 2015 |publisher=[[Senses of Cinema]]}}</ref>

Carpenter began making short horror films with an [[8 mm film|8 mm camera]] before he had even started high school.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Carpenter - Biography |url=http://www.amctv.com/person/detail?CID=1927-1-EST |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312062651/http://www.amctv.com/person/detail?CID=1927-1-EST |archive-date=March 12, 2007 |website=AMC TV}}</ref> Just before he turned 14 in 1962, he made a few major short films: ''Godzilla vs. Gorgo'', featuring [[Godzilla]] and [[Gorgo (film)|Gorgo]] via [[claymation]], and the sci-fi western ''Terror from Space'', starring the one-eyed creature from ''It Came from Outer Space''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Frederick S. |title=Carpenter's boyhood dream was making horror films |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyYnAQAAIAAJ&q=godzilla+vs.+gorgo |journal=[[Cinefantastique]] |date=December 12, 1979 |volume=9 |page=3}}</ref> He graduated from College High School, then enrolled at Western Kentucky University for two years as an English major and History minor.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=John Carpenter Biography |url=https://www.visitbgky.com/johncarpenter/biography/ |website=Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitors Bureau}}</ref> With a desire to study filmmaking, which no university in Kentucky offered at the time, he moved to California upon transferring to the [[USC School of Cinematic Arts]] in 1968. He would ultimately drop out of school in his final semester in order to make his first feature film.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}