Editing Steven Spielberg (section)

=== 1975–1980: Magician ===
Producers [[Richard D. Zanuck]] and [[David Brown (producer)|David Brown]] took a chance with Spielberg, giving him the opportunity to direct [[Jaws (film)|''Jaws'']] (1975), a [[Thriller film|thriller]] based on [[Peter Benchley]]'s [[Jaws (novel)|bestseller]]. In it, a [[great white shark]] attacks beachgoers at a summer [[resort town]], prompting police chief [[Martin Brody]] ([[Roy Scheider]]) to hunt it down with the help of a [[Marine biology|marine biologist]] ([[Richard Dreyfuss]]) and a veteran shark hunter ([[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]). ''Jaws'' was the first movie shot on open ocean,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://entertainmentvoice.com/2017/10/07/hbo-spielberg-documentary-is-an-unabashed-love-letter-to-a-film-lover/|title=HBO's 'Spielberg' Documentary Is an Unabashed Love Letter to a Film Lover|last=Sokol|first=Tony|access-date=October 8, 2017|archive-date=October 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009092937/http://entertainmentvoice.com/2017/10/07/hbo-spielberg-documentary-is-an-unabashed-love-letter-to-a-film-lover/|url-status=live}}</ref> so shooting proved difficult, especially when the mechanical shark malfunctioned. The shooting schedule overran by a hundred days, and Universal threatened to cancel production.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=22}} Against expectations, ''Jaws'' was a success, setting the domestic box office record and making Spielberg a household name.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=250}} It won [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]] ([[Verna Fields]]), [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Dramatic Score]] (John Williams) and [[Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing|Best Sound]] ([[Robert Hoyt (sound engineer)|Robert Hoyt]], [[Roger Heman Jr|Roger Heman]], [[Earl Madery]] and [[John Carter (sound engineer)|John Carter]]). Spielberg said the malfunctioning of the mechanical shark resulted in a better movie, as he had to find other ways to suggest the shark's presence. After seeing the unconventional camera techniques of ''Jaws'', [[Alfred Hitchcock]] praised "young Spielberg" for thinking outside the visual dynamics of the theater: "He's the first one of us who doesn't see the [[proscenium]] arch".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gleiberman |first=Owen |date=August 1, 2007 |title=''The Bourne Ultimatum'' |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/08/01/bourne-ultimatum-2/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022053043/https://ew.com/article/2007/08/01/bourne-ultimatum-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{quote box
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| quote = Like [[Francis Ford Coppola|Coppola]] on ''[[The Godfather]]'', Spielberg asserted his own role and deftly organized the elements into a roller coaster entertainment without sacrificing inner meanings. The suspense of the picture came from meticulous technique and good humor about its own surgical cutting. You have only to submit to the travesty of ''[[Jaws 2]]'' to realize how much more engagingly Spielberg saw the ocean, the perils, the sinister beauty of the shark, and the vitality of its human opponents.
| source = — Critic [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thompson]]<ref name="Thomson"/>
}}

After declining an offer to make ''Jaws 2'',{{Sfn|Baxter|1996|p=145}} Spielberg and Dreyfuss reunited to work on a film about [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]], ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' (1977). Spielberg used [[70 mm film|65 mm film]] for the best picture quality, and a new live-action recording system so that the recordings could be duplicated later.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=26}}{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=277}} He cast one of his favorite directors, [[François Truffaut]], as the scientist Claude Lacombe and worked with special effects expert [[Douglas Trumbull]]. It marked the first of many collaborations between Spielberg and editor [[Michael Kahn (film editor)|Michael Kahn]].<ref>{{cite news| author=Kristopher Tapley| title=Michael Kahn on 'Bridge of Spies' and Four Decades of Spielberg Magic| date=September 8, 2015| work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]| url=https://variety.com/2015/artisans/awards/bridge-of-spies-editor-michael-kahn-steven-spielberg-1201657009/ }}</ref> One of the rare films both written and directed by Spielberg, ''Close Encounters'' was very popular with filmgoers''{{Sfn|Baxter|1996|p=170}}'' and won Academy Awards for [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[Vilmos Zsigmond]]) and [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Best Sound Effects Editing]] ([[Frank Warner (sound editor)|Frank Warner]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 50th Academy Awards {{!}} 1978 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506033234/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978 |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |access-date=November 27, 2020 |website= |date=October 5, 2014 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Stanley Kauffmann]] wrote: "I saw ''Close Encounters'' at its first public showing in New York, and most of the audience stayed on and on to watch the credits crawl lengthily at the end. For one thing, under the credits the giant spaceship was returning to the stars. For another, they just didn't want to leave this picture. For still another, they seemed to understand the importance of those many names to what they had just seen." Kauffmann placed it first on his list of the best American films from 1968 to 1977.<ref>{{cite web| title=Calmly Disagreeing: Stanley Kauffmann (1916–2013)| date=November 6, 2013| url=https://rockcritics.com/2013/11/05/calmly-disagreeing-stanley-kauffmann-1916-2013/| access-date=November 20, 2023| archive-date=November 20, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120160534/https://rockcritics.com/2013/11/05/calmly-disagreeing-stanley-kauffmann-1916-2013/| url-status=live}}</ref> Reviewing ''Close Encounters'', Kael called Spielberg "a magician in the age of movies".<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael| date=November 20, 1977| title=The Greening of the Solar System| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1977/11/28/the-greening-of-the-solar-system| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| access-date=November 17, 2023| archive-date=November 17, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117231711/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1977/11/28/the-greening-of-the-solar-system| url-status=live}}</ref>

His next directorial work was [[1941 (film)|''1941'']] (1979), an action-comedy written by [[Robert Zemeckis]] and [[Bob Gale]] about Californians preparing for a Japanese invasion after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. Spielberg was self-conscious about doing comedy as he had no prior experience in the genre.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=30}} Universal and Columbia agreed to co-finance the film. ''1941'' grossed more than $92.4&nbsp;million worldwide upon release,<ref>{{Cite web |title=1941 (1979) – Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/1941 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127105919/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/1941#tab=summary |archive-date=November 27, 2022 |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]}}</ref> but most critics, and the studio heads, disliked it.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=30}} [[Charles Champlin]] described ''1941'' as "the most conspicuous waste since the last major oil spill, which it somewhat resembles".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Champlin |first1=Charles |date=December 23, 1979 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/385313148 |title=Spielberg's Pearl Harbor |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411025612/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/385313148/ |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=Part IV, p. 1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>