• Source: Firelight (1964 film)

Firelight is a 1964 American science fiction adventure film written and directed by Steven Spielberg at the age of 17. Made on a budget of $500, the film was shown at a local cinema and generated a profit of $1. "I counted the receipts that night", Spielberg has recalled, "And we charged a dollar a ticket. Five hundred people came to the movie and I think somebody probably paid two dollars, because we made one dollar profit that night, and that was it."
Only three minutes and forty seconds of footage has been made public, about 3% of the original length. Spielberg returned to its subject matter for his third major film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).




Plot


Firelight follows a group of scientists — particularly Tony Karcher and UFO believer Howard Richards — as they investigate a series of colored lights in the sky and the subsequent disappearance of people, animals and objects from the fictional American town of Freeport, Arizona. Among those abducted are a dog, a unit of soldiers and a young girl named Lisa, whose abduction induces a heart attack in her mother. The film has sub-plots involving marital discord between Karcher and his wife Debbie, and the obsessive quest of Richards to convince the CIA that alien life exists. The twist comes as the aliens, represented by three shadows, reveal their purpose: to transport Freeport to their home planet Altaris to create a human zoo.




Cast


Many of the cast for Firelight were from the Arcadia High School productions of Guys and Dolls and I Remember Mama. Spielberg's sister had a leading role.

Clark Lohr as Howard Richards
Carolyn Owen as Lisa's Mother
Robert Robyn as Tony Karcher
Nancy Spielberg as Lisa
Beth Weber as Debbie
Margaret Peyou as Helen Richards
Warner Marshall as Soldier
Dede Pisani as Lover
Tina Lanser as Maid
Chuck Case as Teenage Boy




Production and music


Spielberg composed the music for Firelight, his first original score, on his clarinet. Spielberg's mother, a former pianist, transposed the score to piano and then to sheet music. The Arcadia High School band then performed the score for the film.
The film was shot on weekends and evenings. Many scenes were shot at the Spielberg home and near the garage. Outside shots were filmed in scrub land near Spielberg's home and school.




Release and analysis


Firelight premiered on March 24, 1964, at Spielberg's local cinema, the Phoenix Little Theatre, in Phoenix, Arizona. Spielberg managed to sell (through the use of advertising by friends and family) 500 tickets at one dollar each.
Excerpts of Firelight show a distinct Spielberg visual style and his use of tracking shots. Firelight came to form a basis of Spielberg's later hit movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.




References






External links


Firelight at IMDb
Firelight clips on YouTube

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Steven Spielberg
• Daftar film Amerika tahun 1997
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• Firelight (1964 film)
• Firelight (disambiguation)
• List of American films of 1964
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• Steven Spielberg filmography
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