Close Encounters: Steven Spielberg's Synergy Of Science And Music
Steven
Spielberg is considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history
of cinema. He is known for films such as Jaws, E.T., Saving Private Ryan,
Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List.
Spielberg
played the clarinet in grade school and high school. He’s been collecting film
scores since childhood as a hobby and once said, "If I weren't a
filmmaker, I'd probably be in music." Learning music certainly influenced
Spielberg, and it helped him develop the creativity required to be a visionary
filmmaker.
Spielberg
grew up with music in the house. His mother was a concert pianist and would put
Steven on her lap while she played classical pieces. Even while she was
pregnant with him, she spent much of her time at the piano playing music. With
his mom, he would learn to tap the beats of the music she was playing. At a
very young age, music was ingrained into Spielberg’s childhood development.
His
mother Leah said that Steven had a highly developed imagination at an early
age. For example, while Leah played the piano, Steven wanted the top of the
piano opened so he could watch the strings vibrate. It actually scared him to
look inside that big black piano and hear the massive musical sounds that
erupted out of it. But he insisted to look inside the piano over and over
again.
Being
surrounded by music during childhood played a key element in the development of
Spielberg’s creativity.
In fact,
both his parents contributed synergistically to the great visionary whose films
we enjoy so much. His mother contributed music and creativity, while his father
was an engineer, a great storyteller and loved science fiction. The clearest
proof of this synergy can be exemplified in the final scene of the film, “Close
Encounters Of The Third Kind,” in which the scientists programmed music with
their computers to communicate with the extraterrestrials. That scene was about
his mother and father: music and science.
This leads us to an important point. Education
doesn’t come just from the classroom. It comes from the lessons of one’s
parents and guardians. Let’s not depend solely on the education system to
enlighten the minds of future generations.