E.T. Analysis

Titles

The first minute or so of the film shows the names of the actors of the film and other important people involved in the films creation. The titles are all a simple blue text with a black background. The titles then fade out to the opening shot of the film.

Music

Throughout the opening of the film there is an orchestral instrumentation. It is very light yet almost eerie, and shifts between major and minor keys. There is a spike in tension once the men arrive to search for E.T..

Shots/mise en scene/characters

The film opens with a wide shot of the night sky, and it slowly pans down. As it pans down, the sky fades from pitch black to a lighter shade of blue. As the camera stops panning down, we get a shot of what appears to be a thick forest. Then we cut to another wide shot of the forest but it is in the background now, with a spaceship in a small clearing. The camera is slightly obscured by tree branches and foliage. The camera then fades to a tracked shot of the spaceship, further obscured by trees and branches again. This is a long shot as it tracks around to the front of the spaceship. As it moves around, we can see a small alien creature as the camera reaches a small break in the trees. As it continues to move round, we see more of these creatures. The camera then fades to a shot of a creature boarding the ship, then there is a focus pull to see a creature’s hand holding onto a branch infront of the camera. It then fades to a close shot of onboard the ship, where the aliens appear to be cultivating mushrooms and other plants. The camera tilts down and moves around a tree to show more strange growths and plants. We then fade to a close up shot of these plants. Then we fade back outside the spaceship to where the aliens are working. As the camera pans round behind the trees again, we notice a red glow from the chests of the creatures and they all stop their jobs and return to their ship.

However, we then cut to a medium shot of a hand reaching for a plant. The hand is clearly alien. It appears as if it is trying to dig up the plant. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of a thick, foggy forest, with one solitary creature alone. He appears to be lost and bewildered by the massive trees surrounding him. He then reaches a cliff at the edge of the forest as we cut to a wide shot of the city at night, with the lamps and buildings illuminating the streets. We cut back to a medium shot of a silhouette of the alien looking down over the city. Suddenly we pan over to a car as it pulls up at the other side of the cliff, and the alien runs behind some foliage into the trees as the car headlights illuminate the area. We see several other cars pull up together and a series of men pour out of the car into the forest to search for the alien. We get a medium shot of the ground as the feet of the men splash through puddles in the soggy ground as they head into the forest. The camera pans up and we see the alien hiding behind a bush.

General Analysis

I think that the target audience for this film is families. It is a perfect film that anyone of any age can enjoy. It appeals to this audience through its family friendly writing and its sense of adventure that anyone can enjoy.

From the opening, we can only assume that E.T. is the one that is left behind by his ship. We feel pity for him as he watches his ship fly away without him, leaving him on Earth on his own with a large group hunting him down. Perhaps it would be easy for some people to relate to ET, however it would probably be easier for younger children.

The film is distributed by Universal Studios.

In conclusion, I think that ET challenges the conventions of the genre as it provides a great sense of adventure and we can really connect with the characters through an interesting plot that twists and turns. Due to the unpredictable plot I think I would have to say that it challenges these codes.

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