DR. KEVIN PETER HAND – planetary scientist, astrobiologist, and director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s Ocean Worlds Lab – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from his life: Steven Spielberg’s classic science-fiction film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977).

This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became available on Spotify. To get access to all bonus episodes like this one upon initial release, become a paid subscriber to 5AM StoryTalk at Apple or Substack:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5am-storytalk/id1807437928

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Be sure to listen to the first part of my chat with Kevin, too: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-kevin-peter-hand-director-of-nasas-ocean-worlds-lab/id1807437928?i=1000704673777

KEVIN AND I DISCUSS:

· What distinguished Close Encounters from other classic “first contact” films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Contact (1997) for him. The answer will provide valuable insights for storytellers looking to better understand the magic of Spielberg and how to better emotionally connect with audiences.

· The use of John William’s now-iconic score — specifically five notes — to emotionally express complicated mathematical ideas that would’ve otherwise intellectually complicated Close Encounters’ story. You might extrapolate lessons from this part of our chat that will help you accomplish similar with your work.

· The use of scale and scope to inspire both intellectual and spiritual awe and how this contrasts with another film about first contact — Arrival (2016) — which uses our first encounter with extraterrestrial life for very different reasons. You might want to read my artist-on-artist conversation with Arrival’s screenwriter Eric Heisserer first: https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/q-and-a-screenwriter-eric-heisserer?utm_source=publication-search

· How Close Encounters fits into Spielberg’s oeuvre, being the first part in what I posit to be a spiritual trilogy that culminates with Schindler’s List (1993).

ADDITIONAL LINKS

· ⁠Watch the trailer to Close Encounters of the Third Kind here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN9itf542Kk&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fcolehaddon.substack.com%2F

· ⁠Learn more about Close Encounters of the Third Kind here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind

· ⁠Learn more about Kevin’s book Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Oceans

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5AM StoryTalk would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which this podcast is recorded, the Djarra people of the Kulin Nation and pay respects to Elders past and present.

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