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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Directed by Steven Spielberg · Shot by Allen Daviau · Cut by Carol Littleton · Music by John Williams · 115 min
How it was made
- Designer Carlo Rambaldi gave E.T. an extendable neck inspired by his own painting Women of Delta, and shaped its face after Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway; the puppet took three months to build at a cost of $1.5 million.
- Four separate heads were built for filming, one as the main animatronic and the others for facial expressions, alongside a full costume; little people Tamara De Treaux and Pat Bilon and 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs, alternated wearing it, with DeMeritt walking on his hands for E.T.'s awkward, stumbling gait.
- Sound designer Ben Burtt built E.T.'s voice from recordings of about 17 people and animals, including a burp from a USC film professor and sounds from raccoons, otters and horses; lead vocal performer Pat Welsh was paid $380 for nine and a half hours of recording.
- Spielberg shot the film in roughly chronological order and kept the puppeteers away from the set between takes, so the child actors' reactions to E.T. would stay genuine.
- Filming was carried out under the cover title A Boy's Life, with cast required to read the script behind closed doors and everyone on set wearing ID cards, to stop the plot leaking before release.
Behind the scenes
Elsewhere
More by Steven Spielberg
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