_Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ Collector's Edition DVDx2 (1977)

• The working title was "Watch the Skies", the closing words from  _The Thing From Another World_ (1951).  These words also can be heard in the cartoon that wakes Neary.
• Barry is shown to be surprised by the extraterrestrials. Director Steven Spielberg had two crew members hide in boxes off camera, one in a clown suit and one in a gorilla suit. One popped out, then the other as the cameras rolled, catching young Cary Guffey's bewildered reaction. Spielberg then whispered to the "gorilla" to remove his mask, eliciting a smile from Guffey.
• Cary Guffey's performances were so good that they only ever had to do one or two takes of each shot he was in. He became known as "One-Take Cary" on the set, and Spielberg had a T-shirt printed up for him with the phrase written on it.
• In the original version, there is a long scene of Roy Neary tears up his and a neighbor's back yard for materials with which to build a model of Devil's Tower.
• This scene is not in "The Special Edition" but was replaced by a scene (the night before) in which his wife discovers him crying, fully clothed, under a running hot shower.  A family fight ensues, but this entire scene was not seen in the original version.  Also, additional footage was shot for "The Special Edition"' that shows Neary inside the alien mothership at the end of the movie.
• funk track _Mothership Connection (Star Child)_ MP3 (192k) by Parliament off of _Mothership Connection_ 12" on Casablanca (1976)
• drum & bass track _Mothership (7.04)(mixed 4:27)_ MP3 (vK) by Ed Rush off of Torque CDx2 MixDisc 2 on No U-Turn #001 (1997)
• electro tech-house release _Mothership Reconnection_ 12" (feat. Parliament) MP3/(Daft Punk Remix)) by Scott Grooves on Soma (1998)

 
• Special FX man Douglas Trumbull  created the cloud effects by injecting white paint into tanks of salt and fresh water.

• It is possible to see an upside down R2-D2 (from _Star Wars_ (1977), etc) in part of the large spacecraft that flies over Devil's Tower.  The SFX people needed more detail, and so supposedly there are many more such items, such as a shark from _Jaws (1975)_  (also directed by Spielberg), etc.  R2-D2 is visible as Jillian first sees the mothership up close from her hiding place in the rocks.
• The watch that Neary wears only shows the time when he presses a button on it. During filming the watch remains blank. This is to avoid continuity  errors.
• In _Jaws_, after Brody fires his pistol at the shark there are a few night shots. In both, a shooting star is plainly visible (optically added in post production -  travelling left to right). This was Steven Spielberg's signature forewarning us to 'watch the skies' for his next movie...
• Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead can be spotted in the crowd in India.
• Spielberg originally wanted to film a sequence in the Amazon, where archeologist locate the missing planes (in the film the scene was set in the california desert) within crop circle formations.  It could not be filmed due to budget constraints.
• Roy Neary is left handed

 

• "He says the sun came out last night. He says it sang to him." 
• "If everything's ready here on the darkside of the moon... play the five tones."

• "I don't think we could ask for a more beautiful evening do you?"
• ambient techno track _Ship Of The Desert_ MP3 (320k) by System 7 off of _777_ CD on Big Life (1993)

In remote Dharmsala in Northern India, Lacombe and a team of foreign visitors arrive in the heat, buffeted by a multitude of worshippers (wearing white, saffron, and ecru robes) gathering to rhythmically chant five notes over and over again:

Lacombe: Mais, c'est la guerre pentatonique...cinq notes au lieu de sept. (Translation: It's the pentatonic war. That old musical controversy between the five and seven note scales.) Demandez-lui d'ou viennent ces sons. (Translation: I want to know...where are the sounds coming from?)

A group of five leaders (including Lacombe) climb to a nearby hillside, an older Hindu man turns to the crowd below and repeats the question: "Where did these sounds come from?" In unison, the thousands respond with one gesture and voice, pointing skyward.
 

Before an assembled group in the U.S. about one week later, Lacombe speaks in broken English about a "breakthrough":

I want to share with you now the breakthrough that happened in India. We think it means something. We think it is important. To help you learn, I am using the hand signs created by Zoltan Kodaly. Kodaly developed these signs to teach music to deaf children.

One by one, at Lacombe's signal, each of the five notes in the Indian chant are played over the auditorium's sound system for the audience. And then, all five tones or notes in the riff are played - in sequence. Lacombe gestures with the hand signals for each tone. There is evidence that a certain musical pattern can be linked with the aliens' efforts to communicate.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977)
 

Directed by
Steven Spielberg

Writing credits
Steven Spielberg

Paul Schrader

(uncredited)

Genre: Drama / Sci-Fi

Tagline: We are not alone

Plot Outline: A line worker, after a encounter with UFO's, feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Richard Dreyfuss....Roy Neary
François Truffaut....Claude Lacombe
Teri Garr....Ronnie Neary

• (played Julie in _After Hours_  (vhs.ntsc)  directed by Martin Scorsese)

Melinda Dillon....Jillian Guiler

• played Rose Gator  in _Magnolia_ (vhs/ntsc) (1999) directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Bob Balaban....Cartographer/Translator David Laughlin

• played Arthur Rosenberg in _Altered States_ (vhs/ntsc)

 

J. Patrick McNamara....Project Leader
Warren J. Kemmerling....Wild Bill
Robert Blossom....Farmer
Philip Dodds....Jean Claude
Cary Guffey ....Barry Guiler

•  Cary is now living in Georgia(?) and is an office worker

Shawn Bishop....Neary Children
Adrienne Campbell....Neary Children
Justin Dreyfuss....Toby Neary
Lance Henriksen....Robert
Merrill Connally....Team Leader
George DiCenzo....Major Benchley
Amy Douglass....Implantee
Alexander Lockwood....Implantee
Gene Dynarski....Ike
Mary Gafrey....Mrs. Harris
Norman Bartold....Ohio Tolls
Josef Sommer....Larry Butler
Reverand Michael J. Dyer....Himself
Roger Ernest....Highway Patrolman
Carl Weathers....Military Police
F.J. O'Neil....ARP Project Member
Randy Herman....Returnee #1 Flt. 19
Hal Barwood....Returnee #2 Flt. 19
Matthew Robbins ....Returnee #3 Flt. 19
David Anderson ....Air Traffic Controller
Richard L. Hawkins....Air Traffic Controller
Craig Shreeve....Air Traffic
Bill Thurman....Air Traffic
Roy E. Richards....Air East Pilot
Gene Rader....Hawker
Eumenio Blanco....Federale
Daniel Núñez....Federale
Chuy Franco....Federale
Luis Contreras....Federale
James Keane (I)....Radio Telescope Team
Dennis McMullen....Radio Telescope Team
Cy Young (I)....Radio Telescope Team
Tom Howard (I)....Radio Telescope Team
Richard Stuart....Truck Dispatcher
Bob Westmoreland....Load Dispatcher
Matt Emery....Special Leader
Galen Thompson....Special Forces
John Dennis Johnston....Special Forces
John Ewing....Dirty Tricks #1
Keith Atkinson ....Dirty Tricks #2
Robert Broyles....Dirty Tricks #3
Kirk Raymond....Dirty Tricks #4

rest of cast listed alphabetically
Howard K. Smith....Television Reporter (uncredited)
 

Produced by
Clark L. Paylow

(associate)
Julia Phillips

Michael Phillips

Original music by
John Williams
 

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond

Production Design by
Joe Alves

Film Editing by
Michael Kahn
 

Other crew
Phil Abramson....  set decorator
Larry Albright....  special consultant
John A. Alonzo....  additional photographer
Peter Anderson (III)....  special consultant
Roy Arbogast....  special mechanical effects
Mona Thal Benefiel....  project co-ordinator
Richard Bennett (IV)....  special consultant
David Berry....  camera operator
Bill Bethea....  transportation
Jim Bloom (I)....  second assistant director
Carol Boardman....  animation staff
Charles Bornstein....  assistant film editor
Judy Bornstein....  second assistant to producers
Charlsie Bryant....  script supervision
Pat Burns....  production staff
Neil Burrow....  sound effects editorial staff
Michael C. Butler....  additional photographer: special edition
  additional photographer: special edition
  additional photographer special edition: inside
  mother Ship (uncredited)
  (uncredited)
Gene S. Cantamessa....  production sound mixer
Colin Cantwell....  technical dialog
Jim Coe....  still photographer
Kendall Cooper....  assistant to producers
Eleanor Dahlen....  animation staff
Allen Daviau....  additional photographer special edition: Gobi desert
  sequence
  additional photographer special edition: Gobi desert
  sequence director of photography: special edition
  (uncredited)
Sally Dennison....  additional casting
Cy Didjurgis....  animation staff
Don Dow....  laboratory technician
J. Richard Dow....  model shop co-ordinator
Ken Ebert....  special consultant
Al Ebner....  publicity
Glenn Erickson (I)....  project assistant
Eugene Eyerly....  camera operator
Rick Fields....  assistant to Mr. Spielberg
William A. Fraker....  additional cinematographer: India
  additional photographer: American scenes
  addional photographer: american scenes
Richard Friedman (III)....  dialog editorial staff
Sam Gemette....  sound effects editorial staff
Gary S. Gerlich....  sound effects editorial staff
Earl Gilbert....  gaffer
Rocco Gioffre....  assistant matte artist
Robert Glass (I)....  re-recording mixer
David Gold (II)....  effects electrician
Joyce Goldberg....  production secretary
Sam Gordon (II)....  property master
Robert Hall (IV)....  optical photography
David R. Hardberger....  assistant camera
Alan Harding (I)....  assistant camera
Janet Healy....  production staff
Charles Hinkle....  laboratory expeditor
Robert Hollister....  technician
Thomas Hollister....  laboratory technician
Buddy Joe Hooker....  stunt co-ordinator
David Horton....  sound effects editorial staff
Paul Huston (I)....  special consultant
J. Allen Hynek....  technical advisor
Joseph A. Ippolito....  editorial assistant
Bill Jackson (I)....  assistant dialog staff
Don Jarel....  matte photography
Jerry Jeffress....  electronics design
Gregory Jein....  chief model maker
George Jensen....  production illustrator
David M. Jones....  special consultant
Stephen Katz (I)....  stereo sound supervisor: Dolby
Kevin Kelly (II)....  special consultant
Robert Knudson....  re-recording mixer
Tom Koester....  animation staff
László Kovács....  additional cinematographer
James Linn (I)....  wardrobe supervisor
Daniel A. Lomino....  art director
Kim Lutes....  special consultant
Don MacDougall....  re-recording mixer
'Fast' Eddie Mahler....  video technician
Nick McLean....  camera operator
Michael McMillen (II)....  model maker
Bob McMillian....  color consultant
Bill Millar....  animation staff
Alvah J. Miller....  electronics design
Harry Moreau....  animator
Connie Morgan (II)....  animation staff
Maxwell Morgan (II)   ....  camera operator
Barbara Morrison....  effects negative cutter
Dennis Muren....  mothership photography
Charles Myers....  assistant director
John Neal (I)....  music scoring mixer
Bruce Nicholson....  assistant camera
Joe O'Har....  location manager
Richard Oswald (II)....  sound effects editorial staff
Edie Panda....  hair stylist
Bill Parks.... construction manager
Clark L. Paylow....  unit production manager
Dan Perri....  title designer
Ron Peterson....  camera operator
George Polkinghorne....  mechanical special effects
Steven B. Poster....  director of photography: second unit
Carlo Rambaldi....  realization of 'extraterrestrial'
George Randle....  special consultant
Peter Regla....  electronics design
Robert A. Reich....  assistant dialog staff
Marcia Reid....  still photographer
Shari Rhodes....  casting
Ray Rich....  key grip
Eldon Rickman....  camera operator
Richard Rippel....  assistant camera
Larry Robinson ....  special visual effects co-ordinator
Peggy Rosson....  production accountant
Geoffrey Rowland....  assistant film editor
John Russell ....  camera and mechanical design
Jack Schrader....  supervising dialog editor
Jeff Shapiro....  special consultant
Bob Shepherd....  effects unit project manager
Gail Siemers....  production secretary
Dan Slater....  electronics design
Douglas Slocombe....  additional cinematographer
  additional photographer: India sequence
  addional photographer: India sequence
Chester Slomka....  sound effects editorial staff
Peter Sorel....  still photographer
Steven Spielberg....  visual effects concepts
Scott Squires....  visual effects camera assistant
  developed cloud tank
Frank Stanley....  additional photographer (uncredited)

David K. Stewart   .... ufo photography
Robert Swarthe....  animation supervisor
Ken Swenson....  model maker
Juliet Taylor....  casting
Don Trumbull....  camera and mechanical design
Douglas Trumbull  ... special photographic effects
Pete Turner (III)....  still photographer
Jor Van Kline....  model maker
Kenneth Wannberg....  music editor
Frank E. Warner....  supervising sound effects editor
Steve Warner....  location auditor
Murray Weissman....  publicity
Bob Westmoreland....  make-up supervisor
Seth Winston....  AFI intern
Robert E. Worthington....  model maker
Hoyt Yeatman....  project assistant
Matthew Yuricich....  matte artist
Richard Yuricich....  director of photography: photographic effects

Also Known As:
Close Encounter of the Third Kind, The (1977) (USA: working title)
Watch the Skies (1976) (USA: working title)
Runtime: USA:132 (special edition) / USA:135 / UK:127 (special edition)
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color (Metrocolor)
Sound Mix: Dolby
Certification: USA:PG / UK:PG / Australia:PG /Finland:K-12 / Germany:12 / Sweden:11

• 604 track _Close Zen  Counters_ MP3 by Tristan
• 604 release _UFS: Unidentified Forms Of Sound_ compilation on BNE (1998)

(cover depiction)
 
• Infected Mushroom-Montoya 9:32
• Tripster-Tango Electro (Space Cat remix) 9:11
• ClockWork-Unearthly Song 8:32
• Domestic-Genetic Wobble 9:49
• Paranoize-Monopolys 7:55
• Infected Mushroom-Devil (Final remix) 10:32
• Space Cat-Kreak 8:56
• Infected Mushroom-Elm... 9:24
• the "five notes" , and the Mothership's response 
• 604 release _Hologram/The 5 Tones_ MP3 (192k) 12" by Etnica on Neurobiotic (2001)
samples in _The 5 Tones_:
• "Gentlemen, ladies. Take your positions, please.

This is not a drill.
I repeat, this is not a drill.
Could we have the lights in the arena down 60 percent, please?
60 percent.
I don't think we could ask for a more beautiful evening, do you?
Okay, watch the skies, please.
We now show uncorrelated targets approaching from the north-northwest."
• "We're the only ones who know. The only ones."
• "If everything's ready here on the dark side of the moon...

...play the five tones."
"All departments at operational during this phase...
...signify by beeping twice."
• party - Infinite  Frequency - _Demented Circuitry_ with Nick Taylor and Andrew Till 3/6/99; location - Close Encounters Paint Ball facility in Los Angeles...
• space rock track _Close Encounters_ MP3 by Mogwai off of _Rock Action_ Japanese import on Southpaw (2001)
• hip hop track _Close Encounters_ MP3 (192k) by Phoenix     Orion
• neo psychedelia track _Close Encounters Of The 3rd Grade_ MP3 by Mercury Rev off of _See You On The Other Side_ on Work (1995)
• track _Close Encounters_ MP3 (192k) by The Orb off of _U.F.Orb_ CDx2
• track _Close Encounters (Lunatics Feel Love Mix)_ MP3 off of _Unidentified Frequencies Of Orb_ bootleg CD on Orb Factor #016

• _Swimming Headless_ MP3 (96k)(55:02)(38.7megs) by Alan Watts

"in the ordinary way you see, you say 'well that made quite an impression on me' as if you were a slate, or a blackboard upon which life makes an impression as a chalk does on a slate or a blackboard... so we say 'well, here are these events and i am the observer of all these events... and i remember them and they make an impression on me...'  but in the psychology of taoism, there is no difference between you as observer, and whatever it is you observe... the only thing that is you, is the observation of life from a certain point of view... i said a little while ago, you think your heads are empty and blank, but the actual inside of your head is felt in terms of everything you see on the outside... we make an opposition you see, between the thinker and the thought, the experiencer and the experience, the knower and the known.  because we think about knowledge in terms of certain metaphors.  the metaphor of the stylus on the writing sheet, the reflection on the mirror, all those sort of images come into our idea of knowledge... but in the taoist theory of knowledge it is quite different.  there isn't a knower FACING the known.  it would be more like, say, that if there is any knower at all, it contains the known.   your mind, if you have one, is not in your head.  your head is in your mind.  because your mind understood from the standpoint of vision, his space.  the chinese use this word 'ku' which means 'sky', 'space', and sometimes 'emptiness'... and there is a saying that form, or shape and color, and this, are said to be identical.  space or emptiness is precisely shape/color and shape/color is precisely emptiness.  this is actually a buddhist saying from the Treidia Sutra... so that all that we call space contains the myriads of shapes and colors and bodies and weights and so on... it doesn't reflect them as a mirror, but it is the absence which guarantees their presence, and it is their presence which guarantees their absence.  so there is this mutual relationship again, the mutual arising expression between voidness and form, between existence and non-existence, being and non-being... these are never felt as alternatives or things that are in some kind of contest.  so then, when it is said that there is NOT any thinker behind thoughts, not any experiencer who has experiences... this is a way of saying that experiencing, knowing, is not an encounter between strangers.  western thought concentrates very much on knowledge as an encounter.  and it is thus that we talk about 'facing facts', 'facing reality', as if somehow or other the knower and the known came from two completely different worlds and met each other like that... whereas actually the phenomenon of knowledge is almost the precise opposite of that.  instead of being a collision between two wandering bodies in space, knowledge is much more like the expansion of a flower from the stem and the bud.  where the opposite points of the flower are the knower and the known... they are the terms of something which as it were, lies between them.   let me repeat... we tend, in all our metaphors and common speech, to think of life as an encounter between the knowing human, the knowing mind, and the world.  they think of it, not as an encounter but as an expression, not an impression.  an expression... of a process that has polarized itself.  coming out from a center, and expressed itself in terms of opposites... of course this is the basis of the whole yan/ying principle..."

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