The Bearded Trio

Retro Sci-Fi Trivia Time!  ​Take a look at this snippet from Starburst Vol. 1, No. 3 which appropriately features Close Encounters on the cover.  The segment in the news section explains just how much George Lucas and Steven Spielberg loved Chuck Jones’ legendary cartoon, Duck Dodgers in the 24½ Century.  ​According to the article: ​George Lucas loved it so much he opened his initial Hollywood cast and crew screening of Star Wars with it, eventually getting it to play before the main feature in a San Francisco cinema. ​Steven Spielberg gave it a shoutout in Close Encounters, where it plays on the TV in the playroom scene ("H'h'h'happy birthday, you thing from another world, you!"). ​​I love finding little stories like this in old mags. The hype for a movie or the industry back then seemed more exciting and more innocent, but at the same time, more cosy.  But rose tinted glasses and all that as they say - Rob The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, Geo...

Real air-traffic controllers were used in the opening sequence. The synthesizer technician/performer was the actual engineer sent by ARP Instruments to install the synthesizer equipment (ARP 2500) on the set. Steven Spielberg watched his expert playing of the equipment and immediately cast him for the role. The name of the ARP engineer is Philip Dodds and he is actually mentioned in the credits.

This is a rendition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Superman by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy this glorious retro video, psychedelic colours included. Rachel

Quentin Tarantino Talking About Close Encounters Of The Third Kind Director's Cut And A Django Mini Series The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.  Two names that seem to have been connected for as long as I can remember.  Even their seemingly everlasting friendship is an inspiration of this very website, or at least two-thirds anyway.  For decades the two directors have had a locked-in friendship but actually that wasn't always the case.  In the early days it was rivalry and jealously that preceded the friendship that we've come to know. They first met in 1967 when an eighteen year old Spielberg watched THX-1138.  The George Lucas movie debuted at a student film festival at UCLA (University of California LA) the same place he got rejected from.  Spielberg was blown away by what he had seen.  He said: "I realized that there was an entire generation coming out of NYU, USC and UCLA.  THX-1138, made me jealous to the marrow of my bones. I was eighteen years old and had directed fifteen short films by that time, and this little movie was better than al...

A few weeks back we reported that the UK will be getting a theatrical release of Steven Spielberg's 1977 UFO classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind .  Well U.S. fans can sing a triumphant "huzzah" as the classic will be hitting their cinema screens too. Devil's Tower, Richard Dreyfuss and a whole host of UFOs will hit the big screen on September 1st to celebrate its 40th anniversary.  Sony Pictures has remastered the director's cut in 4K for theaters in the U.S. and Canada. It will have its world premiere in the Venezia Classici section of the Venice Film Festival. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

A Close Encounters of the Third Kind parody from Cracked #150 1978 by John Severin.  Unlike the movie the story in the parody is a bit weak but the artwork is impressive. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and John Williams THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

This means something. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and John Williams THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

Go on admit it.  I bet you can hear the famous five notes in your head right now from the 1977 classic (and one of my favourite movies) Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg and soundtrack by John Williams. Here's the scene to satisfy your brain. Rob (This means something.) THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

After the success of Close Encounters in 1977 Steven Spielberg set to work on a follow up called Night Skies.  The legendary special effects wizard, Rick Baker was called upon to create alien prototypes for the film. Unfortunately the movie was abandoned and many of the prototypes were used in other movies including E.T. Rick Baker has kindly been posting photos of his work on this abandoned project over on his Twitter feed .  Here are some of those photos along with his tweets. "Happy days sculpting the prototype arms for the Night Skies alien back in 1980"  "I was so excited to be working on this project,to be able to design different alien characters of the same race. " "Unhappy days,film shut down. I wanted to change the body of the ET,the mantis like arm placement just didn't work imo"  Here was a quick clay sketch that I did in 1980 for one of the nicer younger NIGHT Skies aliens  As requested The Night Skies alien...

Mark Hamill, C-3PO and R2-D2 presenting Special Achievement awards for Sound Effects Editing to Frank E. Warner for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and to Benjamin Burtt, Jr. for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices featured in "Star Wars," at the 50th Academy Awards® in 1978. Hosted by Bob Hope. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Ever wondered how big a Star Destroyer is compared to say, the Defiant from Deep Space Nine?  Me too!  Well now you don't need to wonder.  Check out the chart above from artist  * DirkLoechel  to see the size comparison between all the ships from your favourite sci-fi show. It has Star Wars, Star Trek, Wing Commander, Eve, Stargate and much more.  It even has the ship from Close Encounters.  Click the link below to see a full size version. http://dirkloechel.deviantart.com/art/Size-Comparison-Science-Fiction-spaceships-398790051 THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

The Huge Hangar Used For The Set On Close Encounters with the famous road scene setup and ready to shoot. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Close Up of Devil's Tower Model From Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Spielberg and Crew Film The Train Set From Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Close Up of The Landing Site Model for Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Close Up of a UFO Model from Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Spielberg Talks To Dreyfuss Before Filming The Van Scene in Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Steven Spielberg playing keyboard on the set of Close Encounters THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+

Behind The Scenes On Devil's Tower, Close Encounters. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+