National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg at the height of his commercial and creative powers. The film became the highest-grossing release of its time and remains a defining work of American cinema, blending suburban family drama with science fiction in ways that resonated across generations. Shot by Allen Daviau, its warm, practical lighting and low camera angles gave the story an intimacy rarely achieved at blockbuster scale.

Titled Trying To Flee The House, these three frames capture Mary, Michael, and Gertie Taylor together in a tense interior moment, the family grouped in foreground silhouette against amber practical light. The low dramatic angle and warm golden illumination are characteristic of Daviau's approach throughout the film, and the sequence preserves a rare full grouping of the Taylor household in a single sustained composition.