National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, with Steven Spielberg directing from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison. The film became the highest-grossing release of its time and remains a defining work of American cinema, blending science fiction with an intimate story of childhood friendship and loss. Shot by Allen Daviau, its visual language favored low angles and practical lighting to place the audience at a child's eye level throughout.

This cell, titled E.T. and Elliott, captures the two central figures together on what appears to be a wooden floor, the warm interior light characteristic of their shared domestic scenes. Three consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, the strip preserves a quiet moment between Elliott and E.T. at the heart of the film.