Steven Spielberg

Is it...

normal people in extraordinary circumstances.

I mean, you literally made so many different types of films.

And then we realized that you are probably the foremost expert on Steven Spielberg and what makes a Steven Spielberg movie Spielbergian.

So could you just articulate that for us and settle this?

Well, that would require me to suffer a blow to the head, have amnesia, and then have to go into a theater and watch the movies they forgot I made.

Oh, come on.

It would be very difficult.

You know, it's not a formula.

It's not a chemistry set I haul around with me.

And it's not alchemy.

You know, movies are not alchemy.

They're not.

Part of it's science.

The craft of it is science based on the technology of filmmaking.

But it's movies, for me anyway, it's 80% intuition.

And so I feel that when I'm making movies, the first thing I look for is a very compelling premise.

And the second thing I look for is a character that we can hitch our wagons to.

And not necessarily a star you hitch your wagons to, but just a really great character.

It could be a wonderful brand new actor that we've never seen before, but someone that we could identify with.