Question: Why does Steven Spielberg use shooting stars in his films?

Answer: As with many elements of his cinematic style, Spielberg uses shooting stars in some of his films because of an episode during his childhood. One night, when Steven was a boy, his father Arnold unexpectedly ushered him out of bed and put him in the car for what would be a defining journey. It would be the first time Steven witnessed the beauty of space first-hand. It would be the first time he saw a meteor shower up close. It would be the starting point for his interest in space, and his use of shooting stars.

Quoted in Joseph McBride’s ‘Steven Spielberg: A Biography’, Spielberg recounted the event and the sense of fear and wonder he felt during it. “I didn’t know what was happening. It was frightening. My mom wasn’t with me. So I thought, ‘What’s happening here’? [My dad] had a thermos of coffee and had brought blankets, and we drove for about half an hour. We finally pulled over to the side of the road, and there were a couple hundred people, lying on their backs in the middle of the night, looking up at the sky. My dad found a place, spread the blanket out, and we both lay down.

"He pointed to the sky, and there was a magnificent meteor shower. All these incredible points of light were criss-crossing the sky. It was a phenomenal display, apparently announced in advance by the weather bureau. My dad had really surprised me - actually, he’s frightened the hell out of me! At the same time, though, I was tremendously attracted to the source, to what was causing this.”

If the episode sounds familiar, it’s because Spielberg essentially re-staged it in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, when Roy packs his family up one night and takes them out into the middle of nowhere hoping to catch a glimpse of an outer space spectacle (in this case, alien crafts rather than a meteor shower). Though that scene doesn’t feature a shooting star, one can be seen at the end of the film when Spielberg frames the enormity of Devil’s Tower in an extreme long shot. Look at the sky and you’ll see a number of stars streak across it.

Ironically, Spielberg’s first cinematic shooting star occurred accidentally rather than by design. In the final act of Jaws, a shooting star can be seen during one of the night sequences, when Brody is loading his gun. However, this wasn’t a special effect. According to the 1995 documentary ‘The Making of Steven Spielberg’s 'Jaws’’, the shooting star occurred naturally, and Spielberg and his crew just happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture it.

A happy accident it may have been, but it sparked off a reoccurring theme. Along with Close Encounters and Jaws, shooting stars can also be seen in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Some have also suggested they’re visible in Hook and Saving Private Ryan, but so far I haven’t been able to find any clear-cut evidence for either.

Interestingly, none have been reported in E.T., War of the Worlds, or Jurassic Park, which is surprising considering their tone and subject matter fit a shooting star appearance more than, say, Saving Private Ryan. But just because they haven’t been found yet, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Spielberg’s fascination with shooting stars is all about mystery and intrigue, and he’s always been a director keen to actively involve his audience. Could there be more shooting stars hiding in the depths of his films waiting to be found by intrigued viewers?