Oscar Alert
Oscar Nominations: 8
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was written and directed by Spielberg and produced by Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips, who a year earlier had produced Scorsese's masterpiece, “Taxi Driver.” Spielbergs first film after “Jaws,” which made him the “hottest” filmmaker in Hollywood, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was nominated for eight Oscars:
Director: Steven Spielberg
Supporting Actress: Melinda Dillon
Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Art Direction-Set Decoration: Joe Alves and Don Lomino; Phil Abramson
Visual Effects: Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein, and Richard Yuricich
Film Editing: Michael Kahn
Original Score: John Williams
Sound: Robert Knudson, Robert J. Glass, Don MavDougall, and Gene S. Cantamessa
Oscar Context
Nominated for 8 Oscars, the film won one legit award, Cinematography to Vilmos Zsigmond (who had shot Spielberg's first theatrical feature, “The Sugarland Express,” 1974), and one Special Award for sound effects editing, which did not exist then as a separate category, to Frank E. Warner
Spielberg received Directing Oscar nomination, but the film, which was released the same year as George Lucas' “Star Wars,” was not. Indeed, that years big blockbuster was “Star Wars,” though, artistically speaking, “Close Encounters” has held up better in the long run
In 1977, the Best Picture Oscar went to Woody Allen's “Annie Hall,” which also won Best Director. Composer John Williams, winning for “Star Wars,” lost to himself, so to speak.