As a team, we collaboratively worked together to unleash the genius of Steven Spielberg through his career as a filmmaker.
Here, each team member expresses ideas on the following:
- How is Speilberg genius in your opinion?
- How has this course and project shaped your idea of what is genius?
- What did you contribute to this team?
Alyse Hooper
“IMAGINATION”
I think that the determination Spielberg had to capture things unlike anything people had seen makes him so original. Although, in class we talk about how genius does not have to mean being original, I feel like his originality makes him stand out even further as a genius. Many directors today base their movies off of his ideas and even ask for his help. He is what has made the film industry what it is today, and many movies wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for his creative input. The tremendous influence he has shared with society and his fellow directors, has really made him mark his territory in the film industry.
This project has opened my eyes to a different view of innovation. The course readings brought light to genius and the different aspects that past influences, such as Aristotle and Plato, have brought to our society. No one will see things the same way, but all that matters is the way that you define genius. I have never experienced thinking so hard about one word, but this class taught me how to be a little more philosophical with my thinking and to ask questions. As far as the project goes, I found that I would get excited when I found things I could connect to class material. This helped me learn in finding ways to connect certain material, and also working with other people in doing so.
Throughout this project I have contributed many ideas about my idea, or definition of genius. I helped with giving my input into the general design of the website, and different things that I felt would help the aesthetic part our website. Being a pretty creative person myself, I was responsible for finding how Spielberg is creative, and the things that led him to where he is now.
Angelo Papapavlos
“PASSION”
For me, Spielberg’s ability to capture his audience’s attention is pure genius. He claimed that he never released something that he wasn’t personally comfortable with. He put his all into his work. He was passionate. This transcended into his films and, in my opinion, is what allowed him to become world-renowned.
Throughout this project and entire course, I’ve learned a lot about genius. The readings, lectures, discussions, and research collected throughout the semester have brought me to the realization that genius can literally mean anything you want it to mean. It simply takes a societal consensus to decide how to define it. Just as our team defined what genius is in relation to Spielberg, each generation decides what is genius by analyzing other people, past events, and their effect on society and the world as a whole.
When reading about Micheal J. A. Howe, one of my favorite quotes was, “starting out with the belief that something is inherently mysterious creates extra barriers to understanding.” This is extremely intriguing to me because it’s society who shapes beliefs about what is or is not mysterious. From this you can gather that society in turn creates it’s own barriers to understanding certain situations.
For this project, my major contribution was research and the technical creation of this website. My team members helped gather content from our research and I incorporated it into this site. I had a great time working with each one of my team members and appreciate the ideas that each person brought to the table. Not only did I learn about Spielberg and his genius, I learned about collaboration and strategic planning in terms of this web presence.
DJ Dean
“HARD WORK”
Through my research and the research of my teammates, Spielberg is no doubt a genius, and quite possibly the best director and producer of films in this day and age. I was able to find that Spielberg, as many of the geniuses we have encountered in course readings as well as lectures, is not what we consider a normal human being. But, what makes him abnormal is what makes greatness, what creates genius in my opinion. I don’t believe a normal person can be a genius, but I do believe that normal people, who work extraordinarily hard, can achieve greatness and possibly attain genius. That being said, I believe that all geniuses, including Spielberg, must use hard work to gain their title. Without hard work, I believe that Steven Spielberg, Alan Turing, Aristotle, Albert Einstein or any one genius mentioned within the borders of this class could just as easily passed through history without leaving an imprint. Innate talent helps, but there has to be a will to use that talent. That will is hard work.
As a group, and as identified in our definition of genius, we came up with what we believed were the four fundamental characteristics of genius possessed by Spielberg that makes him a genius. These four characteristics are innovation, natural ability, creativity, and learned knowledge. Each of us were responsible to research information on one of these characteristics, and the characteristic that I was responsible for was learned knowledge.
John Prickett
“DIVINITY”
In my opinion Steven Spielberg is genius because of one main thing, his creativity. No other director before him has had the same ideas and concepts. He has innovated our society’s way of looking at movies which comes from his creativity. Breaking through the barrier of being poor as a child Spielberg has changed the dynamics and expectations of movie making. Because of it, he will forever be considered the greatest filmmaker and director ever.
In no way, shape or form can you put a real universal and undisputed definition on what a genius is. Everyone has genius like qualities or ideas, but this doesn’t make them a genius. Genius doesn’t discriminate, you may be any color, gender, creed or may have any certain mental disease or illness. In fact most people society considers to be genius has some sort of mental disability or fall-back. Some experts think geniuses are given their extraordinary talents by a divine source, some think you can work to become a genius. In my personal opinion I think it can be both. One or the other our society needs geniuses to move forward into the future and to continue to learn and grow.
My contributions to my groups project was needed and served as a source to help reflect on why Steven Spielberg is a genius. My role in our project mainly consisted of reflecting on Steven Spielberg’s innovations in the movie making business and the impact he and on society. Working alongside my teams I helped brainstorm crucial information that was needed for our project. I wrote the innovation segment of our genius team page and helped come up with ideas to help my teammates. I didn’t miss any of our team meetings or classes in which I was needed. My role was productive and helpful in achieving our team goal.
Kyle Bowers
“EXTRAORDINARY”
Before researching Steven Spielberg in depth, I already believed he was a genius. After gathering information about him and seeing how many movies and TV shows he has been a part of it only cemented his legacy and genius for me. He pushed boundaries in the film industry when others weren’t and set the precedent for others to live up to and follow. He dove into many different genres of film and excelled at all of them. Other directors usually excel at one genre of film and tend to stick to that, but not Spielberg. He excelled at sci-fi, war, and action movies. It is something that adds to him being a genius.
For the group project, my group and I came to a consensus that Steven Spielberg is a genius and that he would be the person we would do our research on. Each member of our group was assigned to do a certain task that would contribute to the final of our project. One of my contributions to the final project was to brainstorm and research Steven Spielberg’s natural abilities. The things that came natural to him or, as others would say, the things that were “god given.” Also, we individually gave input on how the structure of our website should be and the types of information we would put on it.
Frankie Parsons
“ABSENCE”
We miss you, Frankie. ❤
Although a valuable addition to TEAM SMITH, Frankie was unable to attend most discussion groups and did not attend any TEAM SMITH group meetings. For all we know, Frankie could be using his time to do something genius behind the scenes.
The Genius of Steven Spielberg 