War of the Worlds Novel Essay
Nathan Hoffman
Period 3
5/21/13
Ms. Wolf
War of the Worlds: Men to mice
“Fear makes us feel our humanity” , Benjamin Disraeli. The novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1898) follows the story of a man and his brother in England during an Alien invasion . In 2005 Steven Spielberg made the film War of the Worlds based off of the book. In his version we follow one man in modern America during an Alien Invasion. As a divorced father he’s trying to desperately reach Boston to reunite his kids with their mother as humanity is being destroyed and made into an inferior race. Spielberg made the change to modern times for the modern audience and decided to change the protagonist so the viewer may be more attached to the story. Through the use of sound and editing Spielberg translates the theme of mankind as a lesser species to the silver screen and to the audience in his rendition of War of the Worlds . In the scene where the Tripod comes out of the ground Spielberg uses the sounds of the Alien to demonstrate the loudness of the more advanced species invading our quiet world. As the tripod rises from the ground the sound effects of the Alien technology establishes how advanced and sophisticated they are as the people watch in awe. The dusty quite vehicles in the background pale in comparison to this giant metal humming from the tripod. Our technology is completely inferior to theirs in every single way. As the people stare Spielberg inserts a non diagetic sound that impairs everyone’s hearing because of how loud it is, the roar of the tripod. Its loud sound penetrates the quite of the surrounding area that was silenced by its arrival to the surface. People begin to scream and run away but you can barely hear the hopeless screams over the overpowering roar of the mechanical beast. In this opening scene Spielberg established through his use of sound the massive gap in technology and superiority between us and the invaders. In the basement scene sound is used
Period 3
5/21/13
Ms. Wolf
War of the Worlds: Men to mice
“Fear makes us feel our humanity” , Benjamin Disraeli. The novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1898) follows the story of a man and his brother in England during an Alien invasion . In 2005 Steven Spielberg made the film War of the Worlds based off of the book. In his version we follow one man in modern America during an Alien Invasion. As a divorced father he’s trying to desperately reach Boston to reunite his kids with their mother as humanity is being destroyed and made into an inferior race. Spielberg made the change to modern times for the modern audience and decided to change the protagonist so the viewer may be more attached to the story. Through the use of sound and editing Spielberg translates the theme of mankind as a lesser species to the silver screen and to the audience in his rendition of War of the Worlds . In the scene where the Tripod comes out of the ground Spielberg uses the sounds of the Alien to demonstrate the loudness of the more advanced species invading our quiet world. As the tripod rises from the ground the sound effects of the Alien technology establishes how advanced and sophisticated they are as the people watch in awe. The dusty quite vehicles in the background pale in comparison to this giant metal humming from the tripod. Our technology is completely inferior to theirs in every single way. As the people stare Spielberg inserts a non diagetic sound that impairs everyone’s hearing because of how loud it is, the roar of the tripod. Its loud sound penetrates the quite of the surrounding area that was silenced by its arrival to the surface. People begin to scream and run away but you can barely hear the hopeless screams over the overpowering roar of the mechanical beast. In this opening scene Spielberg established through his use of sound the massive gap in technology and superiority between us and the invaders. In the basement scene sound is used