SSC Film Studies

In the film War of the Worlds, Spielberg uses the Post 9/11 technique to create the same feelings and moods that were associated with the 9/11 terrorist attack. He focuses on the paranoia and fear aspects, this is constant throughout the whole film and we (the audience) are never completely sure who it s that is attacking earth until near the end. One of the techniques that Spielberg uses with the camera in the scene when they are first attacked by the tripods, is imitating recordings from 9/11, which is the street level view with the handheld camera, this this creates the feeling that you are actually thee in the scene. It also puts us in the shoes of ray, and it mainly focuses on him, allowing us to grow close to him. Yet it also keeps us a distant from what is happening with the tripod, the low angle camera almost isolates us and creates the paranoia feeling as we are not sure what or why this is thing is attacking. Another direct link to 9/11 is the dust when the attackers begin vaporising people; Spielberg uses the dust to represent the mass of dust that flooded the streets when the twin towers collapsed. This technique is also used with floating clothes as people begin get vaporised. Through Spielberg continuously using direct comparisons to 9/11 it creates the sense of realism and almost replicates what happened. In the scene when they evacuate in their car. Rachel asks Ray whether it is terrorists that are attacking. This line has a lot of effect, it basically tells the audience that everybody is aware of the danger in society, also the fact that she is a little girl and points out this, informs us the feelings of paranoia and fear after the 9/11 events. Another aspect of paranoia is when Ray comes across the board with missing people, this scene is only a few hours after the first attack, and straight away informs us of the mass effect it has taken on the human race. It also creates the feeling that nobody is safe, and adds the constant feeling of fear within the characters. At the time of 9/11 the majority of the world did not see the events live, however through the use of the media many people went on to see what actually happened. The use of the media is a vital part of how many events in society are re-created for others to be informed. This point was taken by Spielberg and helps the film become more believable. Ray comes across a reporting van, where he is informed there are ore than one tri-pod and sees the live footage of the tri-pods captured on camera. Also inthis scene thee is a crashed plane. This great use of iconography is another direct link to the plane which took down the twin towers. Spielberg also uses the plane to show the mass effect that terrorists/enemies can have on society.