War Of The Worlds Analysis

After watching War of the Worlds I identified a couple of scenes that I thought were effective due to what genera it is (thriller). This was due to things like camera angles, cuts, Mise en scene, sound etc.

In this scene from War of the Worlds the characters are hiding from the aliens. We are able to see both sides of the wall due to it being a split screen. This is effective because the split between them could represent good and evil, the characters being good as they only want to live and the alien being evil as it is trying to hunt them down. As well as it being a split screen we are also able to see all of the characters faces in a row, this allows us to see the fear on there faces. This has worked effectively because it increases the suspense that is normally found in a thriller movie, as we don't want the characters to be found.

This next scene in War of the Worlds is quite sinister, especially for a thriller. A child with the look of pure fear and shock in there face is an effective way of grasping the audiences attention. With the addition of it being a close up it really lets the audience see all the fear the child is experiencing. The characters in this scene have also got special effects makeup on; like mud, dirty and bruises. This adds to the effect that they have been through a lot of trauma and danger. The non diegetic music added pulls the whole scene together, putting the audience on edge, expecting something bad to happen. This all works well in order to make the scene fit with the thriller theme.

This next shot from the film War of the Worlds is a rare continues 360 degree shot. This shot rotates around the speeding car continuously whilst the characters are still talking and shouting. This particular shot helps increases suspense as the characters fight for their lives. From this shot we are able to see everything that is going on around the car, who is in the car and what they are doing. With the addition of the intense non-diegetic music and the argument and shouting between the characters the intensity increases in the scene, putting the audience on edge.