The document provides an overview of the sci-fi genre and analyzes multiple adaptations of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds across different time periods. It discusses how each version serves as an allegory for the fears and societal issues of its era, using aliens to represent feared "others" like Nazis, communists, or unknown threats. The adaptations consistently deal with themes of paranoia, fear of annihilation, and threats to the established social order from an

1. FM2 – Section C
Comparative Analysis of TWO US
films from the same genre

2. Starter Task
Note down a definition for the terms:
Genre
Convention
Identify the conventions
of the science fiction
genre

3. Dystopian Alternative Futuristic
future: Future setting
State in which
the conditions of Robots / Aliens Armageddon
life are
extremely bad
(oppression/terr
or/deprivation) Advanced
Time Travel Technology /
SCI FI A.I.
Visionary
Isolation
In Groups
Create
What if...? a mind-map listing as many
Exploration of
conventions (consistent elements) of the
Unforeseen cultural issues
Sci-Fi genre
consequences
High Concept
of industrial
advancement Fear of the
Space Travel
unknown

4. Genre
What is a ‘Genre’?
Genre is a method of film categorisation
Genre refers to films that share similarities in their
narrative construction, themes, character types,
scenarios and aesthetic
Aesthetic;
Visual style (what is
pleasurable to the eyes)

5. Learning
Research the history of
Objectives
‘War of the Worlds’
Analyse the use of ‘the
other’ and identify key
themes in War of the
Worlds
Begin screening of ‘War
of the Worlds’ (2005)

6. ‘Sci-Fi’ as a
Due to the themes contained with genre
science fiction we may tend to think
of the genre as a modern,
contemporary form of storytelling
Science Fiction has been around for a
long time! Dr. Frankenstien is a uses
un-ethical scientific
methods to create life!
Consider Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’
(1818)
Or
Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea” (1870)

7. Sci-Fi as
Allegory
Both of these novels are seen as Allegorical tales that actually comment
on issues taking place in the society of their authors
Frankenstein is seen as mans conflict with
nature and his desire to conquer the natural
world
This reflects Shelly’s opinions on the growing
Industrial revolution and mans seemingly
unstoppable desire to conquer nature and
harness its power
Shelly felt that these advancements took place
without any though of their impact on the
world and saw this as potentially dangerous to
all concerned

8. War of the
th Worlds
The popularity of Science Fiction grew during the 19 Century and in 1989
H.G. Welles published ‘War of the Worlds’
Upon release it was interpreted as an allegory
for British Imperialism and has been used
several times as an allegory for major social
and cultural events
Read the synopsis of the book and highlight The underlying
what you think are the key events subject of the text
(Book / film /
Can you identify any themes running radio play)
throughout the books story?

9. War of the
Worlds
Although a Sci-Fi novel, the original story is set in Victorian London and
reflects the authors own experiences at the time of writing
In 1898 the British Empire was the most dominant
colonial power on Earth, with London as it’s
political and economic centre
If anyone were to attack the empire, London would
be the starting points for an ‘alien’ invasion
Fears grew at the time that immigration would
dramatically increase due to the empires size
Others feared the turn of the century, known as
the ‘end of the age’ many believed the apocalypse
would begin on the last day of 1898

10. War of the
Worlds
Given their fears, what emotions do you think people of the late 1890’s
were feeling?
Fear of the ‘unknown’ (End of the
world / ‘alien’ cultures migrating to
Britain)
Paranoia
Threatened – their way of life and
culture appeared to be under threat of
annihilation, or invasion

11. ‘Sci-Fi’ as a
genre
At the beginning of the 1930’s fears or annihilation and ‘alien invasion’
grew in Europe and America – What caused this?
The early 1930’s saw the rise of the Nazi party in
Europe and once again feeling of Paranoia, fear,
and being under threat begin to grow
War of the Worlds returns!
In 1938 Orson Welles produced a live radio
broadcast of War of the Worlds
His production terrified millions and tapped in to
the fear surrounding the rise of the Nazi party

12. ‘Sci-Fi’ as a
A study at the time of the broadcast reveals interesting
A study by the Radiopeople found the broadcastwho panicked
findings in to why Project discovered that some so genre
presumed that Germans, not Martians, had
terrifying
invaded.[11]
"The shadow of war (and Nazi invasion) was constantly in and on the air.
People were on edge", wrote Welles biographer Frank Brady:
“For the entire month prior to The War of the Worlds, radio had kept the
American public alert to the ominous happenings throughout the world.
The Munich crisis was at its height. Adolf Hitler, in his address to the
annual Nazi party congress at Nuremberg in September, called for the
autonomy of the Sudetenland, an area on the Czech border regions
populated by three million Sudeten Germans, as they were called. Hitler
ranted and lied over German radio … For the first time in history, the
public could tune into their radios every night and hear, boot by boot,
accusation by accusation, threat by threat, the rumblings that seemed
inevitably leading to a world war.[12]

13. War of the Worlds (cold
war)
After the Second World War tensions between the USSR and the United
States began to grow
Each nation feared the others Nuclear Capabilities and
paranoia and the threat of Nuclear annihilation intensified
Once again WAR OF THE WORLDS returns!
Watch the following trailer and answer the
following questions:
1. How does setting the film in a modern context
alter the meaning of the film?
2. Who do you think the Aliens represent?
3. What are the themes of the film?

14. Commies from the ‘red’
Transferring the film to a modern setting planet?
automatically applies the themes of paranoia, fear
and threat of annihilation to modern society
The aliens (from the red planet) attempt annihilate
American society with advanced weaponry
The film deals with themes of fear, paranoia and
annihilation –
These themes reflect the feelings of many
Americans at the time – fear of the USSR’s nuclear
ambitions

15. Summary
What are the key themes that appear in all versions
of War of the Worlds?
How is the use of Aliens consistent throughout the
series?
The themes of Paranoia, Fear of Annihilation, Fear
of ‘others’ (Aliens)
Threats to the American way of life are apparent in
each adaptation of the story
Who are the ‘others’ in each of the War of the
Worlds we have looked at today?
(Who do the aliens represent?)

16. War of the Worlds (2005)
We are now going to watch our first focus film:
War of the Worlds (2005)
Use your handout to make notes
Concentrate on the key themes of the film