For this week’s post I listened to Orson Welles and The Mercury Theater’s ‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast. The broadcast is one hour – long and what seems to be about an alien invasion in New Jersey. My first reaction to this post even before listening to the broadcast or reading articles was a little uneasy. You can say that I was a little anxious about this post due to my personal beliefs of not speaking about the unknown; however I will not be getting an F any time sooner. Anyways, I don’t listen to the radio unless it’s music related so you can surely understand why I would not be interested in a radio adaptation of a novel, especially one related with alien invasions. This broadcast, however left me wanting more even after being scared
John Cheever’s "The Enormous Radio" represents the enormous amount of hidden truths in American society of the 1940s. The problems with society during this time were hidden behind a facade of goodness; however, this false innocence becomes visible through the radio owned by the Westcotts. The radio causes the Westcotts to evolve from an innocent, naive pair who believe that everything they see is real, into individuals who realize that appearances are deceiving.
The film "Radio" is a biographical sports drama film released in 2003. The movie "Radio" is based on the true story of a young boy named James Robert Kennedy, also known as "Radio. " Radio is an African-American man with an intellectual disability who becomes a fixture in a small Carolina town. The football coach of T.L. Hanna High School includes radio in every activity and task he attempts. James Robert got the nickname "Radio" because he would spend much of his time roaming the town pushing a shopping cart and collecting items that interest him; while roaming the town, "Radio" would always have a transistor radio with him at all times.
Many authors use the personification of inanimate objects to symbolize the feelings and expressions of their characters. One example of this is in John Cheever’s short story, "The Enormous Radio." Although critics argue that the characteristics of the radio are the opposite of those of Jim and Irene Westcott, the radio actually reflects the couple’s life.
The radio that is presented from the book “All the Light We Cannot See” is a metaphor for the hope and the many untold stories in World War II. The characters Marie-Laure and Werner were trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation during the German occupation in Normandy during World War II. The radio that was found, and restored, by Werner gave them a sense of hope when they would listen to stories and lessons from voices around the world. Although the children could not do anything about the war that was raging outside and their possible inevitable fate, the radio gave them a brief mental break from their troubles. The radio is important in the story because the radio admits soundwaves that we cannot see in the same way we cannot see light.
In the article America under attack I: a reassessment of Orson Welles’ 1938 war of the worlds broadcast the author argues the significant impact on Orson Welles’s media sense impacted the effective radio formats from the previous years. Welles used three types of techniques to send a clear message to his audience, his way of convincing the general public, with his powerful voice, and the way others reacted to the event. The world was in a panic when they heard the radio on October 30, 1938. Some say it was a scary night. It was a broadcast of War of the Worlds a radio show that shocked the nation. Many Americans were so frightened that they were being invaded by Martians. There were many people attempting
After the First World War, many people were looking forward to good times. The 1920’s presented people with this time of fast-paced fun and adventure. Entertainment was the foremost part of everyday life during the 1920’s. Radio introduced a whole new practice of entertainment to people’s everyday lives. Likewise, through the utilization of the radio, people were able to experience a new medium to entertain themselves. Furthermore, the radio changed the face of society’s culture through its widespread use. In addition, radios provided people with a new, effective and efficient means of communication. Radio was a fundamental aspect in people’s lives during the 1920’s as it provided many people with news and entertainment in their
The authors of “Zero Hour” and “The War of the Worlds” have their own unique ideas of an alien invasion if it ever were to happen. Both texts display the emotions characters must face throughout the invasion. These authors might have had their own style of writing for these stories, but they still the same impact. Both authors display alien invasions that will forever change mankind and the world as they know it.
The movie “Radio” is the tale of a young African-American man who suffers from severe mental retardness and his journey to fame from football in the small South Carolinian town of Anderson. James “Radio” Kennedy is befriended by the T. L. Hanna High School head football coach, Coach Jones, and begins to help as an “assistant coach” of some sort. Eventually, James begins to attend Hanna High as an eleventh grade student due to the persistent efforts of Coach Jones.
The 1960’s was and important time in American history. Television became popular. John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president and a few years later was assassinated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced. The psychedelic movement 1960’s. The Vietnam War. Despite all the things that was happening in the 1960’s it was still a great and bad time of that era.
One of the reasons the American people were fooled into thinking Welles’ program was real is that the program was consistently interrupted with “real news updates.” These updates added in a factor of realism that what the audience was listening to was happening at the same time. These interruptions would be signaled by the announcer coming on to give updates to previous ones. An example of this from the program itself goes: “Ladies and gentlemen, following on the news given in our bulletin a moment ago, the Government Meteorological Bureau has requested the large observatories of the country to keep an astronomical watch on any further disturbances occurring on the
There are some similarities and differences in the mood created in the radio play and the tiny story, Dark They Were and Golden Eyed. In the tiny story, there is a spooky and mysterious mood. In the radio play, there is also a spooky and mysterious mood, but the actors’ tones made it more intense. However, the sounds make the radio play come to life.
To help create his debut film Citizen Kane, Orson Welles assembled a talented group of artists and technicians who together produced a film that redefined cinema forever. During the film’s production process, Welles himself stated that making a film “is the biggest electric train set any boy ever had.” By this he meant that the production studio was his playground and he intended to use every tool at his disposal. Starting from the film’s very first shot; he proves this to be true. As the film begins, the camera silently cranes up over the fences that surround Charles Foster Kane’s mansion and then slowly transitions to a montage of palatial estate. In this unique sequence the viewer understands that they are watching no ordinary film! Since its release in 1941, Citizen Kane consistently is called one of the greatest films ever made. It also is one of the most analyzed films ever created as well. In watching the film, a person can select from a countless number of famous scenes on which to review, comment, admire, and draw conclusions. For this assignment, I chose my personal favorite scene from the film to analyze in depth. The scene occurs near the end of the film just as Kane’s second wife Susan Alexander leaves him for good. The scene lasts about 3 and a half minutes in length, consists of 12 shots, contains almost no music, and just one word of dialogue is spoken. However, even with these limitations, the scene has more impact and film techniques packed into it
The Broadcast, a novel by Liam Fialkov refers to a new and wildly popular TV series being aired by TXB. The first episode promises to show actual footage of a 25 year old murder. After much hype and anticipation the film begins and viewers are astonished to have a birds eye view of the entire event. Although silent and in grainy black and white images, the entire incident is seen. How is this possible?
In the short story by John Cheever called "The Enormous Radio" it begins with Jim and Irene Westcotts appearing like the perfect American family. Cheever describes them as "the kind of people who seem to strike that satisfactory average of income, endeavor, and respectability" (Cheever 1). What is ironic about this story is the Westcotts are far from being the perfect family and the community they try to conform to is just as imperfect as the Westcotts themselves. A way the Westcotts try to live up to their society is by keeping secret the fact that they listen to the radio and attend musical events. This is because these activities were not something members of their community did. For example, Cheever says the "Westcotts differed
TV and radio personality, Walter Winchell was born on April 7, 1897 in New York City. His news reports gained him a huge audience and great influence. When he was 13 he left school in pursuit of vaudeville. (Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. Very popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. A typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. ) There he met singer Rita Greene where they became the duo “Winchel and Greene”. Winchell eventually moved on from vaudeville to the New York Daily Mirror, where he reported a lot of important things through the years between 1929 through1963. He even had a weekly radio show from 1932 until the early 1950s, during which time he was fruitfully versed with his wordplay, and renowned for his wearing of Fedora hats, his unorthodox speaking voice and his Broadway idioms. This gave him such a popularity that he had the power to create and destroy the lives of actors, actresses, political parties and anything else in society.