One of the most unique elements of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is his amazing use of the camera to frame shots through a moving sequence. While I'm not familiar enough with other movie makers to know if this is something Spielberg thought up on his own, this is the first time I've seen such an extensive use of the technique to create a dream-like effect.

Until seeing the Robbie-and-Ray sequence in the street, I had most admired the conversation at the diner table scene in Jurassic Park. But the brilliant use of framing here with people constantly changing relationships has been pondering just how I might imitate the sequence.

Although he does this again and again in earlier home scenes, as well as the Newark scenes and in later sequences, the street scene near the gas station stands out as my favorite because it resembles the Grand Central Dance sequence in the Fisher King and in some previous 1930s films I have seen - so eloquent, it stuns me each time I look at it again.

Lets go through this sequence using sample stills from the movie: These shots represent the conversation between Robbie and Ray as things move between them and the camera, each movement creating a framed shot that isolates the characters. But these are not the still shots typical of Citizen Kane, but a world in motion, reflecting the turmoil of the film's plot and the inability for characters to find any place solid to stand or use as a reference point. This aspect fades in the final shots of the film when the characters come back together in Boston.