'The War': Final Episodes

Lynn Novick, co-director/producer with Ken Burns of The War was online Monday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the series about the Second World War as seen through personal accounts of men and women from four American towns.

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A transcript follows.

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Lynne Novick: It's a pleasure to be here. We are thrilled that so many people are enjoying the series and are looking forward to an ongoing conversation with the American people about the film.

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Albuquerque, N.M.: The horror of WWII is clear in The War series. Do you know if any of our current political leaders have been watching to see what voting for war does to people?

Lynne Novick: That's great question. We don't know which of our leadaers are watching but we have every reason to believe that they would be interested in knowing about the human experience of the Second World War. We understand that Vice President Cheney recently purchased a copy of our companion book.

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Wolsey, S.D.: I have watched all of the episodes presented so far and would like to compliment you and Mr. Burns for another masterpiece in the study of American history. Truly inspiring!

My question: I am a WWII buff and have watched all of the footage I could find on the war. Your series has presented images that were new to the mainstream...where did you find them?

Thanks for your work!

Lynne Novick: We went to archives all around the world. The footage research was done by two producers, primarily Sarah Botstein and Peter Miller, and they did an incredible job. One of the reason why we were able to uncover footage that hasn't been seen much was because we were able to take six years to make the film. That luxury of time allowed us to delve more deeply into the archives. Most of the footage, however, comes from the National Archives of the U.S., which has an extraordinary collection. And Sarah and Peter were able to find original camera rolls and material that really hadn't seen the light of day in the vaults of the National Archives.

However, a lot of the footage may have been used before in other films, but we feel that it seems new to some degree as our editors have worked with it. And what we've tried to do is to use the footage in such a way that it makes you feel like you are actually there, rather than being "wallpaper" or background filler.

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Arlington, Va. : A somewhat technical question for you: I'm impressed with the SOUND of this work -- the machine gun fire, the "ping" of an M1 clip ejecting, the bombs exploding, tank treads grinding, etc. Did that come from the original footage? Was it enhanced? Or was it dubbed in separately?

Lynne Novick: Great question which I am so happy to answer.

Ninety-nine percent of sound effects are added by us. All of the archive footage that we show, with the exception of the newsreels that have narration, came to us with no sound. So we spent a year working with our sound editors and our sound mixer to create the sound effects tracks that you hear. All of them did magnificent work and I know that our sound editor, Mariusz Glabinski, would be so happy that

you heard the sound of the M-1 clip ejecting. It is one of thousands of details that we hope give the film a feeling of visceral immediacy.

Many of the sound effects that you hear are authentic recordings of the types of guns, planes, tanks -- not all --but as many as we could get.

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Chapel Hill, N.C.: Given the horror of the combat you depict and the number of soldiers involved, why do you think WWII did not provoke a larger crisis in the culture upon the return of these vets? The psychological, health and political repercussions of the Vietnam War to the larger culture were so immediately apparent, but after WWII we got the relatively staid and conservative 1950's. Why such a different national response?

Lynne Novick: Fascinating question. I probably am not qualified to answer it but I'll take a stab.

I think one of the reasons aftermath was so different at home was that there was total unanimity in the U.S. about the necessity of the Second World War which was not the case in Vietnam. In addition, World War II was a victory, albeit a victory with terrible costs but a victory nonetheless. Vietnam, again, totally different.

And finally, the men who returned from the Second World War, for a variety of reasons, did not generally discuss what they had seen and done in graphic detail. They just kept it inside, to a large degree because they felt the civilians at home did not really want to know what it had actually been like.

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Arlington, Va. : Great work! But I have a question: Do you plan to do similar (perhaps smaller) films on Korea and Vietnam? I read that you and Mr. Burns lament the fact that this project was a race against time because of the advanced age of the subjects. Well, time is running out for Korea and 'Nam vets, too.

Lynne Novick: We are definitely talking about looking at Vietnam. I believe there already are projects about the Korean War in development, so we would want to wait and see what they are before making a decision about that, but the Korean War is extremely important and very little discussed and should not be ignored or forgotten.

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New York City: I have watched every incredible episode that really put you into the life of my grandparents. However, I could not help but feel that there was disproportionate attention put on minorities in the service, as well as bad generals and officers.

Do you feel your series is truly representative of all of America during the War?

Lynne Novick: We say at the beginning of every episode on screen, "The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting. This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that war."

My point here is that we never intended this film to be either comprehensive or definitive. It is, rather, a somewhat random collection of stories that we collected and were interested in telling. It is by no means meant to be the final word about the American experience of the war.

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Cincinnati, Ohio: Dear Ms. Novick,

Thank you for bringing this moving and exhaustive portrayal of WWII into our homes. It's amazing, at times haunting, and all together excellent.

My Great Uncle, now 80, is the last living member of my family to have served in WWII. He served in the China-Burma-India theater, and as part of the Veterans Project, I have been trying to get him to sit down for a video interview. He tells me, repeatedly, "I have nothing to add to the conversation. Every story has been told. My experiences were no different than anyone else in that show or in the war."

Did you meet the same kind of resistance in interviewing veterans? Did you employ any specific techniques to coax them into opening up to you, telling you stories they hadn't told anyone before?

Thank you in advance,

Lynne Novick: Yes, yes and yes. We encountered the same sentiments verbatim from many veterans. My best advice is to try to say to your uncle that even though he didn't maybe do anything different or special, that doesn't mean his story isn't interesting to you, that you're not trying to single him out as particularly extraordinary but rather that as a human being who lived through the conflict. His part of the story adds to our larger understanding.

Sometimes it's just not possible to convince someone to talk but he might be willing to open up to someone of the next generation, a grandchild or a great nephew who just wants to know what the war was like. I wish you the best of luck.

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for taking my question. Through out the series we hear the soldiers using the term Japs. I understand that was the expression at the time of the war but have you received any fall out from Japanese Americans?

Lynne Novick: We have not. What we have received is thanks from the Japanese-American community for sharing the story of Japanese internment and the service of Japanese-Americans in the military.

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Nashville, Tenn.: While your series did a good job of presenting the war from the viewpoint of the combatants, I don't think one comes away learning the main factors of why we were able to win. While sacrifice at home by common Americans is mentioned by the commentator, the folks you interview spend little time talking about their own sacrifice. You do capture the importance of the grit of the American soldiers, but there was also a tremendous harnessing of industrial might and technology that contributed to our victory, that got no personal narrative. Surely there was a "Rosie the riveter" in one of those four towns.

Lynne Novick: Thank you for your comment. We do cover this very important aspect of the film throughout the series. In particular you can look for extensive scenes with personal narratives about the role the citizens at home played in winning the war in Episodes 2, 3 and 5.

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Fairlington, Va.: Could you speak to how you and Mr. Burns selected the four towns you chose to follow through the war? I heard that it was at random, but I'm curious if you could confirm that.

You have made a beautiful film. Thank you.

Lynne Novick: Basically, we were looking for towns that could have been anywhere but we ended up choosing the places that we chose in part because of the veterans we found there who were willing to share their stories with us. For example, we went to Mobile, Ala., in part, because of an extraordinary book ("With the Old Breed") written by a Marine from Mobile named Eugene Sledge about his experiences in the Pacific.

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Atlanta, Ga.: The series is simply fantastic. I was lucky enough to watch the first two episodes with my father who was six when the U.S. entered the war. His recollections and insight certainly enhanced the experience. Unfortunately, I've missed a few episodes and am wondering if PBS has plans to re-broadcast the series in the near future?

Lynne Novick: Yes sir. Episode 6 is tonight, seven is tomorrow night (the last night) but then on Wednesday night, Oct. 3, PBS will begin airing the entire series once a week every Wednesday at 9 p.m. through November, starting this week.

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Arlington, Va.: Your Process: I am most curious about the mechanics of how this film was made. I'm sure it is more complicated than you can describe here, but once the film footage is collected and the interviews secured, how is it all put together? Who does what? How many man hours? It is such a work of art, I'd love to know more about how it all comes together.

Lynne Novick: The most important person in addition to myself and Ken is Jeffrey C. Ward who writes the scripts. He synthesizes all the material we collect and does an incredible job. We also have a team of editors -- six in all -- who get to know all of the material intimately. And producers who handle all the research, collecting photographs, footage and music. Ken and I are privileged to work with such a talented team of people.

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Lynne Novick: On our Web site, PBS.org/thewar, you can find extensive Q&A with Ken and with me in which we explain this in much more detail.

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Lynne Novick: Thank you so much for watching and for excellent questions which always make it all worthwhile for us.

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