Every year, hundreds of books are written and hundreds of movies are filmed; sometimes movies are made based off of a book. Into the Wild, originally written by Jon Krakauer, was adapted into a film directed by Sean Penn. Into the Wild is the tale of Chris McCandless and his two years of traveling up and down the west coast of North America. Ultimately the goal was to spend a few weeks living off the land of Alaska to end his trip. His time unfortunately ends with him dying of starvation during his time in Alaska but his story lives on through the journal he kept and the letters McCandless sent to friends he made along the way. McCandless's adventure was filled with difficult obstacles he had to overcome and many near death experiences. McCandless's journey is exemplified through two mediums that portray two different interpretations of his story. By looking at the journalistic style, the use of letters, and the non-linear aspect of the book, we can see that Krakauer's interpretation is more factual. This is important because he wrote what happened to simply share McCandless's story. On the other hand, by looking at the use of voiceovers, shot choices, and the music of the film, we can see that Penn viewed McCandless's adventure as a story to be told to inspire others. His techniques created an uplifting vibe that would encourage others to take some chances like McCandless did. However, the differences of the two mediums end up having the same emotional effect on the world, as shown by both of their successes.  

Every novel has a certain style it is written in. Krakauer wrote Into the Wild in a journalistic style to give the reader a first person perspective of McCandless's story as if he was the one telling it. The journalistic style gives the novel a personal touch that transforms it from simply stating the facts of McCandless's trip to an adventurous tale that reels readers in emotionally. The journalistic style of the novel also correlated with the journal McCandless kept on his trip. The journal like format makes it easy for the reader to keep track of the different events he encountered and the times that they occurred by keeping the events in a well-organized manner.

The incorporation of McCandless's letters to the people he met along the way is another technique used in Into the Wild to tell his story. McCandless's two year adventure ends with people personally. The letters not only share parts of McCandless's story that aren't told in his journal, but they also share the different relationships he formed while traveling. Each person McCandless met was impacted by his views on life. Based on his letters, the reader can sense that the beliefs of the people that McCandless met shaped his own beliefs and had an impact on his journey to Alaska. The letters also showed that real friendships were formed. As McCandless was leaving for his final trek to Alaska "he hugged Borah good-bye" and that's when she "noticed he was crying". Borah began to have "a bad feeling that [she] wouldn't never see him again" (Krakauer 68). The emotions felt in just this one scene of the book exemplify the relationships formed by McCandless and are portrayed even further through his letters.

The novel itself is written as a non-linear narrative meaning it does not go in chronological order. The book begins and ends with the death of McCandless. Krakauer writes like this to give the reader a better understanding of why McCandless went on this adventure in the first place. Throughout the novel different events are shared that occurred in the past. Not only did the events prior to his journey impact on his decision to go to Alaska, but they also justified the type of person McCandless was. McCandless lived his life in a way that resembled his running strategies in high school; start off by going into the unknown at a significant pace and slowly make your way back into familiarity only to become familiar with the scenery and pick up the pace once again. Instead of attending "keggers" like any other high schooler would do on a Friday night, McCandless would "wander the seedier quarters of Washington, chatting with prostitutes and homeless people, buying them meals, earnestly suggesting ways they might improve their lives" (Krakauer 113). This is not the typical mindset of a high school boy; it showed McCandless's character and his desire to find out what life was really about. This, along with his belief that you don't need money to be happy, influenced him to make the trip to the west coast and eventually Alaska. By going back and forth between the present and the past, the reader is able to understand what led to McCandless's adventure and by starting and finishing the novel with McCandless's death the reader can understand the impact of this adventure. 

In Sean Penn's movie adaptation of Into the Wild, he uses a technique called voice overs. Unlike Krakauer's novel where there is an unknown narrator, the narrator for majority of the film is Carine, his sister. A majority of the scenes where a voice over occurs, the voice being heard is hers. Penn does this to give the story a more personal feel and to show that McCandless's death had a huge impact on Carine, one of the closest people in his life. However, one scene in particular, the sea scene where he and Jan have stripped down and are jumping through the waves, the voice over that is happening McCandless's. This scene in particular shows the true bliss of life by jumping in the waves and is shown by them smiling; but by adding the voiceover the viewer is told the thoughts of McCandless as this is happening. Voiceovers allow the emotions of a scene that aren't completely obvious to be explained. So much can be shown by a single scene but the audio takes it to a whole new level by adding an explanation of emotions and thoughts. 

Another technique used in films is the shot choices made by the director. Penn used a bunch of different shot choices but majority of them could fit into the categories of long and far away or close up shots. In Into the Wild long shots were used to show the setting of a scene. Different angles of the long shots gave the viewers different perspectives of the setting. On the other hand, close up shots made a scene more intimate. Viewers were able to see the true emotions of the characters. A perfect example of this would be the final scene of the movie when McCandless dies. The camera is looking down on him and is close to his face. The camera captures the tears coming from his eyes as he's looking to the sky and a semi smile forming on his face as the realization of his death approaches and he slips into unconsciousness. As the viewer is watching this, the emotions of the scene engulf the viewer, as well, impacting their own emotions. These two particular kinds of shots help fulfill the goal of creating an emotional reaction in the audience by giving the viewer a setting and feelings of the characters. 

The music and soundtrack of a film can make or break a film. Music itself has the power to make people feel different things based on what is playing. For example, the dark deep sounds associated with the arrival of the shark in Jaws creates fear in the viewer. In Into the Wild majority of the music that plays in the background of scenes is uplifting; in place to inspire the viewers and make them think of McCandless's trip and their own lives. The music is meant to also coincide with the feelings the characters were experiencing. In the scene where McCandless has reached the peak of the mountain in Alaska, loud, bright inspiring music plays as the camera circles around him. As McCandless raises his arms to show his accomplishment of reaching the top, the music proceeds to get louder. This is a good example of the music fitting with the emotions of the scene because throughout the film the main goal of his is to reach Alaska and the viewer can't help but feel joy when observing McCandless accomplished this and the music plays a key role in this. 

The two mediums used to share Chris McCandless story were successful in creating emotions in their audiences. Different techniques used in the book and the film helped share the adventure of McCandless as an inspiring tale. The journalistic style, the use of letters, and the aspect of non-linear narration in the book shared the facts of his story; what happened and where. The use of voiceovers, the shot choices, and the music of the film created an inspirational tone of his two year adventure that connected with the emotions of the viewers. 

