Draft 1
"Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?"[1] Ed (Nick Frost)
How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?
Inspired by George Romero’s ‘Dead’ films ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004), directed by Edgar Wright and co-written with Simon Pegg, bought in a massive £1,603,410[2]. The low-budget, British film also proved to be popular in the United States. The romantic, zombie, comedy pays homage to the founding director of the zombie genre, George A. Romero. Genre tends to repeat elements and as ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a hybrid text of romance, comedy and zombie, the film repeats aspects of each genre. This may be one of the reasons as to why the contemporary text also subverts some of the codes and conventions of the zombie genre. This essay will go on to argue whether ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre in comparison to Romero’s films, looking particularly at the historical text ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968).
‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a contemporary text which shows a good example of conveying not only the codes and conventions of the zombie genre but also a hybridity of genres, inter-textuality and post-modernism. The zombie genre, or “The horror of Armageddon”[3] as Charles Derry (1977) referred to is as, was first recognized in the late 60s/early 70s; with the release of Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968). The horror genre during the mid 50s was seen as films aimed at the “youth market” or “adolescents of whatever age”[4] and was less popular amongst the critics. Romero’s film set the mark for the beginning of the zombie genre. The film followed the codes and convention of the horror genre; which most zombie films follow. The themes of isolation and the visual iconography of a big remote area, for example a house outside the city, are common conventions that can also be seen in contemporary texts such as ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
The early zombie films by Romero took conventions from earlier horror films such as ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ (1957) and ‘Dracula’ (1958) by Terence Fisher, which were in fact re-makes of the early 1930s/40 basic horror films. These films take place in isolation and antique settings of “castles, manor houses and remote villages”[5]. During the late fifties and early sixties the first of Romero’s films, ‘Night of the Living Dead’, subverted the conventions of the classic horror films, making it a contemporary text in its time period. These classic horror films also “involve a metamorphosis”[6] that becomes a common convention for the horror genre. Although ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is linked by subject matter, the traditional gothic style of horror juxtaposes the contemporary style of ‘Shaun of the Dead’. The gothic look was a visual style and iconography of the horror genre during the late fifties. Genre theorist Edward Buscombe (1970) argues that as we are looking at a visual medium we should look out for “defining criteria…on the screen”[7], suggesting that a genre should be defined by its visual iconography; such as the actors, settings and images which are repeated.
Genre re-defines itself according to technology, the audience and politics. However, Robert Stam (2000) identified four problems with the genre theory, in particular generic labels. One of the four problems outlined was the “monolithic definitions - as if an item belonged to only one genre”[8]. The diction ‘item’ in this case can be seen as the conventional use of the isolated and non-exotic location that has been assigned to the zombie genre, amongst other stereotypes and conventions. Both ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’ subvert the classic horror settings and instead use non exotic locations, to create a different visual iconography for the zombie genre. Romero chooses to use a farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside; the use of isolation reinforces the classic horror film conventions, but has also become a convention for the zombie genre too. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ takes into consideration the setting and is set in a contemporary non-exotic location of an isolated pub, The Winchester. The main setting, in ‘Shaun of the Dead’, reflects the use of pubs within in the British media. They are often used as a place where characters come together and are commonly used in popular soaps like ‘Eastenders’.
The use of media language can be considered as a visually “defining criteria”[9]. However, the media language is more of the directors’ style rather than the genre’s iconography. Both ‘Shaun of the Dead and ‘Night of the Living Dead’ use a similar technique to represent the revelation of the living dead; this drives the narrative and answers the audience’s enigmas by explaining the situation. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ as Ed is flicking through the TV channels the broken dialogue of each channel ironically explains the situation. This style used by the director creates humor for the audience. However, once he stops there is a news report which explains the situation to both the audience and Shaun, the news report also describes how to kill the zombies, foreshadowing the resolution. The advice given is to hit the zombies on the head and this has always been a generic resolution to kill the living dead. Similarly, ‘Night of the Living Dead’ uses a radio report. The radio report explains the reason for the living dead but fails to provide a solution of how to rid the zombies. The protagonist, Ben, figures out a way to stop the zombies, by hitting them on the head and using fire. This represents the zombies as primitive and giving Ben more authority over the white, mindless zombies. The primitive aspects represent the zombies as “the Others” subverting the stereotype of the African-American protagonist being the other.
The convention of horror films, especially cult films of the zombie genre, often use a hand-held technique. The scene “Shaun’s Plan” in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ uses a hand-held camera. This gives the audience the sense that they are experiencing the situation with Shaun, especially as the camera is placed behind Shaun creating an over-the-shoulder shot. This involves the audience and creates a more serious tone over the dominant humorous tone that goes on throughout the film. In Romero’s film the hand held-camera is evident as Johnny fights with a zombie in the opening scene. The use of the hand-held camerawork therefore becomes a convention for the horror genre to represent a realistic situation to the audience. The hand held camera also becomes a common representation of reality.
Another common camera shot that is used in both texts is the directors’ use of reflections. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ the use of reflection answers the enigma of the whereabouts of housemate Pete. This further reinforces the idea of the audience experiencing what Shaun experiences, especially as the over-the-shoulder shot is used again, to represent a reality. Romero, on the other hand, uses reflections to create tension. As Barbara is trying to escape from the zombie in a car; the shot goes from her face to the side mirror, also creating a point of view shot. The point of view shots, reflections and the hand held camera shows a similarity in the genre through the media language and the style.
The directors choose to convey reality through the hand held camera but audiences knows that zombies and the living dead are in fact fictional. Yet by knowing this the audience have a feeling of control. The fictional monsters allow directors to present the audience with an outlet for their “apocalyptic anxieties”[10] without the audience having to confront them directly. This also makes the audience feel safe as fictional monsters are representing current events, making it slightly unrealistic. The rise of zombie films have increased within the last six years and this is due to the fact that the world had experienced a mass amount of tragic events; terrorism, war, viral outbreaks and natural disasters. Directors feel they can use these social backdrops within in their films. The British horror film which also uses element of the zombie genre ‘28 Days Later’ by Danny Boyle (2002) reflects viral outbreaks. Both Zack Snyder’s re-make and Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978/2005) represents the rise of consumerism in the United States. But also proved to be more popular than Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (2005). ‘Shaun of the Dead’ was written during the unfortunate 9/11 terrorist attacks. The social context is shown as Shaun realizes that “the little problems in your life don't go away”[11]. The ‘little things’ in the film is the relationship problems with Shaun and his girlfriend Liz. Although the world might possibly end because of these flesh eating ghouls, Shaun still feels the need to make up with Liz.
Films do not often fall into one genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a hybrid text that takes elements from zombie films, comedy films and romance films. However, each of these genres has defining criteria. Genre theorists, such as Steve Neale (2000), have referred to this as a “repertoire of elements”[12]. The repertoire of elements can be seen through the iconography, style, setting, themes and narrative of the genre. This also suggests that audience’s who watch films defined by genre have certain expectations of the films. Theorist Stam outlined four problems with the genre theory and one of them is the “normativism”[13] problems. This refers to the audience having certain expectations of films because of the genre. This therefore means that audience’s watch horror films to get scared. The 1931 original ‘Frankenstein’ by James Whale begins with a warning to the audience. The filmmaker challenges the audience to face their fears and by the audience continuing to watch, they immediately accept this challenge.
Romero’s references to the American society, during the time he produced his films; is unconventional and breaks stereotypes of the zombie genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ also uses this technique to reflect the social context of its time period. Romero created and still continues to produces ‘Night’ films and as an opposing argument to genre; Romero can be considered as an auteur of cinema. Auteurism emphasizes the unique qualities of films. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and the other ‘Night’ films by Romero are unique in the sense that they began the zombie genre and were unconventional films during the time of release. However, it is argued that horror films show the least association with American history and directors such as Romero are unable to escape this generic label that associates them with cultism. He therefore fails to “win acclaim as auteur of the cinema”[14].
In ‘Night of the Living Dead’ there is a clear and dominant reference towards the historical and at the time social context of ethnic minorities, black people in particular. Romero’s choice of protagonist was controversial at the time. He does this by casting an unknown, African-American protagonist to play along side a white dominated cast. This breaks the conventional famous, white male protagonist from Hollywood. Romero is referring to the Civil Right Movements in America during the 1920s and also represents the authorities of the American law over the “innocent black man”[15]. However, this controversial outbreak reinforces a problem in generic labels; the monolithic definition outlined by Stam. The protagonist Duane Jones worried that audience’s only saw him as his character Ben, this also meant he only starred in cult-films rather than breaking through to Hollywood. This reinforces another problem with generic labels outlines by Stam, the “the narrowness of labels”[16] or extension. The extension problem is also evident in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are stereotyped to play humorous characters. This representation of the two actors is further reinforced in the follow up to ‘Shaun of the Dead, ‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007).
Character codes are a convention used in film. Vladimir Propp’s folk tale character list can be applied to many films, one of which is ‘Shaun of the Dead’, and this also links with the idea of the narrowness of labels. Simon Pegg is the protagonist ‘Shaun’, according to Propp’s theory he is considered as the hero. Shaun plays a funny and entertaining character; a role that he also played in the TV Series ‘Spaced’. Pegg has been stereotyped and has been typecast to play funny characters. However, at times Shaun is represented as the anti-hero; he does not want the responsibility of a hero. Similarly Nick Frost, ‘Ed’, also starred in ‘Spaced’ and is very well known to play humorous and entertaining characters, mainly as a helper rather than a protagonist. Ed plays the Proppian role of the helper and donor, as well as helping Shaun, he often prepares Shaun. The role of the villain is clearly represented by the zombies, as this is what Shaun is fighting against.
Both texts have the vulnerable character which is common in horror as well as the zombie genre. Barbara, in ‘Night of the Living Dead’ is traumatized and in a “catatonic state”[17] after witnessing the death of her brother Johnny. Barbara in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ plays Shaun’s mother and is also in a catatonic state, however, she is only represented in this way because she got bitten by a zombie. This conventional representation of women in zombie films conveys a patriarchal society and gives the male characters more authority. By having the character Barbara in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Pegg is paying homage to Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ this also shows inter-textuality. Furthermore, another conventional ‘vulnerable’ character in the horror genre is the pregnant women. Although the re-make of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004) by Zack Synder had some different characters Synder kept the original pregnant women. This vulnerable pregnant woman is also used in the film by Roman Polanski ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968). The film by Polanski was released in the same year as ‘Night of the Living Dead’ suggesting that Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978) borrowed this element and made it an item used in the cult horror genre.
David Bordwell notes that, “any theme may appear in any genre”[18] however the re-occurring theme of surviving is another convention of the zombie genre. In any zombie film the dominating and obvious theme is the theme of surviving. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ mocks this theme by using the phrase surviving within the dialogue. The theme of chaos and the breakdown of civilization is another common theme of the genre. There are two types of people on this situation of chaos. There are people who try to maintain humanity and fight against the zombies, the second type of people are the ones who become the animal/zombie. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’ shows a group of people who fall into the category of maintaining humanity, or surviving. However, in both films within the group one person is represented as becoming a zombie. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Shaun’s mother, Barbara, turns into a zombie. ‘Night if the Living Dead’ shows a young girl turning into the living dead. This therefore becomes a generic convention of the zombie genre; there is a group of people maintaining humanity but one person ends up becoming a zombie. This formulaic, narrative structure is also seen in ‘28 Day Later’. Furthermore, the theme of isolation is commonly used in the horror and zombie genre, subverting Bordwell’s theory.
‘Shaun of the Dead’ somewhat follows the Todorov narrative structure. The film does not begin with the living dead. However, the opening scene of Shaun acting like a zombie as he wakes up foreshadows the rest of the film. This opening is different to other zombie films. Within the opening of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ Johnny is attacked by a zombie. Likewise, ‘28 Days Later’ opens with a disequilibrium, the protagonist ‘Jim’ wakes up to an empty London town, the audience nor Jim knows the reason why. Many of Romero’s other ‘Night’ films begin with this disequilibrium. ‘Land of the Dead’ (2005) begins with a representation of a walled city that protects the humans from the living dead. Although the zombie films are not complex and don’t have non-linear narrative structures, these enigmas keep the audience engaged. Unlike other zombie films, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ shows the transition of humans turning into the living dead. There is a social backdrop of society now beginning to turn into the living dead as their lifestyle is routine, mainly representing the blue-collared workers. What's more, the ending of the film avoids “the usual twist that Hollywood is so fond of”[19]. The end shows zombies being kept and used as something useful, a humorous ending that subverts the more serious ending of ‘Night of the Living Dead’. By having such a unique resolution the contemporary text shows that it is indeed a post-modern text, as it subverts the typical generic conventions.
In conclusion, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre. The contemporary film also subverts some aspects of generic elements, making it a post-modern text in its own right. The conventional use of an isolated setting is successfully used through the setting of the pub. Although this can be seen as a mock of the zombie genre, it still follows conventions of British media. The Pub is often a place where people come together. The film also uses a similar style of media language to the zombie genre. The zombie genre often uses a hand-held camera to convey a sense of realism to the audience. This realism challenges the filmmaker to scare the audience. It also allows the director to present the audience with “apocalyptic anxieties”[20] without the audience directly confronting them. Furthermore, a common way to represent the situation to the audience and the characters is done through reports on the radio or TV, in the diegtic world of the film. This is a common conventional element used in zombie films. The codes in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ that are successfully referred to are the Proppian character codes. The hero is the protagonist Shaun and the villain are the zombies. However, the role of the hero is often subverted by Shaun as his character doesn’t want the responsibility making him an anti-hero. The helped/donor, Ed, prepares Shaun against the zombies. Although “any theme may appear in any genre”[21] it seems that the theme of surviving is most common in the zombie genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ represents this theme by continually using the word surviving in the dialogue. Since Romero used ‘Night of the Living Dead’ to represent social context, this has become a common convention of the genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ implicitly refers to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, rather it refers to the statement, made by Pegg, that “the little things in life don’t just go away…because the world’s blows up”[22]. Finally, the theme of chaos and the breakdown of civilization appear in the zombie genre and is a repertoire element. The use of two types of people in the situation allows there to be a group of people, which is common in the horror genre. Therefore, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre, but at times subverts it due to the hybridity of the text. Thus successfully making ‘Shaun of the Dead’ “A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.”[23]
Word Count: 3, 217
[1] ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004)
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/business
[3] Charles Derry, Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film, London, Thomas Yoseloff, 1977
[4] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[5] Rubin, Martin (1999): Thrillers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
[6] F.Dick, Bernard (2002): Anatomy of Film. Boston, USA: Bedford/St Martin’s.
[7] Edward Buscombe, ‘The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema’, Screen 2(2), March/April 1970
[8] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[9] Edward Buscombe, ‘The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema’, Screen 2(2), March/April 1970
[10] The Guardian, Film & Music Weekly Pg8 – Friday November 10 2006
[11] http://www.timeout.com/film/news/631.html
[12] Neale, Steve (2000): Genre and Hollywood. Fetter Lane, London: Routledge.
[13] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[14] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[15] Jones, Darryl (2002): Horror A Thematic History in Fiction and Film. London: Arnold Publishers.
[16] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[17] Jones, Darryl (2002): Horror A Thematic History in Fiction and Film. London: Arnold Publishers.
[18] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[19] http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2004/shaundead.shtml
[20] The Guardian, Film & Music Weekly Pg8 – Friday November 10 2006
[21] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute
[22] http://www.timeout.com/film/news/631.html
[23] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/taglines
"Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?"[1] Ed (Nick Frost)
How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?
Inspired by George Romero’s ‘Dead’ films ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004), directed by Edgar Wright and co-written with Simon Pegg, bought in a massive £1,603,410[2]. The low-budget, British film also proved to be popular in the United States. The romantic, zombie, comedy pays homage to the founding director of the zombie genre, George A. Romero. Genre tends to repeat elements and as ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a hybrid text of romance, comedy and zombie, the film repeats aspects of each genre. This may be one of the reasons as to why the contemporary text also subverts some of the codes and conventions of the zombie genre. This essay will go on to argue whether ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre in comparison to Romero’s films, looking particularly at the historical text ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968).
‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a contemporary text which shows a good example of conveying not only the codes and conventions of the zombie genre but also a hybridity of genres, inter-textuality and post-modernism. The zombie genre, or “The horror of Armageddon”[3] as Charles Derry (1977) referred to is as, was first recognized in the late 60s/early 70s; with the release of Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968). The horror genre during the mid 50s was seen as films aimed at the “youth market” or “adolescents of whatever age”[4] and was less popular amongst the critics. Romero’s film set the mark for the beginning of the zombie genre. The film followed the codes and convention of the horror genre; which most zombie films follow. The themes of isolation and the visual iconography of a big remote area, for example a house outside the city, are common conventions that can also be seen in contemporary texts such as ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
The early zombie films by Romero took conventions from earlier horror films such as ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ (1957) and ‘Dracula’ (1958) by Terence Fisher, which were in fact re-makes of the early 1930s/40 basic horror films. These films take place in isolation and antique settings of “castles, manor houses and remote villages”[5]. During the late fifties and early sixties the first of Romero’s films, ‘Night of the Living Dead’, subverted the conventions of the classic horror films, making it a contemporary text in its time period. These classic horror films also “involve a metamorphosis”[6] that becomes a common convention for the horror genre. Although ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is linked by subject matter, the traditional gothic style of horror juxtaposes the contemporary style of ‘Shaun of the Dead’. The gothic look was a visual style and iconography of the horror genre during the late fifties. Genre theorist Edward Buscombe (1970) argues that as we are looking at a visual medium we should look out for “defining criteria…on the screen”[7], suggesting that a genre should be defined by its visual iconography; such as the actors, settings and images which are repeated.
Genre re-defines itself according to technology, the audience and politics. However, Robert Stam (2000) identified four problems with the genre theory, in particular generic labels. One of the four problems outlined was the “monolithic definitions - as if an item belonged to only one genre”[8]. The diction ‘item’ in this case can be seen as the conventional use of the isolated and non-exotic location that has been assigned to the zombie genre, amongst other stereotypes and conventions. Both ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’ subvert the classic horror settings and instead use non exotic locations, to create a different visual iconography for the zombie genre. Romero chooses to use a farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside; the use of isolation reinforces the classic horror film conventions, but has also become a convention for the zombie genre too. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ takes into consideration the setting and is set in a contemporary non-exotic location of an isolated pub, The Winchester. The main setting, in ‘Shaun of the Dead’, reflects the use of pubs within in the British media. They are often used as a place where characters come together and are commonly used in popular soaps like ‘Eastenders’.
The use of media language can be considered as a visually “defining criteria”[9]. However, the media language is more of the directors’ style rather than the genre’s iconography. Both ‘Shaun of the Dead and ‘Night of the Living Dead’ use a similar technique to represent the revelation of the living dead; this drives the narrative and answers the audience’s enigmas by explaining the situation. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ as Ed is flicking through the TV channels the broken dialogue of each channel ironically explains the situation. This style used by the director creates humor for the audience. However, once he stops there is a news report which explains the situation to both the audience and Shaun, the news report also describes how to kill the zombies, foreshadowing the resolution. The advice given is to hit the zombies on the head and this has always been a generic resolution to kill the living dead. Similarly, ‘Night of the Living Dead’ uses a radio report. The radio report explains the reason for the living dead but fails to provide a solution of how to rid the zombies. The protagonist, Ben, figures out a way to stop the zombies, by hitting them on the head and using fire. This represents the zombies as primitive and giving Ben more authority over the white, mindless zombies. The primitive aspects represent the zombies as “the Others” subverting the stereotype of the African-American protagonist being the other.
The convention of horror films, especially cult films of the zombie genre, often use a hand-held technique. The scene “Shaun’s Plan” in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ uses a hand-held camera. This gives the audience the sense that they are experiencing the situation with Shaun, especially as the camera is placed behind Shaun creating an over-the-shoulder shot. This involves the audience and creates a more serious tone over the dominant humorous tone that goes on throughout the film. In Romero’s film the hand held-camera is evident as Johnny fights with a zombie in the opening scene. The use of the hand-held camerawork therefore becomes a convention for the horror genre to represent a realistic situation to the audience. The hand held camera also becomes a common representation of reality.
Another common camera shot that is used in both texts is the directors’ use of reflections. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ the use of reflection answers the enigma of the whereabouts of housemate Pete. This further reinforces the idea of the audience experiencing what Shaun experiences, especially as the over-the-shoulder shot is used again, to represent a reality. Romero, on the other hand, uses reflections to create tension. As Barbara is trying to escape from the zombie in a car; the shot goes from her face to the side mirror, also creating a point of view shot. The point of view shots, reflections and the hand held camera shows a similarity in the genre through the media language and the style.
The directors choose to convey reality through the hand held camera but audiences knows that zombies and the living dead are in fact fictional. Yet by knowing this the audience have a feeling of control. The fictional monsters allow directors to present the audience with an outlet for their “apocalyptic anxieties”[10] without the audience having to confront them directly. This also makes the audience feel safe as fictional monsters are representing current events, making it slightly unrealistic. The rise of zombie films have increased within the last six years and this is due to the fact that the world had experienced a mass amount of tragic events; terrorism, war, viral outbreaks and natural disasters. Directors feel they can use these social backdrops within in their films. The British horror film which also uses element of the zombie genre ‘28 Days Later’ by Danny Boyle (2002) reflects viral outbreaks. Both Zack Snyder’s re-make and Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978/2005) represents the rise of consumerism in the United States. But also proved to be more popular than Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (2005). ‘Shaun of the Dead’ was written during the unfortunate 9/11 terrorist attacks. The social context is shown as Shaun realizes that “the little problems in your life don't go away”[11]. The ‘little things’ in the film is the relationship problems with Shaun and his girlfriend Liz. Although the world might possibly end because of these flesh eating ghouls, Shaun still feels the need to make up with Liz.
Films do not often fall into one genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a hybrid text that takes elements from zombie films, comedy films and romance films. However, each of these genres has defining criteria. Genre theorists, such as Steve Neale (2000), have referred to this as a “repertoire of elements”[12]. The repertoire of elements can be seen through the iconography, style, setting, themes and narrative of the genre. This also suggests that audience’s who watch films defined by genre have certain expectations of the films. Theorist Stam outlined four problems with the genre theory and one of them is the “normativism”[13] problems. This refers to the audience having certain expectations of films because of the genre. This therefore means that audience’s watch horror films to get scared. The 1931 original ‘Frankenstein’ by James Whale begins with a warning to the audience. The filmmaker challenges the audience to face their fears and by the audience continuing to watch, they immediately accept this challenge.
Romero’s references to the American society, during the time he produced his films; is unconventional and breaks stereotypes of the zombie genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ also uses this technique to reflect the social context of its time period. Romero created and still continues to produces ‘Night’ films and as an opposing argument to genre; Romero can be considered as an auteur of cinema. Auteurism emphasizes the unique qualities of films. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and the other ‘Night’ films by Romero are unique in the sense that they began the zombie genre and were unconventional films during the time of release. However, it is argued that horror films show the least association with American history and directors such as Romero are unable to escape this generic label that associates them with cultism. He therefore fails to “win acclaim as auteur of the cinema”[14].
In ‘Night of the Living Dead’ there is a clear and dominant reference towards the historical and at the time social context of ethnic minorities, black people in particular. Romero’s choice of protagonist was controversial at the time. He does this by casting an unknown, African-American protagonist to play along side a white dominated cast. This breaks the conventional famous, white male protagonist from Hollywood. Romero is referring to the Civil Right Movements in America during the 1920s and also represents the authorities of the American law over the “innocent black man”[15]. However, this controversial outbreak reinforces a problem in generic labels; the monolithic definition outlined by Stam. The protagonist Duane Jones worried that audience’s only saw him as his character Ben, this also meant he only starred in cult-films rather than breaking through to Hollywood. This reinforces another problem with generic labels outlines by Stam, the “the narrowness of labels”[16] or extension. The extension problem is also evident in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are stereotyped to play humorous characters. This representation of the two actors is further reinforced in the follow up to ‘Shaun of the Dead, ‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007).
Character codes are a convention used in film. Vladimir Propp’s folk tale character list can be applied to many films, one of which is ‘Shaun of the Dead’, and this also links with the idea of the narrowness of labels. Simon Pegg is the protagonist ‘Shaun’, according to Propp’s theory he is considered as the hero. Shaun plays a funny and entertaining character; a role that he also played in the TV Series ‘Spaced’. Pegg has been stereotyped and has been typecast to play funny characters. However, at times Shaun is represented as the anti-hero; he does not want the responsibility of a hero. Similarly Nick Frost, ‘Ed’, also starred in ‘Spaced’ and is very well known to play humorous and entertaining characters, mainly as a helper rather than a protagonist. Ed plays the Proppian role of the helper and donor, as well as helping Shaun, he often prepares Shaun. The role of the villain is clearly represented by the zombies, as this is what Shaun is fighting against.
Both texts have the vulnerable character which is common in horror as well as the zombie genre. Barbara, in ‘Night of the Living Dead’ is traumatized and in a “catatonic state”[17] after witnessing the death of her brother Johnny. Barbara in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ plays Shaun’s mother and is also in a catatonic state, however, she is only represented in this way because she got bitten by a zombie. This conventional representation of women in zombie films conveys a patriarchal society and gives the male characters more authority. By having the character Barbara in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Pegg is paying homage to Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ this also shows inter-textuality. Furthermore, another conventional ‘vulnerable’ character in the horror genre is the pregnant women. Although the re-make of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004) by Zack Synder had some different characters Synder kept the original pregnant women. This vulnerable pregnant woman is also used in the film by Roman Polanski ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968). The film by Polanski was released in the same year as ‘Night of the Living Dead’ suggesting that Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978) borrowed this element and made it an item used in the cult horror genre.
David Bordwell notes that, “any theme may appear in any genre”[18] however the re-occurring theme of surviving is another convention of the zombie genre. In any zombie film the dominating and obvious theme is the theme of surviving. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ mocks this theme by using the phrase surviving within the dialogue. The theme of chaos and the breakdown of civilization is another common theme of the genre. There are two types of people on this situation of chaos. There are people who try to maintain humanity and fight against the zombies, the second type of people are the ones who become the animal/zombie. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’ shows a group of people who fall into the category of maintaining humanity, or surviving. However, in both films within the group one person is represented as becoming a zombie. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Shaun’s mother, Barbara, turns into a zombie. ‘Night if the Living Dead’ shows a young girl turning into the living dead. This therefore becomes a generic convention of the zombie genre; there is a group of people maintaining humanity but one person ends up becoming a zombie. This formulaic, narrative structure is also seen in ‘28 Day Later’. Furthermore, the theme of isolation is commonly used in the horror and zombie genre, subverting Bordwell’s theory.
‘Shaun of the Dead’ somewhat follows the Todorov narrative structure. The film does not begin with the living dead. However, the opening scene of Shaun acting like a zombie as he wakes up foreshadows the rest of the film. This opening is different to other zombie films. Within the opening of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ Johnny is attacked by a zombie. Likewise, ‘28 Days Later’ opens with a disequilibrium, the protagonist ‘Jim’ wakes up to an empty London town, the audience nor Jim knows the reason why. Many of Romero’s other ‘Night’ films begin with this disequilibrium. ‘Land of the Dead’ (2005) begins with a representation of a walled city that protects the humans from the living dead. Although the zombie films are not complex and don’t have non-linear narrative structures, these enigmas keep the audience engaged. Unlike other zombie films, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ shows the transition of humans turning into the living dead. There is a social backdrop of society now beginning to turn into the living dead as their lifestyle is routine, mainly representing the blue-collared workers. What's more, the ending of the film avoids “the usual twist that Hollywood is so fond of”[19]. The end shows zombies being kept and used as something useful, a humorous ending that subverts the more serious ending of ‘Night of the Living Dead’. By having such a unique resolution the contemporary text shows that it is indeed a post-modern text, as it subverts the typical generic conventions.
In conclusion, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre. The contemporary film also subverts some aspects of generic elements, making it a post-modern text in its own right. The conventional use of an isolated setting is successfully used through the setting of the pub. Although this can be seen as a mock of the zombie genre, it still follows conventions of British media. The Pub is often a place where people come together. The film also uses a similar style of media language to the zombie genre. The zombie genre often uses a hand-held camera to convey a sense of realism to the audience. This realism challenges the filmmaker to scare the audience. It also allows the director to present the audience with “apocalyptic anxieties”[20] without the audience directly confronting them. Furthermore, a common way to represent the situation to the audience and the characters is done through reports on the radio or TV, in the diegtic world of the film. This is a common conventional element used in zombie films. The codes in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ that are successfully referred to are the Proppian character codes. The hero is the protagonist Shaun and the villain are the zombies. However, the role of the hero is often subverted by Shaun as his character doesn’t want the responsibility making him an anti-hero. The helped/donor, Ed, prepares Shaun against the zombies. Although “any theme may appear in any genre”[21] it seems that the theme of surviving is most common in the zombie genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ represents this theme by continually using the word surviving in the dialogue. Since Romero used ‘Night of the Living Dead’ to represent social context, this has become a common convention of the genre. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ implicitly refers to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, rather it refers to the statement, made by Pegg, that “the little things in life don’t just go away…because the world’s blows up”[22]. Finally, the theme of chaos and the breakdown of civilization appear in the zombie genre and is a repertoire element. The use of two types of people in the situation allows there to be a group of people, which is common in the horror genre. Therefore, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ successfully follows the codes and conventions of the zombie genre, but at times subverts it due to the hybridity of the text. Thus successfully making ‘Shaun of the Dead’ “A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.”[23]
Word Count: 3, 217
[1] ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004)
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/business
[3] Charles Derry, Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film, London, Thomas Yoseloff, 1977
[4] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[5] Rubin, Martin (1999): Thrillers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
[6] F.Dick, Bernard (2002): Anatomy of Film. Boston, USA: Bedford/St Martin’s.
[7] Edward Buscombe, ‘The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema’, Screen 2(2), March/April 1970
[8] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[9] Edward Buscombe, ‘The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema’, Screen 2(2), March/April 1970
[10] The Guardian, Film & Music Weekly Pg8 – Friday November 10 2006
[11] http://www.timeout.com/film/news/631.html
[12] Neale, Steve (2000): Genre and Hollywood. Fetter Lane, London: Routledge.
[13] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[14] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[15] Jones, Darryl (2002): Horror A Thematic History in Fiction and Film. London: Arnold Publishers.
[16] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
[17] Jones, Darryl (2002): Horror A Thematic History in Fiction and Film. London: Arnold Publishers.
[18] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
[19] http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2004/shaundead.shtml
[20] The Guardian, Film & Music Weekly Pg8 – Friday November 10 2006
[21] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute
[22] http://www.timeout.com/film/news/631.html
[23] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/taglines
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