Dawn of the Dead 1979 Image Analysis 3

The first image is a long, establishing shot of the interior of the in the film takes place. This links to Andrew Sarris’ Auteur Theory as George Romero attacks the idea of consumerism using political satire which he often uses in his films. The characters originally see the mall as a safe haven which eventually turns into their own prison (the horror convention of an enclosed location) and the material things they thought were great eventually depress them. The lighting is quite low key to make the mall seem more dangerous; especially as the shots function is to show the zombies in the foyer.

These zombies also link to the contextual theme of consumerism as they represent us. Because the zombies are returning to the mall and the material things it sells it shows that this is where they were the most happy. However, later in the film the characters get sick of the money and material things showing that consumerism does not bring us happiness after all. This idea is further backed up by Peter when he looks down on the zombies (near the beginning of the film) and says “They’re us. That’s all.”

Dawn of the Dead 1979 Image Analysis 2

This last image  takes place during the end scene with a close up of Peter and Fran in the helicopter to show their relief at surviving – even if it is temporary as the film has an open ending. This shows Romero’s auteur style as he likes to flip character stereotypes. As a result the two survivors are a pregnant woman and a black man which was shocking at the time of its release.  He does this in the image by having Fran drive the helicopter even though she is pregnant and looks like the female victim stereotype because of her blonde hair.

 He also does this with Peter by pushing boundaries in a positive way via making the black hero better than the white hero. Peter is the real hero of the film which was unusual at the time due to being the stronger, more masculine male character. This shows Romero’s views as he is both anti-racism and anti-sexism. This makes black heroes/survivors a regular feature of his films including: Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Day of the Dead (1985).

Dawn of the Dead 1979 Image Analysis 1

 

The next image takes place in the boiler room when Stephen is attacked.  The lighting is purposefully low key to make the zombie seem like an even bigger threat (due to the use of oversized shadows) and shows the theme of the fear of death/violence.

During this scene there is point of view shots from both the zombie and Stephen and uses a handheld camera to create the sense of panic. This scene also shows Stephen as largely hopeless even though he should be the stereotypical male hero due to being good looking and having a girlfriend. Yet in this scene we continue to see his weakness as he becomes panicked and shoots at shadows during the scene.

Psycho Image Analysis 3

The next image is of the dug up remains of Mrs Bates in the cellar. This is the main moment that the film hints at being inspired by Ed Gein as, like Norman, Gein dressed up like his deceased mother and preserved her corpse. This would have been even more powerful to audiences in the context of the film’s 1960 release date. It also shows the theme of loneliness in Psycho as that is the reason Norman has gone to such trouble to preserve her.

Hitchcock uses a swinging light bulb to make the corpse creepier as it animates the mother’s eyes with the distortion of shadows. This is further enhanced by the creepy, enclosed location of the cellar which gives the audience a sense of being trapped underground.

The close up of the skeleton’s face is significant as it shocks the audience further by emphasizing the twist in the plot. It also unsettles the viewer by being so close to the screen. Later in the film, the final shot of Norman has this image of the skull imposed onto Norman’s face to leave the audience uneasy and to connote his split personality.

Psycho Image Analysis 2

 

This image takes place in the aftermath of the famous shower scene with an extreme close up of Marion’s eye which makes the audience slightly unsettled due to how claustrophobic the shot is. The shot is also a canted, expressionist angle to make the image more disorientating which helps the audience feel sympathy for Marion. The camera then follows the teardrop and blood down the plughole of the bath connoting that her life is thrown away and was indispensable to Norman Bates.

During the shower scene she is killed with a knife which is a phallic symbol of Norman’s power and dominance and further shows Marion as a victim. There are several clues from the beginning of the film that suggest she will be the female victim. The fact that she is stereotypically blonde (you can see some of her hair in the upper right corner) and sexually active with Sam tells us this.

This scene shows Hitchcock’s auteur style as it is part of a collision cut of quick (shower attack scene) to slow montage. Hitchcock is famous for these slow montages which create tension and suspense and collision cutting from quiet to loud and slow to quick to make the audience jump/shudder. This is due to Hitchcock’s love of Soviet Montage films like Battleship Potemkim



Psycho Image Analysis 1

This scene from Psycho gives us our first insight into the serial killer Norman Bates with a low, expressionist angle emphasizing his power over Marion while also giving him a slightly sinister atmosphere. The bird of prey mounted in the corner of the room suggests that Norman is just as dangerous and that Marion is his prey. This is more obvious as Marion’s surname is Crane which is a type of bird. Also Norman says that she “eats like a bird” which further suggests this.

 The room has low key lighting to make the scene darker and to emphasize the shadows of Norman and the birds of prey. However this contrasts with Norman’s speech in the film which portrays him as more likeable and vulnerable than his Ed Gein real-life counterpart which is who this film is based on.

The fact that it is based on this serial killer shocked audiences even more as it was still very recent (Gein was arrested in 1957) and due to the first television news reports the real life horror was now more accessible to people all over America. It was not just restricted to the state.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 3

The third image is from the end of the film when Ana says goodbye to Michael and sails away. On the right hand side of the image you can see the American flag which supports the context of America versus the world with the zombies representing terrorists. The flag also connotes freedom both for the boat and America in general. The American flag is used in quite a lot of horror films including The Hills Have Eyes (2006) when the hero kills a mutant by stabbing him in the head with the American flag.

The characters who survive to the boat are the ‘underdogs’ of the film: the young girl (Nicole), the dog, the final girl (Ana), the black guy (Kenneth) and the male victim (Terry) which is unexpected by the audience and shows the forward-thinking nature of horror films. This close up of Ana is used to make the scene sadder as Michael has sacrificed himself for Ana. However, due to their escape the ending can be deemed open until extra clips during the end credits give the audience the real ending.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 2

This image is from the van scene in the film and takes part in the quick montage that is used due to its action horror genre. This scene also uses a handheld camera to create the sense of panic.

Due to the action sub-genre of the film the zombies are a lot quicker than those in the original. The zombies speed makes them a bigger threat and as a result they are scarier and we, unlike the original, do not feel any sympathy for them. Because this film had a bigger budget there was more money spent on zombie extras which also makes the film more daunting. This is shown in the image where we can see 20 zombie extras.

In this shot we can see Michael protecting the mall. Michael is based on Stephen from the original Dawn of the Dead (1979) and fits the “male hero” stereotype. Unlike Stephen, Michael is more likeable due to being an ordinary guy (he works at “Best Buy”) and he is very honest – he admits he was a bad husband but a good dad.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 1

I picked this image as it shows the historical context more than others. This image (along with the opening credits) suggests that the origin of the zombie virus is the Middle East and feeds off of the fear of terrorism at the time of the film’s release due to the 9/11 Twin Towers terrorist attack in 2001.Whilst this image is shown the song “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash is played which is about biblical Armageddon. This helps set the tone for the film from the beginning.  

The shot has been edited to use a filter so that it looks aged which immerses the audience into the film because it feels like it’s already happened. The high, expressionist angle is also important as it ‘looks down’ on the Muslims like they are powerless and are of lesser worth than the rest of the world that is suffering. This links back to the historical context once again and relates to the patriotism that is a theme of the film.

Audience Research 1: Practise Poster

Horror Sub-Genre Pie Chart