Shaun of the Dead (2004) tells a comic and tragedy story of a man who has no main skills and is in a dead end job who does the same daily routing but never stops and questions it. Dawn of the Dead (2004) tells a dramatic and horror filed story as doctor Ana wakes up one morning and her life has changed. Shaun of the Dead was given a 15 rating and Dawn of the Dead was given a 18, which include alcohol, language, violence and horror. In this essay I will be discussing the narrative of how the characters develop through out the films. Edgar Wright directed Shaun of the dead. Dawn of the dead was directed by Zach Snyder but was a re-make of the 1978’s Dawn of the Dead which was directed by George A. Romero. I intend to look into a narrative approach and answer questions such as; how has the character developed? How is this life changing? And many more.
Shaun of the Dead’s character develops by gaining leadership and survival skills. He also learns how care about his friends and show emotion towards them. In the scene when Shaun must defend the pub from a zombie attack we are show that his mum has been bitten and is slowly dying. When Shaun sees this he blocks out everything including the zombies and focuses on his mum. As his mum slowly dies he begins to cry. His shows how he has gained emotion and has started caring. When she dies David picks up the Winchester rifle that they have been using to fight the zombies and points it at Shaun’s mum. Shaun then begins the get angry and smashes a bottle and points it at David to stop him from shooting his mum. Shaun’s mum then comes back as a zombie and Shaun must take leadership and its up to him to shoot her. He shoots him mum and drops the gun. David then says, “We did the right thing” Shaun the turns around and punches him in the face. This shows he isn’t to be messed with and has gained strength. Shaun portrays his character as being the stereotypical lazy english man who has a bad job and lives in a rubbish house with his two collage mate.
In Dawn of the Dead Ana’s character turns into a fearless healer. She’s gets the job in her group to heal any people who are wounded. She doesn’t understand that she can’t save everyone in the beginning of the film but learns that some wounds can’t be treated. She becomes a fighter and losses her fear of the zombies. We learnt this from when her group is escaping the harbor to get on a boat. One of the cars flips over and she runs out of her car and goes to save the other group. She is covered in blood from where she has killed zombies as well which shows us that she has been fighting against the horde as well.
In Shaun of the Dead zombies are slow and only walk where as Dawn of the Dead’s zombies are faster and more versatile. Dawn of the Dead’s zombies have upper body strength and can also think more tacitly. Shaun of the Deads zombies don’t really think, if they see something alive they try to kill it. In the Scene where Shaun tries to get his group into the Winchester Pub there is a massive horde of zombies in their way. Shaun and his group imitate the zombies by pretending to be zombies to try and make there way around them. The zombies then get onto them and relies their people and try to kill them. Shaun then stands up on a bench and gains their attention. He then runs through them all and doesn’t get thrown down onto the floor. He then leads them all away from the pub, very slowly. Shaun gains an understanding of this and uses it to his advantage and knows that they will never catch him so he can get away as slowly as he likes. In Dawn of the Dead during the escape to the harbor the zombies chase after them. Their speed has greatly increased due to the zombie infection inside of them and has given them the speed to keep up with a truck that the survivors are in. Also In Dawn of the Dead during the escape scene by the harbor there is a load of rubble in the way that the truck has made when it has smashed into the fence wall blocking the harbor. The zombies clime over it very quickly. The group of survivors studies the speed of the zombies and thinks more tacitly on how to approach things. They know how fast they are so they plan a head and have escape routes for every plan they make. In both films they learn that to kill a zombie is to get them in the head.
Shaun is a lazy character. He also follows the same routine everyday and is used to getting up, getting dressed, going to the shops, coming home, going to work, coming home then going out for a drink. He does this everyday so is unaware of the zombie out burst when he goes out in the morning. A kid who plays football outside of his house every morning is covered in blood and moaning but he doesn’t pay attention. When he gets to the shop to buy a Strawberry Cornetto and a diet coke he doesn’t notice the blood splatters over the freezer doors. Also he always slips on the floor in the shop because its always wet but this time its not water. As he walks back he doesn’t notice the dogs barking or the zombies walking. He walks right past one and says “sorry mate aint got any change” After Shaun’s first encounter with the zombies he learns about what to look out for and what they look like which gives him an advantage against the horde. In Dawn of the Dead after Ana is woken up by her next-door neighbor she is attacked by a zombie girl who bites her boyfriend and causes him to turn into a zombie. As she climes out of her bathroom window she sees her neibourhood and the havoc that has been caused. Zombies are running around and eating people and body bags are moving and fires from houses are going up. As Ana gets in her car and starts driving away she sees her best friend being eaten and starts to so emotion towards it.
Both characters are faced in the end with a life risking conclusion. Shaun is trapped in a cellar with his ex girlfriend (who he gets back with in the end) and his best mate who is now bitten. He has two shells left in his gun and has to decide what to do. all three come up with a conclusion about shooting themselves so they don't get turned. Shaun then sees a button to a elevator which will take them outside. He gives the gun to Ed and says his goodbyes before escaping. After they leave they are then rescued by the army and all is well. The zombies are put under control and are used for working purposes such as being trolly boys at supermarkets. Shaun and his now back together girl friend are returned home and carry on there lives. However in Dawn of the Dead when Ana escapes with the rest of her crew on a boat they end up on what they think is a deserted island and are instantly ambushed upon arrive. We hear gun fire for a few seconds and screaming but then the screen goes black. From what we can get from this is that not all smart people who have a perfect life make it to the end. Shaun is a dumb lazy guy who works in a shop selling TVs who makes it through the end and lives while a person who works in a hospital as a doctor doesn't make it to the end and dies. It shows the difference in genre by saying that the British humor can make it to the end while the american seriousness of film ends really sadly and how you would expect any zombie film to end
Dawn of the Dead doesn't follow the same conventions as a typical zombie film like Dawn of the Dead because one is a parody of the other so its trying to take the mic out of what the others trying to do. Dawn of the Dead uses the stereotypical "go the the mall" theme which is used in a lot of zombie films where as Shaun of the Dead decides to go there local pub. You wouldn't see the idea of going to a pub in any other zombie film but because its a british comedy its set for the best scene. all the best comedies have been set in bars so its fits really well. Dawn of the Dead being a serious films is more planed out for example they go to a mall because it has a lot supplies such as food and weapons.
In conclusion anyone can be a hero. It takes the right moment in time to change a person’s whole personality. It can be either a doctor who saves peoples lives everyday or a guy who manages a shop a TV shop in a small town. When faced in a moment of terror a character can go from being a lazy, poor, careless person into being a fearless hero, or a well skilled doctor who saves lives everyday to carry on saving lives even when people are dying all around her.
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