Tuesday 31 January 2017

Spirited Away Review - Adaptation Film Screening

Fig 1. Spirited Away Theatrical Release Poster

A heavy hitter in the feature length anime film industry, 'Spirited Away' created by Studio Ghibli's Hiyao Miyazaki, is an adventure of boundless imagination, surrealism in anime form and until recently the highest grossing anime film of all time. It is a Japanese film at its core of course, and its animation style is the flux of 2D and 3D designs into one swift movement. It is another one of Studio Ghibli's successes in the competition, a production company that has a vast catalog of awe inspiring content; from 'Castle in the sky' to 'When Marnie was there'. 
Fig 2. The Bridge

It is the story of a ten-year-old girl named Chihro, on the way to her new home, her family visit a strange and mysterious tunnel that leads to a secret world filled with bizarre wonders. Her parents undergo a transformation and Chihiro must fend for herself as she learns to live beside spirits and all manners of strange creatures. Her quest is simple, to revert the form of her parents but her path is clouded with uncertainty and danger.

The animation produced for the audience is undeniably painstaking to complete, usually there is a tendency to simplify certain visuals to ease the burden. But the studio's efforts offer the audience complexity. The background is filled with intricate workings and the animation works to make the film fluid instead of being trapped within a frame. The scenes are created frame by frame and the use of computers was deployed to help with the workload. Miyazaki began his career in this artstyle, he works in key with realism and has personally commissioned thousands of frames by hand.  

Spirited Away is as already stated a japanese animation and I would say the elements that help anchor the anime to its home ground would have to be the designs of the bath house, the kimono dresses the cleaners deploy and the assortment of clothing and fabric designs. 

Image List
Figure 1. Spirited Away Theatrical Release Poster, accessed at https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://t1.gstatic.com/images%3Fq%3Dtbn:ANd9GcS6MveoDoJOg9-wMvtHE4ak_-HDZeYS1egb9PwRcf8lhrtcppMc&imgrefurl=http://t1.gstatic.com/images%3Fq%3Dtbn:ANd9GcS6MveoDoJOg9-wMvtHE4ak_-HDZeYS1egb9PwRcf8lhrtcppMc&h=570&w=380&tbnid=dfuH6uYYG6MOqM:&vet=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=124&docid=7miG33z-M1YmHM&itg=1&usg=__PqR3itISOiihWBVzv2P1HoGZb8I=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj60-TjvOzRAhWLA8AKHRPiAFYQ_B0IhgEwCg&ei=KY-QWLqbF4uHgAaTxIOwBQ on 31.01.17

Figure 2. The Bridge, accessed at https://stillsfrmfilms.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/031.jpg on 31.01.17

Max & Mary Review - Adaptation Film Screenings

Max and Mary (2009) is an Australian animation directed by Adam Elliot. Starring the voices of Toni Collette as Mary Daisy Dinkle and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Max Jerry Horovitz. It is a drama comedy from Australia that manages to be sickly-cute, alarmingly grotesque, and right-on at the same time – often in the very same scene. The animation is a stop animation mould, the creators move the characters and set pieces slightly in each photo frame to illustrate movement in a still world. It is actually based on a true story , the director had a pen-friend with the Asperger's condition. The animation is a adaptation of this fact.

In a brief synopsis, Max and Mary (2009) follows the friendship of two pen-friends whose fates intertwine by pure coincidence, they look to learn more about the world from each other conquering themselves in the process. Set firstly in the mid 1970's, the story spans over 20 years of their friendship. Their ups and downs, agreements and disagreements, a tale of the pursuit of knowledge and loving themselves before others. The main characters as the title suggests are indeed Max and Mary, although their are a couple of other characters that feed into the story as directly.

To my belief the animation was trying to achieve an emotional response in the audience, trying to be relevant with connecting with our exterior and interior flaws. It tried to bring the bleak and uninteresting life of a middle aged New Yorker, with the life of a young intrigued girl from Australia. It did this correctly through the use of clever colour schemes so we could differentiate from the two locations, and the narration of the characters emotions to the audience. I think the animations editing was clean cut throughout, it didn't need many tear aways or transitions due to the fact the story was forever moving forward on screen. The passing of time was illustrated with a straight cut to a panel detailing the time passed from each scene to another. It is quite a disturbing film, it is quite blunt with its explanations of processes. It is both light-hearted and dark humorous. I would recommend this film to people who have seen films such as Coraline and Boxtrolls.

Adaptation Part B - Victorian style choice for 'Captain Nemo's Lounge'

After my tutorial last week I reviewed some film stills of the fifties '20,000 leagues under the sea' adaptation, I saw how small and cramped the space could potentially be. For my adaptation however I would like to explore big scale spaces. To elaborate I mean mimic the sort of grand scale Victorian architecture you could expect to see from an esteemed individual.
This sort of clean cut architecture could be adapted into the nautilus, using the extracted text I have acquired. I could imagine the hull and rivets of the nautilus hidden with overlays of this grand design. Huge porthole windows to view out the ocean floor, both on the floor of the ship and the sides.



Adaptation Part A - Statistics and Advise

What method of suicide? 
Gun Shot
                                     Drug/Alcohol Overdose                                     
Hanging
Poisoning
               Carbon Monoxide Inhalation                
Suffocation
Jumping
Exsanguianation
Electric Shock
Drowning
Statistics of suicide
6,122 People died by suicide in the UK (2014)
4,630 Men (76%)
1,492 Women (24%)
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 1 million people die each year from suicide.

Helpful definition of suicide
Suicide is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable. Blinded by feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness, and isolation, a suicidal person can't see any way of finding relief except through death. But despite their desire for the pain to stop, most suicidal people are deeply conflicted about ending their own lives. They wish there was an alternative to suicide, but they just can't see one.

Helpful Information (FAQ type)
Myth: People who talk about suicide won't really do it.
Fact: Almost everyone who attempts suicide has given some clue or warning. Do not ignore suicide threats. Statements like "You'll be sorry when I'm dead,"
"I can't see any way out," — no matter how casually or jokingly said, may indicate serious suicidal feelings.

Myth: Anyone who tries to kill him/herself must be crazy.
Fact: Most suicidal people are not psychotic or insane. They must be upset, grief-stricken, depressed or despairing, but extreme distress and emotional pain
are not necessarily signs of mental illness.

Myth: If a person is determined to kill him/herself, nothing is going to stop them.
Fact: Even the most severely depressed person has mixed feelings about death, wavering until the very last moment between wanting to live and wanting to die.
Most suicidal people do not want death; they want the pain to stop. The impulse to end it all, however overpowering, does not last forever.

Myth: People who die by suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help.
Fact: Studies of suicide victims have shown that more than half had sought medical help in the six months prior to their deaths.

Myth: Talking about suicide may give someone the idea.
Fact: You don't give a suicidal person morbid ideas by talking about suicide. The opposite is true—bringing up the subject of suicide and discussing it openly is one.

Suicide warning signs

Talking about suicide – Any talk about suicide, dying, or self-harm, such as "I wish I hadn't been born," "If I see you again..." and "I'd be better off dead."
Seeking out lethal means – Seeking access to guns, pills, knives, or other objects that could be used in a suicide attempt.
Preoccupation with death – Unusual focus on death, dying, or violence. Writing poems or stories about death.
No hope for the future – Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and being trapped ("There's no way out"). Belief that things will never get better or change.
Self-loathing, self-hatred – Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, shame, and self-hatred. Feeling like a burden ("Everyone would be better off without me").
Getting affairs in order – Making out a will. Giving away prized possessions. Making arrangements for family members.
Saying goodbye – Unusual or unexpected visits or calls to family and friends. Saying goodbye to people as if they won't be seen again.
Withdrawing from others – Withdrawing from friends and family. Increasing social isolation. Desire to be left alone.
Self-destructive behavior – Increased alcohol or drug use, reckless driving, unsafe sex. Taking unnecessary risks as if they have a "death wish."
Sudden sense of calm – A sudden sense of calm and happiness after being extremely depressed can mean that the person has made a decision to attempt suicide.

Helpful websites
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/suicide-prevention/suicide-prevention-helping-someone-who-is-suicidal.html
http://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/what-speak-us-about/i-want-kill-myself?gclid=Cj0KEQiAiMHEBRC034nx2ImB1J0BEiQA-r7cttMSG5ndBUD6uhr4Loa0Rt2KNZTCVE5AauBDyB3AW2MaAnFg8P8HAQ
http://www.suicidepreventionapp.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAiMHEBRC034nx2ImB1J0BEiQA-r7cttFZuRMqOKhRZVuc1u8oYOayzeKKQ81Ey0FZUGI_F9gaAizi8P8HAQ




Adaptation Part A - Colour Scheme

For this colour scheme I wanted to focus on what emotions are tied to certain colours, I viewed a few infographics today that had a similar style to what I had in mind. This colour wheel is the elaboration of that point, I also colour picked from appropriate sources and I believe I have constructed a good palette.
Blue - Depression and I would use it as the background colour.
White - To highlight key statistics onscreen and single that space out from the rest of the screen.
Dark Brown - To show the numbers by the use duplicated icons, these would be the focused individuals.
Dark Grey - This will be the text colour for my piece.
Light Brown - The background information displayed in the infographic.

Adaptation Part A - Font Choices

I want the font displayed in my info graphic to be quite plain and easy to read, I think it should be deemed extremely important information to a certain audience so I want to choose a text that reflects a certain clean style.
My personal favorite is the 4th one 'Eras Light ITC', I think its quite stylish and could work well for my project. The other three are other contenders but I think unless someone advises otherwise, the 4th one is a good choice for me. 

Adaptation Part A - Infographic Music Choice



I've invested some real time into choosing the appropriate song for the rhythm of my infographic, after my previous tutorial with Alan I went away and researched a ton of royalty free music that could fit the feel and look I desire. I looked at uplifting piano instrumentals, the reason I thought this could work in my favor was to recognize that the topic of suicides are quite dark and sad. Having this song added to my content would hope to inspire the audience.

Over the weekend I was browsing through television channels when I saw the most recent Lloyd's banking advertisement. It uses a smooth piano instrumental and dialogue to calmly introduce its information. I wanted to also use this as my music choice, Ive had a gander at the composer's facebook page and she's kindly agreed to allow me to showcase her song in my infographic.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Adaptation Part A - Art Style for Infographic


-I want to use a simplistic art style that uses darker colour tones in its graphics to express statistics to the viewing audience. I thought of having a visual key linked to suicide, with each transition of text I could introduce them as a hint of an act of suicide.


So for example use this figure as an expression of suicide and then implement a question that the person should be asking themselves. Give a helpful piece of advice and then statistics to support it.

The type of simplistic designs that could be used in the infographic, Icons displaying the information i wish to provide and the transition to text could be the carrying out of a potential suicide but not ever finishing it.

Adaptation Part A - Types of Suicide Statistics

What method of suicide? 
Gun Shot
                                     Drug/Alcohol Overdose                                     
Hanging
Poisoning
               Carbon Monoxide Inhalation                
Suffocation
Jumping
Exsanguianation
Electric Shock
Drowning
6,122 People died by suicide in the UK
4,630 Men (76%)
1,492 Women (24%)

- I could have these statistics form onto a piechart up above, that breaks down and displays the information by transitioning between the two.   

Adaptation Part B - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Extract

Library/Smoking Room description
It was a library. Tall, black–rosewood bookcases, inlaid with copperwork, held on their wide shelves a large number of uniformly bound books. These furnishings followed the contours of the room, their lower parts leading to huge couches upholstered in maroon leather and curved for maximum comfort. Light, movable reading stands, which could be pushed away or pulled near as desired, allowed books to be positioned on them for easy study. In the center stood a huge table covered with pamphlets, among which some newspapers, long out of date, were visible. Electric light flooded this whole harmonious totality, falling from four frosted half globes set in the scrollwork of the ceiling. I stared in genuine wonderment at this room so ingeniously laid out, and I couldn't believe my eyes…. I thanked Captain Nemo and approached the shelves of this library. Written in every language, books on science, ethics, and literature were there in abundance, but I didn't see a single work on economics—they seemed to be strictly banned on board. One odd detail: all these books were shelved indiscriminately without regard to the language in which they were written, and this jumble proved that the Nautilus's captain could read fluently whatever volumes he chanced to pick up. Among these books I noted masterpieces by the greats of ancient and modern times, in other words, all of humanity's finest achievements in history, poetry, fiction, and science, from Homer to Victor Hugo, from Xenophon to Michelet, from Rabelais to Madame George Sand. But science, in particular, represented the major investment of this library: books on mechanics, ballistics, hydrography, meteorology, geography, geology, etc., h… - Really keepsake in this room

Lounge Description
It was a huge quadrilateral with canted corners, ten meters long, six wide, five high. A luminous ceiling, decorated with delicate arabesques, distributed a soft, clear daylight over all the wonders gathered in this museum. For a museum it truly was, in which clever hands had spared no expense to amass every natural and artistic treasure, displaying them with the helter–skelter picturesqueness that distinguishes a painter's studio…Some thirty pictures by the masters, uniformly framed and separated by gleaming panoplies of arms, adorned walls on which were stretched tapestries of austere design. There I saw canvases of the highest value, the likes of which I had marveled at in private European collections and art exhibitions. The various schools of the old masters were represented by a Raphael Madonna, a Virgin by Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph by Correggio, a woman by Titian, an adoration of the Magi by Veronese, an assumption of the Virgin by Murillo, a Holbein portrait, a monk by Velazquez, a martyr by Ribera, a village fair by Rubens, two Flemish landscapes by Teniers, three little genre paintings by Gerard Dow, Metsu, and Paul Potter, two canvases by Gericault and Prud'hon, plus seascapes by Backhuysen and Vernet. Among the works of modern art were pictures signed by Delacroix, Ingres, Decamps, Troyon, Meissonier, Daubigny, etc., and some wonderful miniature statues in marble or bronze, modeled after antiquity's finest originals, stood on their pedestals in the corners of this magnificent museum…over a full size piano–organ, which occupied one of the wall panels in this lounge.
After the works of art, natural rarities predominated. They consisted chiefly of plants, shells, and other exhibits from the ocean that must have been Captain Nemo's own personal finds. In the middle of the lounge, a jet of water, electrically lit, fell back into a basin made from a single giant clam. The delicately festooned rim of this shell, supplied by the biggest mollusk in the class Acephala, measured about six meters in circumference; so it was even bigger than those fine giant clams given to King François I by the Republic of Venice, and which the Church of Saint–Sulpice in Paris has made into two gigantic holy–water fonts. Around this basin, inside elegant glass cases fastened with copper bands, there were classified and labeled the most valuable marine exhibits ever put before the eyes of a naturalist.

Aside and in special compartments, strings of supremely beautiful pearls were spread out, the electric light flecking them with little fiery sparks: pink pearls pulled from saltwater fan shells in the Red Sea; green pearls from the rainbow abalone; yellow, blue, and black pearls, the unusual handiwork of various mollusks from every ocean and of certain mussels from rivers up north; in short, several specimens of incalculable worth that had been oozed by the rarest of shellfish. Some of these pearls were bigger than a pigeon egg; - Pearls

I want to attempt to integrate both of these social spaces into one setting, I believe that the scale demonstrated in the book is vast beyond realistic, so putting the two together might feel more like a lived in environment. 

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Adaptation Part B - 20000 Leagues Under The Sea - Captain Nemo's Nautilus

After reviewing Part B with Alan, I have re-thought my ideas and refined them to creating set design from adapting a novel. So I have chosen the idea of Captain Nemo's Nautilus. My influences would be the information given from 20000 leagues under the sea in extracts and also other derivatives such as the art style of Bioshock and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.



Adaptation Part B - Questions to ask before committing suicide - Questions List

Here is a comprised list of some of the questions that could be asked in the infographic to inform the audience of the necessary thought processes that should be taken before committing such a desperate act. 

  • Who are you leaving behind? Consider the likely responses of those you leave behind i.e. how family and friends will react to the news of your choice to end your life, what impact it will have on them; what impact it may have on your work, business, clients.
  • What method of suicide? Consider carefully how painful the selected method is, and whether your desire to die exceeds the likely pain, and risk of a failed attempt.
  • What are you funeral arrangements going to be? Consider whether you wish to be buried, cremated, or leave your body to be donated to medical science. 
  • Have you tried everything that can help? Consider the use of prescribed anti-depressant medicines to combat the negative emotions that can push you to those lengths. Talk to someone either a family member, friend or a professional.
  • What are your reasons for living?(Or what were they?) Consider not only the family and friends that you could leave behind, but the things you could achieve in the future. Have you achieved everything you wished you could?
  • Is it possible things could change? Consider your immediate and long-term future, think about how you can help heal yourself and how others can feed into that also. Studies show over 90% do not eventually die by suicide.
There are two possible directions that I could choose for this infographic and I believe that a humorous approach should be reviewed also. Perhaps this could be an informative yet dark infographic. Below are some of the questions I feel could fall into that dark humor. Some questions overlap so its up to choosing which ones are the best method of engagement.

  • What method of suicide? Consider carefully how painful the selected method is, and whether your desire to die exceeds the likely pain, and risk of a failed attempt.
  • Who cleans up? Consider the immeasurable task of cleaning up the mess that's left behind, depends on the method chosen, talk about the procedures of cleaning up and the inappropriate waste of time it has on others around you..(Traffic?)(Quarantine?)  
  • What will happen to your body once you die? Consider the immediate effects, falls into place just after choosing the method of suicide. Could the face be dismembered? Could the body be pulverised? - Speak about funeral arrangements and prepping to scare off any unsure individuals.
  • What will happen to those you leave behind? Consider family and friends and indeed love interests, show statistics of the effects of leaving. Depict the loneliness of the act.
  • Who will be there at the funeral? Consider mentioning the potential lack of attendees at the event, or perhaps the amount of sorrow you'll be making others have. 

Monday 16 January 2017

Adaptation Part B - Initial Ideas @Alan

Initial Ideas for the project

I was instructed to think of things to adapt that mean much to me on a personal level. The more personally engrossing the better time I will find working on this project for the 14 week period we have. So here is a basic outline for some of the ideas I had to showcase before my tutorial tomorrow.

Adapting Gary Jules's 'Mad World' 
Imagine from the lyrics a story surrounding a growing child looking after a degrading terminally ill parent, with an underlying tone of misery > hope.

The Life Of Abbie
A fondness of the pet I grew up with since I was 3 all the way till I was 19. She was estimated to be 126 dog years and to create an animation from a collage of memories we shared together.

Designing the fabled car Carrol Shelby died before making
Camilo Pardo the designer behind the 2005 Ford GT, claims that he and Carrol Shelby were working on a new car just before Shelby passed away in 2012. Creating a hybrid vehicle that embodies the best of Ford and Shelby into one prominent design.

Game about the fear of the dark
Nyctophobia is a fear most seen in children, to create a game about a child's journey to find its parents in the middle of the night. The obstacles being enemies made from the minds construct of outlines in inanimate objects. (Hanging coat becoming a monster once in the dark).





Adaptation Part A - Idea in Progress


So for my info-graphic project I have initially decided to go along the route of creating a guide on the 'Questions to ask before committing suicide'. I feel like it would be particularly noteworthy to individuals and I think it would be crafted to get them to 'Climb off the ledge'. The experience could be humorous to audiences and have them reflect on their own experiences and ask the question if it can be fixed instead of avoided.


I think on way it can be achieved is to rig a simple 2d character fail at multiple attempts of suicides while information is being displayed in an informative way. Even though this is a 4 week project I believe creating a simple 2D blocked out character is the way forward, have the text detailing the questions to be asked before the action and then the statistics supporting that.

Example of suicide infographic

Friday 13 January 2017

B Movie - Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) Film Review


Fig. 2/ Poster

Creature from the Black Lagoon is an old 1954 horror movie directed by Jack Arnold.  He is one of the leading film-makers in the 1950’s.he has directed famous thriller movies like, It Came from Outer Space (1953) and. Tarantula (1955). This film is about a group of scientists in a jungle in search of an undiscovered animal, after finding its residuals in a jungle.

The purpose of this particular review is to analyse elements of the films and discuss what actually makes this to be a B-Movie and positive key points that makes the film still be prominent. This film was supposedly filmed in 3D and the director used the polarized light method. The whole story is about an underwater monster killing everyone who is trying catch him and disturbing his natural habitat and of course falling in love with a girl. The monster is none other than a man in a suit and holding his breath under water for 4 min. Nothing is really horrific about it except the monster suit itself. Another thing that seems to be quite irritating would be the part when the music plays repeatedly when the monster appears. This film does have certain flaws here and there but that makes it a B-Movie, which also includes poor acting.





                                         Fig. 2 ( Sea Monster)

However, contrarily the film is has done amazingly in many other ways. We are dealing with a Fish man in this film and something that hasn’t been discovered by anyone. A great place to shoot this film would be a jungle and there is nothing better than the Amazon. The environment educes this kind of feeling of going back in time and attempting to see the world before humanity set foot. 
Another aspect that seems to be enlightening is the underwater sequences; they are shot beautifully. The creature being able to explore and able to hide behind sea plants when intruders and only attack them after it feels confident enough.

Overall, it is a great film that has caught many audience attention and still stands to be one of the greatest B-Movies made in history.


Illustration List

(Accessed on: 02.01.2017)

Arnold, J (1954) Figure 2. Sea Monster 
(Accessed on: 02.01.2017

Exploitation Cinema - Mad Max Fury Road (2015) Film Review

Fig. 1 Movie Poster
Fury Road is part of the Mad Max series and presents itself in this fantastic feature. Set in a post-apocalyptic environment where the earth has turned to ''dust'' as it were, we meet Max who is a character with clear inner-struggles that is constantly hovering the line between sanity and utter madness. Miller presents the world with cars and other means of transportation to be worshipped and human life to have no value. There is disease, poverty and water supplies are kept private as a means to control the population.

Although the title may suggest that Max is the main character, however the alpha in this film are the females. Namingly a woman called Furiosa, and as Robbie Collin writes, ''Furiosa is one of the toughest, most resilient action heroes in years, with a metal prosthetic arm that hints at past trauma and a steely gaze that sees more on the way. Like Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in the Alien films, the character is informed by her sex but not defined by it, and Theron superbly embodies her stoicism, nerve and resolve.'' (R. Collin. 2015). She is clearly one not to mess with and along with her we have the wives of Immortal Joe. Beautiful women and the perfect symbol of purity and beauty. These females are what start this who chase-orientated movie. As they don't appreciate being used as cattle for Immortal Joe's needs. They want to escape and Furisoa takes them away in a giant war-rig. (see Fig.2)
Fig. 2 
A beautiful piece of machinery that houses gallons of water and ''mothers-milk''. The idea is that Furisoa takes them to a pass and trades a pod of petrol for safe passage, but as they escape they procure and entourage of vehicles from the three factions - the bullet farm, the men from Gas town alongside Immortal Joe from the citadel.

Aside from the mass chase theme and the dust, dirt and explosions the plot is simply structured and without really understanding the rest of the series you don't really get to lost. It's a brilliant example of well placed camera work, great CGI and great acting all round. I witness this with a silver sprayed smile.



Image List:
Miller, G (2015) Figure 1. Mad Max Fury Road Poster. http://www.opoderosoresumao.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/10320615_1420333831604515_2358485737340164025_n_by_punmagneto-d8osh18.jpg.
Miller, G (2015) Figure 2. Mad Max War Rig http://madmax.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fury_Road_WarRig_001.jpg

Comedy - Shaun Of The Dead (2004) Film Review


Fig. 1. Shaun of the Dead poster.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) is a comedy, horror film directed by Edgar Wright, who has directed other great comedy’s such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hot Fuss and The Worlds End. The film is almost a parody of the zombie genre and it gains its laughs from the use of violence, some jokes that it sets up early on and the simple minded characters.

The story is about the very average guy Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his failure of a life, it starts off with Shaun having a terrible day in which everything goes wrong, he attempts to turn his life around and win back his now ex-girlfriend, but unfortunately for him the day he attempts to change is the day a zombie apocalypse breaks out. Shaun however sees this as a chance to prove to everyone he can be useful, he just has to survive and of course win his ex-girlfriend back.

It could be argued that Shaun of the Dead is essentially a slapstick comedy as a lot of the laughs come from inflicting pain on the zombies or each other, the gag in which Shaun attempts to jump over a fence and it falls over is repeated in other films that Wright directed and has become an expected joke that gets funnier every time. In Shaun of the Dead it comes at a moment in which Shaun is attempting to appear strong and in control, which makes the gag that much funnier.


Fig. 2. Couch Scene

The film is also a great parody of the zombie genre and in fact our culture in general, it starts off by showing everyone looking and walking like zombies although the apocalypse hasn’t started yet. It shows people walking around staring at their phones and dragging their feet, ironically this means that when the apocalypse actually happens it’s hard to tell that zombies are actually among them, which is funny to observe. This means that when Shaun and Ed first see a zombie in their garden they assume that she’s just drunk, by accident Shaun causes her to fall and impale herself on a parasol base, when she gets back up they then realise she is a zombie. A funny scene follows in which they attempt to kill two zombies by throwing vinyl records at them, as Ed pulls them out and throws them Shaun complains that some of this collection is rare. So as two zombies slowly approach them with the intention to eat them, they search through the collection looking for vinyl’s that aren’t that valuable.

Another great scene is when they attempt to get into the Winchester pub for safety, they are surrounded by zombies and they are pretending to be zombies to not cause any suspicion. Ed’s phone rings and he casually tells the group he needs two seconds and answers the phone, discussing with someone that was looking to buy some weed. Obviously this alerts all the zombies that they are in fact human and that they should be devouring them, the stupidity draws out a chuckle as most of the things Ed does are idiotic.

To conclude Shaun of the Dead is a film that draws most of its human from violence like slapstick comedy, it is ultimately a parody of zombie films and attempts to make the genre into a funny experience instead of the usual scary, hiding behind a blanket kind of experience. The gags that continue throughout other films almost feel rewarding every time you see them as you are in on the joke and it aids in finding them that much funnier. The laughs also come from how mundane they make zombie fighting appear, as they always have something more important to be discussing like getting back together or which vinyl can be thrown.


Illustration List:
Figure 1: Shaun of the Dead Theatrical Release Poster, At https://i.yomyomf.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Shaun-of-the-Dead-poster.jpg Accessed on 2.01.2017
Figure 2: Shaun and Ed, At http://s169.photobucket.com/user/ppcccaps/media/shaunofthedead4.jpg.html Accessed on 2.01.2017