Dawn of The Dead 2004 Stills Analysis

This scene during Dawn of the Dead (2004) is during the opening credits, it is a great example of Historical Context being linked to within the film. This scene shows a mosque and helps imply that the zombie virus has originated and spread from the violent middle east. This and the shot of riots within the rest of the opening credits help enforce this thought – and it’s important to remember that the audience was more susceptible to this idea as 9/11 was only 3 years before the film was released and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were still on-going, so it enabled the audience to relate to it.

The footage during the opening sequence was also mainly handheld and grainy to help represent News footage, making the whole idea a lot more believable and real. During the opening credits there is footage of Capitol Hill in America being att

acked; enforcing the context that America itself is threatened by what’s spreading from the Middle East, again, relying on Historical context of the time to add to the horror of the
film.

This scene in Dawn of the Dead (2004) shows how black people are now represented in film, particularly horror films. Andre is shown to be the typical black “Gangsta” – this is shown in how he holds and fires his gun (sideways) and the fact he is known to be a thief which is a link to the stereotype that all black people are criminals. But , as with almost all horror movies, the film is not racist as Andre does kind of divert from this typical view, as he is seen to be fighting for the life of his wife and un-born child.
Kenneth is the polar opposite of Andre, he is shown to be similar to Peter (Dawn of the Dead 1979) which the fact that he’s not only a cop – but a cool calm hero like character. Originally shown to be closed off and difficult to talk to, but he is eventually shown to have a softer side as seen with his friendship with Andy the gunshot owner. He is shown to be the stereotypical “cool” black hero with his use of large weapons and his interactions with the rest of the characters.

Both of Andre and Kenneth are testament to how far we’ve come in the representation of black people in films since the 1970’s, as Peter (Dawn of the Dead 1979) was created in order to shock the audience into realise how stupid racism way. As a black hero was not at all common or even thought of, but Peter and Andre/Kenneth were inspired by the 70’s “Blaxploitation” films, such as Shaft, Truck Turner and Foxy Brown/Coffy.

This scene in Dawn of the Dead (2004) shows how Monica is the stereotypical female victim, as well as also showing the advancement in body horror since the 1979 version of the film. Monica is shown to be the stereotypical female victim due to how she is not only blonde but has recently had sex with Stephen not long before she is killed. This is usually a common occurance in "Slasher" movies and is clased as a common convention. Thomas Schatz high lights the importance of sticking to genre conventions, in order to attract and engage the correct audience.

Her death also helps show how Body Horror has improved since the 70’s due to improved techniques and the use of CGI in order to create realistic and detailed gore. This is needed as the audience has now become de-sensitized to blood and death, so the special effects and body horror have to be over blown in order to still shock and gross out the audience - another horror that does gore and body horror well is Zombieland, especially during the opening 5-10 minutes.