Shaun of the Dead (Cert. 15) Fifteen Minute Analysis
Shaun of the Dead opens to a long conversation in “the Winchester”, a pub, where a vast amount of the film actually takes place, Shaun, Liz, Ed, Diane and David are talking –Mainly Shaun and Liz – about their lives together, how they want to spend them, Shaun starts the scene, he looks lost and gormless – Zombie Like – in appearance until Liz interrupts his train of though. His behaviour repeats at the end of the scene and is the first of many recurring motifs/images in the film. During the afore mentioned conversation Shaun is denying that they live repetitive lives, but promises to start doing things and they decide, for all intents and purposes, to “live tomorrow” and Shaun says “Things will change – I promise”, which they do as Zombie infection spreads across the nation and they enter the film.
When the title sequence starts they show images of normal people, who all are seen as zombies later in the film, doing menial tasks, for example the Zombie which attacks Shaun initially in their garden is seen working in a small shop on the till and are crossed with quite clever transitions involving images passing the shots – as with the transitional shot used in some Bond films when the camera focuses out to the distance and the Austin martin passes, the shot changes to a different scene with the transitional wipe following the car. At the end of these images we see Shaun staggering into the room and the camera pans up to see Shaun Yawning, this repetition of behaviour – similar to a zombies- is the only hint of a zombie attack yet to happen in the film.The following scene consist of Shaun and Ed, he sits then gets back up and an “action” sequence of fast editing techniques shows his routine getting ready for work. This same editing is used later in the film during the action scenes later in the film. Shortly after Shaun sits with Ed and trys to have an adult conversation but is distracted, talking to Ed about the game – more specifically the locations of enemies – in a military style, similar to that used in the later Pub scene when they are under assault, their defence of the Winchester.
After this short interlude, Ed is prompted into apologising to Shaun, though not for what Shaun is telling him off for, he says “I’m sorry Shaun”, Shaun begins to laugh and holds his nose and Ed says “I’ll stop doing them when you stop laughing!” – This is then another repeated motif in the film as they are also Eds last words as he tries to make light of his death so he can save his friends as he lays, infected by the Zombie – This is similar to the end of our full film in which Harry gives his Life to Save Joey and the Child.
Shaun Leaves the house and begins his normal journey through the street to the corner shop, This is nothing out of the ordinary, it is just used for a reference when the characters have all become infected later in the film and he makes the same journey without realising the difference as blood is covering the fridge and the sides, he is even approached by the same beggar and he doesn’t realise the difference between his asking for money and assault. He also slips on the floor in the shop on a pool of blood and doesn’t notice.
When Shaun leaves the house he goes to work, there is only one character here who is relevant to the rest of the plot. His red pen leaks prompting someone to say “you got red on you” which is then repeated by Ed, and his step-father Phillip, later in the film.
After this he leaves to go to the shops to buy flowers for his mother and through the window he sees a man – obviously, to the audience, a zombie – and he looks at him puzzled until his attention is then recollected by the shop attendant. This is the only Solid reference so far to a zombie infection in the film.
Shaun bumps into Yvonne, one of his friends whom he hasn’t seen for a while and responds to “how’re you doing?” with “surviving” which is repeated twice later in the film – when he bumps into her during the zombie assault and then again during the containment of them. Also when asked about his and Liz’s relationship she says “we’ll I’m glad someone made it” which she repeats when they survive at the end of the film. Of course this phrase having connotations to both their relationship and their actual survival.
In conclusion, Shaun of the Dead is a very clever, not so contemporary, upbeat zombie film. Classically it has the same idiotic zombies, devoid of human intelligence, however it adds the more “human” side to it by showing a normal mans’ life before and after the attack, it also makes the character relatable like other zombie films such as dawn of the dead. Unlike, for instance, Dawn of the Dead though, the Zombie infection is not as obvious to the characters as they are oblivious to the situation. This is how we envisioned our film; however we added the flashback effect to the concept. Similarly again to other zombie films, Shaun of the Dead focuses on a male and female character and their romance, however Shaun’s brotherly love for Ed is also a focus point for the film, perhaps making it more of a male bonding zombie experience.
