Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis

This is a scene for Dawn of the Dead (2004), the remake of the original version. In this scene we see the group of survivors in an elevator escaping from zombies. Collision cutting is used here as it goes from a very quick set of shots before to a slow single shot. There is also relaxed elevator music which can be seen as parallel as the chase has ended and there is no danger, albeit only for a few moments. However, it can also be seen as contrapuntal as they are ultimately in an extremely dangerous situation, with fast moving zombies within the mall. We also hear the character in the back left (C.J) of the shot tell a joke about the song, to add humour to the situation. Ana, the female character in the middle at the front also appears to be taking control of the situation. Sexism is defeated in this scene and it goes against cultural dominant ideology. The mise-en-scene of this scene feels quite relaxed compared to the rest of the scenes which surround it. The mid/long shot used here is also very effective, allowing the viewer to see all the characters and all their reactions to the moment.

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (2004), we see the female hero kill a zombie by stabbing her through the eye. This shows that she is stronger than the other characters. It could be seen as a phallic symbol even though she is a female. Again, this whole image goes against the cultural dominant ideology of women being weak when we can clearly see here that she is not. This is a common generic feature of horror movies, to have a powerful “final girl” stereotype. Horror is quite forward thinking in this way. A lot of body horror is also used in this scene to help create a stronger mise-en-scene. A lots of quick paced shots are edited together to make the whole scene feel more hectic and the sound is parallel with the scene. This zombie is also extremely fast so the quick shots and parallel sound compliment the pace of the zombie well. Quick zombies were needed for this version as slow moving zombies were too predictable and not as intense. Audiences were quite desensitised compared to how they used to be in earlier times. The audience now demands quicker and more graphic horrors.

In this scene taken from Dawn of the Dead (2004), we can see two black men having a conversation in the bathroom. These characters are extremely different from each other. One is a thief while the other is a policeman. This connotes that even though they are both extremely different people they essentially are both good guys in this film and both have a limited amount of respect for each other. Really, Kenneth is the main hero of the film. It also shows them both in a bathroom, this could perhaps connote racism saying that because they are that skin colour they have to go to the bathroom to talk. It is strange for a film to have a hero with black skin in mainstream films, but horror movies try to get away from that idea and select people as heroes who you may not suspect. Having two strong black males is not a strange thing to see in a horror movie. The original Dawn of the Dead is another good example of having a black hero in the film who survives until the end.