Research on Post-apocalyptic Dramas

1. Research on Post-apocalyptic Dramas By Callum, Dan, Craig and Laurie

2. Key elements of genre • Post-apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of sci-fi, often conbined with elements of drama. • Science fiction is a branch of fantasy in which the scientific elements are portrayed and explained. • Drama focuses on the development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes.

3. Typical themes of the genre • Almost completely wiped out population, only a few survivors alive with which the film follows. • Following a lone person or group of people who have survived whatever has wiped out the rest of the population. • Often violence between different groups with different goals in the post apocalyptic world. • Something that has changed the majority of the population against the survivors (28 Days Later: zombies). • Characters who are trying to get to a location or achieve a goal (The Road: heading south).

4. Typical Mise en Scene • Due to it involving the mass-end of civilisation, post-apocalyptic drama will feature many empty and deserted places, which give an indisputable sense of the characters being alone. Such as the opening of 28 Days Later. • Atmospheric, wide open spaces contrasted with very enclosed spaces; sets tone of the film. This is important as they show that the apocalypse has happened. Example is The Road, as there is lots of open deserted shots, but also lots of tight and awkward close-ups. • Areas will be deserted, run down, unkempt. There is often major landmarks that are usually very busy and occupied that are completely devoid of people. It gives a feeling of uneasiness to the audience as it is unlikely they will see the areas like this in real life, for example the opening of 28 Days Later when the area around Big Ben is completely deserted. • The areas look as though they are abandoned, and are. The buildings are broken, with holes in and structural parts missing. The streets themselves are unkempt, unclean and full of litter; often with some parts of litter blowing across the street – representing tumbleweed in the desert.

5. Narrative Disruption/Enigmas • In every story, there is some kind of disruption that changes the equilibrium, and the bulk of the film is usually spent trying to restore the natural order. This is usually shown, or at least hinted at, in the trailers. • The trailer for Zombieland shows the narrative disruption by starting to talk about the Earth as we know it, then reveal that in the world of the film, almost everyone has become a victim of an epidemic and turned into a zombie. • Cloverfield’s trailer begins in a normal situation (the party) and then quickly shows the narrative disruption by showing an explosion and the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty. The enigma of the film is then hinted at through the dialogue of the main character: “Earlier, something attacked the city...if you’re watching this, you know more than I do”. This entices people to see the film and understand the mystery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m9EVP8X7N8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYF0f-zMgY

6. Time line Notable films • 1953: The War Of The Worlds, Byron Haskin • 1968: 2001 A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick • 1978: Dawn Of The Dead, Zack Snyder • 1984: The Terminator, James Cameron • 1995: Water World, Kevin Reynolds • 2009: The Road, John Hillcoat • 2010: The Book Of Eli, Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

7. Themes (order of chronological prominence) • The original theme for a lot of post apocalyptic fiction has been decrease and illness. Though in resent times this has shirted more from the mass death to zombification. Films such as 28 Days Later (and it’s sequel 28 Weeks Later) and Zombielandcombine the post-apocalyptic genre with Horror and Comedy respectively. • Since the cold war there has been a high interested in the possibility of nuclear war fair which has drastically shaped the face of apocalyptic fiction as it quickly became the most common type of apocalypse in fiction. • Robotic take over is a quite resent form of PA movie with the main ones being terminator and the matrix • The most recent type of apocalypse is environmental, where the planet has been damaged so much by people, that there is no way of staying there. The main noticeable example being Wall*E

8. Post Apocalyptic Conventions Isolation. Typical scenario, character comes to realise they are alone. A post apocalyptic film always has a reason as to why it is post apocalyptic. For example in 28 Days later, the humans have been “infected” which changes them in to zombies. There are often dark/eerie scenes. The intention is sometimes to frighten the viewer, but in most cases it’s more of a thriller element. Wasteland and dead bodies are also something often seen, showing the after event of whatever event has caused the world to become like this. Scenes of national disaster are sometimes used as an explanation as to why the world has become post apocalyptic. Very dark settings set the atmosphere, and represent the feelings of the characters. Once again, a scene of isolation from the start of the movie, which helps to set the scene.

9. Representation of Characters There are generally 2 types of characters in Post Apocalyptic films. The main characters are usually characters we can sympathise with, often thrown into the situation where they have nothing left and find it difficult to trust others. There are then the bad characters who rather than share and help others out will kill and do whatever is necessary to stay alive. • In ‘The Road’, the father is portrayed as a good person, trying to do the best for his son and keep them both alive, knowing that although he has lost his motivation to continue living he has to put on a brave face for the sake of his son. The fact he is alone with his son and his attitude towards caring for him allows us to sympathise with him. • The characters represented in ’28 Days Later’ are very different to that of the road. The main character Jim is alone at the start of the film, without his family and friends. This makes the film a lot less of a “family” film then ‘The Road’ is.