Five or so, reasons why Shawn of the Dead is a masterpiece
If you have never seen the movie Shaun of the Dead
, I implore you to reconsider. “A romantic comedy with zombies” was the tagline emblazoned on the poster that hung during its limited theatrical release back in the year 2004, one that is the most accurate to the story of the movie. You may have been one of the many missed out on this gory masterpiece that, I shall be taking a more in-depth look at for my first ever deep dive into the structure of script writing. I will draw out the elements, using tools learned over scholarly endeavors, which make this film one of my favorites to watch on any occasion.
Also, spoilers ahead. Duh.
The most important element at the beginning of any story is to familiarize yourself with the characters and the setting of the film, something that is usually accomplished exposition. In a movie, it is imperative to establish this within the first ten minutes, or so, of the film since time is limited. This constraint forces scripts to try to pack as much information about the world and its characters into its opening sequence. This is usually accomplished by either: narration with a montage or, more likely, characters laying out the world in all of its important complexities while speaking to each other as if they need to re-familiarize themselves of how they relate. Shawn of the dead took the latter but did it in an extremely efficient and clever way that is worthy of mention.
The scene in question only spans three minutes but it manages to introduce the five main characters, how they all connect, some conflict, some plot and a pinch of foreshadowing. You may not have processed all the information out of the scene so let me break it down. Just from that first scene you can tell that Shawn and Liz are dating but are having problems getting alone time due to the inclusion of Shawn’s best friend and flatmate Ed and, since every time Shawn brings Ed with them, Liz then invites her flatmates David and Diane which, only exacerbates (to make matters worse) things. In the scene you can also see some of the conflict to be resolved; Liz wants to spend more quality time with Shawn, Shawn is embarrassed at Ed’s behavior, Shawn’s attention to the welfare of his romantic relationship is in question, Liz has not met Shawn’s mother yet and Shawn has an undisclosed reason. The scene ends with Shawn declaring his first point of action which is to book an anniversary redo at a fancy restaurant and punctuates with foreshadowing that “Things will be different, I promise.”
It is rare to find a movie whose main characters and conflicts are all well introduced in one scene, and rarer still to find one that short. To me, this is one of the reasons that this film stands out to me. Even the way skirt the awkwardness of characters who have known each other for years, suddenly referring to each other by name as if desperately trying to keep it from escaping their mind. They speak like the person isn’t in close proximity then, use camera cut’s to infuse comedic aspect to it since they are having an argument. The use of cinematography in creating organic scenes and transitions speak volumes to the watch-ability of this movie.
A montage is a method used to show the passing of time, usually showing a span of time passing while a character perfects a new skill. Shawn of the dead used smash cut montages a fresh way using it as a way to show quick transition through mundane tasks, like making tea and toast, calling a restaurant or, getting ready for work. The latter scene is featured twice, the first establishes the routine and a second time shows the disruption to that routine.
A second way that they use similar scenes to show transition is during a long shot of Shawn walking down the street to the corner mart. The first scene establishes that the street is vibrant with life, a boy kicks a soccer ball against a wall, a homeless man walks a dog and asks for spare change, Shawn stumbles over the curb in front of a man washing the windshield of his car, a runner passes. In the shop, Shawn walks straight to the back of the shop, opens the fridge and grabs a coke the shelf, on his return to the counter he slips in something but regains his composure to wait at the counter for the teller. He doesn’t wait long as the teller slaps the counter and Shawn pays him before exiting the shop and ending the scene. When they repeat that scene, it familiar enough to not draw attention from Shawn, recovering from a hangover yet; street is mostly vacant, the Homeless man on the corner groans at him instead of asking for change, the car has a gaping hole in the windshield, the runner is now a sprinter and the wet spot in the shop is presumed to be blood.
The filmmakers also use this same tactic on pieces of dialogue. In one scene, Shawn watches as Ed plays a video game. In it, he directs Ed where to shoot as enemies pop out at him on the screen. The same dialogue takes place wherein Ed directs Shawn where to shoot as zombies begin to pour in through the broken windows of the pub. Smaller still aspects of the same conversations used in different situations, one such instance is when Liz breaks up with Shawn she says “If I don’t do something…” and Shawn responds “What do you mean, do something?” A later scene shows them trying to figure out a way into the Winchester, they reuse the lines switching the characters.
The movie utilizes a lot of film craft that makes the movie more real than many zombie movies that I have watched. The cinematography and dialogue set up the places in the film that will push the plot in an organic way towards the conclusion of the story. In the scene where Shawn’s flatmate, Pete, yells at Ed for being too loud at night he says “If you want to live like an animal, go live in the shed.” In the next few scenes, we see that they do have a shed with the equipment they need to fend off the zombies in their backyard. Most people wouldn’t think something like small would be significant but it makes the world seem more grounded since items or skills don’t seem like they are dropped from heaven (or written in by the desperate screenwriter) to save a character from conflict. They do the same thing, in a more obvious way, when they mention the rifle above the bar in the Winchester.
They use cinematography to set the props to be utilized with a wide shot of the backyard as the protagonists first enter. We are shown that the yard that they are in is a playground for a child, a swing set, a tether ball poll, a plastic table with child-sized chairs and a slide, in another shot you can see a small trampoline in the background. In the next sequence they act upon the set they presented; he uses the trampoline to vault a fence, Liz uses on the chairs to knock the zombie off Shawn, Diane pulls the tetherball poll from the ground for Shawn to use as a weapon and after the zombie has been subdued he uses the slide to check the next path. This sort of thing doesn’t look significant to most but its something good scripts contain, informing the action with a viscerally organic place to act. A number of films these days have such tight camera views that you lose the scene and the action feels forced and staged.
Much of the tension in this movie comes from the plot and the situation but there is a third element that usually goes unnoticed which is driven by the background audio and visual. Watch the film and it will be difficult to count the amount of time you hear sirens prevailing somewhere in the distance, and as the action progresses, the sirens give way to air raid horns and then, dead silence before the dead break the silence. The papers when Shawn visits the shop, the news on the radio and the TV while Shawn is at work, all set up the background to the rising action that is the coming zombie horde which just serves as the setting for a reinvigoration of love between two people.
This movie is truly a love story with zombies, which is what I love most about Shaun of the Dead. Zombies were just the catalytic force to reunite something that could have remained been broken otherwise and the strange thing about it is that during the course of the film, the main character doesn’t really grow. In most movies, the protagonist is changed in some way by the end of the film but, Shawn doesn’t grow at all. Liz’s problem with him was that he was noncommittal and inattentive to her needs and she needed to dump him to jump out of the life rut she was in but, at the end of the movie Liz has moved in with Shawn and they have routine and all it took was the people that were getting in the way of their relationship to die. Even there Shawn hasn’t grown though because he keeps zombie Ed in the shed, where he is kept like an animal.
So, that is my opinion on why I think Shawn of the Dead is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Feel free to poke holes in my prose in the comments below or give me some kudos if you agree in the comments below.
, I implore you to reconsider. “A romantic comedy with zombies” was the tagline emblazoned on the poster that hung during its limited theatrical release back in the year 2004, one that is the most accurate to the story of the movie. You may have been one of the many missed out on this gory masterpiece that, I shall be taking a more in-depth look at for my first ever deep dive into the structure of script writing. I will draw out the elements, using tools learned over scholarly endeavors, which make this film one of my favorites to watch on any occasion.Also, spoilers ahead. Duh.
The most important element at the beginning of any story is to familiarize yourself with the characters and the setting of the film, something that is usually accomplished exposition. In a movie, it is imperative to establish this within the first ten minutes, or so, of the film since time is limited. This constraint forces scripts to try to pack as much information about the world and its characters into its opening sequence. This is usually accomplished by either: narration with a montage or, more likely, characters laying out the world in all of its important complexities while speaking to each other as if they need to re-familiarize themselves of how they relate. Shawn of the dead took the latter but did it in an extremely efficient and clever way that is worthy of mention.
The scene in question only spans three minutes but it manages to introduce the five main characters, how they all connect, some conflict, some plot and a pinch of foreshadowing. You may not have processed all the information out of the scene so let me break it down. Just from that first scene you can tell that Shawn and Liz are dating but are having problems getting alone time due to the inclusion of Shawn’s best friend and flatmate Ed and, since every time Shawn brings Ed with them, Liz then invites her flatmates David and Diane which, only exacerbates (to make matters worse) things. In the scene you can also see some of the conflict to be resolved; Liz wants to spend more quality time with Shawn, Shawn is embarrassed at Ed’s behavior, Shawn’s attention to the welfare of his romantic relationship is in question, Liz has not met Shawn’s mother yet and Shawn has an undisclosed reason. The scene ends with Shawn declaring his first point of action which is to book an anniversary redo at a fancy restaurant and punctuates with foreshadowing that “Things will be different, I promise.”
It is rare to find a movie whose main characters and conflicts are all well introduced in one scene, and rarer still to find one that short. To me, this is one of the reasons that this film stands out to me. Even the way skirt the awkwardness of characters who have known each other for years, suddenly referring to each other by name as if desperately trying to keep it from escaping their mind. They speak like the person isn’t in close proximity then, use camera cut’s to infuse comedic aspect to it since they are having an argument. The use of cinematography in creating organic scenes and transitions speak volumes to the watch-ability of this movie.
A montage is a method used to show the passing of time, usually showing a span of time passing while a character perfects a new skill. Shawn of the dead used smash cut montages a fresh way using it as a way to show quick transition through mundane tasks, like making tea and toast, calling a restaurant or, getting ready for work. The latter scene is featured twice, the first establishes the routine and a second time shows the disruption to that routine.
A second way that they use similar scenes to show transition is during a long shot of Shawn walking down the street to the corner mart. The first scene establishes that the street is vibrant with life, a boy kicks a soccer ball against a wall, a homeless man walks a dog and asks for spare change, Shawn stumbles over the curb in front of a man washing the windshield of his car, a runner passes. In the shop, Shawn walks straight to the back of the shop, opens the fridge and grabs a coke the shelf, on his return to the counter he slips in something but regains his composure to wait at the counter for the teller. He doesn’t wait long as the teller slaps the counter and Shawn pays him before exiting the shop and ending the scene. When they repeat that scene, it familiar enough to not draw attention from Shawn, recovering from a hangover yet; street is mostly vacant, the Homeless man on the corner groans at him instead of asking for change, the car has a gaping hole in the windshield, the runner is now a sprinter and the wet spot in the shop is presumed to be blood.
The filmmakers also use this same tactic on pieces of dialogue. In one scene, Shawn watches as Ed plays a video game. In it, he directs Ed where to shoot as enemies pop out at him on the screen. The same dialogue takes place wherein Ed directs Shawn where to shoot as zombies begin to pour in through the broken windows of the pub. Smaller still aspects of the same conversations used in different situations, one such instance is when Liz breaks up with Shawn she says “If I don’t do something…” and Shawn responds “What do you mean, do something?” A later scene shows them trying to figure out a way into the Winchester, they reuse the lines switching the characters.
The movie utilizes a lot of film craft that makes the movie more real than many zombie movies that I have watched. The cinematography and dialogue set up the places in the film that will push the plot in an organic way towards the conclusion of the story. In the scene where Shawn’s flatmate, Pete, yells at Ed for being too loud at night he says “If you want to live like an animal, go live in the shed.” In the next few scenes, we see that they do have a shed with the equipment they need to fend off the zombies in their backyard. Most people wouldn’t think something like small would be significant but it makes the world seem more grounded since items or skills don’t seem like they are dropped from heaven (or written in by the desperate screenwriter) to save a character from conflict. They do the same thing, in a more obvious way, when they mention the rifle above the bar in the Winchester.
They use cinematography to set the props to be utilized with a wide shot of the backyard as the protagonists first enter. We are shown that the yard that they are in is a playground for a child, a swing set, a tether ball poll, a plastic table with child-sized chairs and a slide, in another shot you can see a small trampoline in the background. In the next sequence they act upon the set they presented; he uses the trampoline to vault a fence, Liz uses on the chairs to knock the zombie off Shawn, Diane pulls the tetherball poll from the ground for Shawn to use as a weapon and after the zombie has been subdued he uses the slide to check the next path. This sort of thing doesn’t look significant to most but its something good scripts contain, informing the action with a viscerally organic place to act. A number of films these days have such tight camera views that you lose the scene and the action feels forced and staged.
Much of the tension in this movie comes from the plot and the situation but there is a third element that usually goes unnoticed which is driven by the background audio and visual. Watch the film and it will be difficult to count the amount of time you hear sirens prevailing somewhere in the distance, and as the action progresses, the sirens give way to air raid horns and then, dead silence before the dead break the silence. The papers when Shawn visits the shop, the news on the radio and the TV while Shawn is at work, all set up the background to the rising action that is the coming zombie horde which just serves as the setting for a reinvigoration of love between two people.
This movie is truly a love story with zombies, which is what I love most about Shaun of the Dead
. Zombies were just the catalytic force to reunite something that could have remained been broken otherwise and the strange thing about it is that during the course of the film, the main character doesn’t really grow. In most movies, the protagonist is changed in some way by the end of the film but, Shawn doesn’t grow at all. Liz’s problem with him was that he was noncommittal and inattentive to her needs and she needed to dump him to jump out of the life rut she was in but, at the end of the movie Liz has moved in with Shawn and they have routine and all it took was the people that were getting in the way of their relationship to die. Even there Shawn hasn’t grown though because he keeps zombie Ed in the shed, where he is kept like an animal.So, that is my opinion on why I think Shawn of the Dead is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Feel free to poke holes in my prose in the comments below or give me some kudos if you agree in the comments below.
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