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Saturday 22 December 2012

Urban Exploring Documentary

If you have been following my documentary updates you will know this was on its way! This is the documentary I have been working on for a few months, I am stupidly happy with how it turned out. I was main cameraman!
I had a great time doing this project and think it looks amazing, well done to the rest of the team, work well done, it was a pleasure!

Hunger Rough pot synopsis


Hunger is a zombie project I have planned for uni but it may become Outbreak File 3: Hunger!

Hunger begins with its protagonist, Andy a 20 something year old zombie, stumbling around in the zombie apocalypse. He is a typical zombie, feasting with the rest of them until he encounters a group of survivors, these few remaining humans are travelling through the city on foot and number 16. From a small alleyway Andy sees the approach a main street, the group progress, with the fully armed members blocking off the side streets, including Andy's. The man who blocks his path to the rest of the survivors is a man named Mark, who smiles at the four zombies in the alleyway with Andy. He shoots the first in both knees, the next through the eye, another he breaks the jaw of with his pistol and the fourth he punches square in the face, as it lays on the ground he kick and kicks her face into nothing. As he turns his gun on Andy the group have passed him and just before Mark shoots Sarah, a middle aged woman from the group calls him away.

Andy has seen the group now, and he isn't the only one, hordes of zombies stumble after the survivors who seek refuge in a shopping mall. Andy continues to search around the outside of the shopping mall for a way in, in doing so he has several interactions with the survivors whos numbers keep dropping as they make attempts to escape the shopping centre. Andy keeps seeing Sarah and at one time even sees her along, at a bottom floor window, through the window he stares and watches, face to face with Sarah, he just watches vacantly. In one attempted escape Sarah is separated from the group and trapped, on this occasion Andy lets her pass him without harming her, the two have gained a connection.


In the final scene our unpredictable hero Andy is stumbling along the road in his zombie like manner, he walks toward a feasting zombie who looks up at him, mouth covered in blood, and groans violently at him. He is starved but against his will he moves on from the dead body looking for food. As he walks around aimlessly he comes to the back of the shopping centre, on a raised loading bay Sarah, whom he has become attached to, and Mark, the now “leader” of the survivors that the shopping centre protects from the likes of Andy appear.

Mark waves the loaded gun at Sarah shouting, his authority has been questioned, she is as dangerous to him as the monsters outside the walls. Tears stream down Sarah’s face as Andy moves closer, quietly and carefully. Sarah turns side on and stares at Andy “ I'm not keeping quiet about what you did to that girl.” Andy shouts, supporting Sarah, threatening Mark. Mark has two problems, the first he shoots in the chest, Andy recoils and falls to the ground. The second problem is no different, he puts his gun to the side of Sarah head. The force of the blast knocks her off the loading bay. Andy lurches forward to get revenge for Sarah. Mark pistol whips Andy, he isn’t worth a bullet. Looking down from the loading bay Mark spits on Andy and retreats into the shopping centre.

Andy attempts to climb up to the loading bay after Mark, a fresh meal and revenge for the fallen but after just a few seconds he gives up, or forgets. Starving, Andy looks at the dead body of Sarah laid on the floor next to him. He looks. He blinks. Blood pools around her head. He groans at her and moves her hand with his foot. He drops to his knees and groans again. He places his hands on her shoulder and arm and groans, loudly, the zombie equivalent of a heartbreaking cry. He rolls her over and forcefully, angrily cries again before leaning over her body. Blood from the cut on his head drips down to his eye and onto Sarah’s lifeless body. He leans all the way down and takes a bite from Sarah’s side, as he comes up he looks upwards and cries again, his mouth filled with blood. We see his back as he sits over the body trying to resist his hunger as the picture fades to black.

Friday 21 December 2012

CBT All New X Men 4, Avengers Arena 2, Avengers 2, Thunderbolts 2, X Factor 249, Cable and the X Force 2, Hulk 2, Captain America 2.

All New X Men #4
All new X Men is one of the main titles I have been looking forward to in Marvel Now however it is getting unfortunately disappointing. The art has always been fantastic, the fourth page (the first splash of the issue) in this issue is one of my all time favourite images. The panelling is fresh and a little insane allowing Immonen to really play with the format and size of panels. The storyline however seems not to be progressing, after four issues I feel like I still only have the information that was released in teasers, it has been quite unimpressive. I think the reason for this may be that the JG School team and Scott's new team have been crammed into one comic, as we know Scott's team will eventually split into Uncanny X Men and I hope that when that happens the two comics get their own identities and improve. Despite my frustration with the series this issue itself wasn't bad, it was nice to see the two new mutants starting to interact a little but I am expecting them to grow more in the future. I am still really not enjoying the past x men, I was never going to... Another reason I am never particularly shocked b the issues may be that I read the previews stupidly early but im not going to stop, there should be more than one good scene per comic. 
7.5/10

Avengers Arena #2
Hopless' Avengers Arena two titles have continued for a second week and Avengers Arena continued with its specific single character storytelling method with the character Deathlockette, a new character and daughter of the creator of Deathlock's. The second issue was just as good as the first with high drama, death and danger leading us to our first real group of characters. I get the feeling the majority of the characters in this are either really small, new or not likely to die. The art was still awesome so well done for that, I am looking forward to seeing the series progress and getting a look into the heads of all the other characters, Deathlockette and Hazmat were a great start.

Avengers #2
Issue One was epic and issue two has continued exactly where it left off, the villains continued to ramp up the pressure, the multi time storytelling began to bridge together and the real recruiting began. Opena continued to draw the Avengers how he wants to see them, it is refreshing to get a not so shiny image of the mighty heroes that brings them down the Earth (or Mars) whilst keeping them cool and stylish. Speaking of style the "Foundation" of members is an awesome new idea, I love the branching logo and trying to fit heroes into each one, a few are still blank so Im looking forward to seeing them filled in. For me as an Xfan it was cool to see Sunspot and Cannonball, in general I liked the section with SpiderWoman and Captain Marvel, in fact the whole recruiting section managed to stay short and concise whilst adding 12 to the roster! The villains seem a little bit too much like Apocolypse from Hickman's X force stuff, they seem to have very similar "life seed" "death seed" style views and weaponry but they serve the purpose of being a threat the Avengers need to regroup for. Yeah a really excellent second issue and one of my favourite now titles for sure!
9/10

Thunderbolts #2

There is a lot of crap flying around over this issue of Thunderbolts, most have hated it and one article talks about Elektra's nudity and some comments Way and Dillon have made about it, read that >>http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/119749-thunderbolts-2-flaunts-gratuitious-boobage-for-no-reason.html
its interesting to say the least. Anyway what did I think, well I thought it was quite amusing, whilst tensions were unneceserily high in the issue it did have a few nice lines from Venom and was overall an easy read, it flew by in a generic whirr but I personally dont see what is wrong with a little bit of a cliche or stereotype, sometimes boundaries dont have to be pushed, its nice to read a comic and not think "what does all this mean(to be read in an overly dramatic voice.)" However it isn't nice and it is easy to see what is wrong with Dillon's art, I like the red and black theme but aside from that the panelling is boring and the images are unimaginative, dull and undynamic, not only that but the simple lines and shades make the book look more like a colour by numbers than a comic. So overall it was very mediocre but hey that ok... literally mediocre is ok...
6/10

X Factor #249
I am running out of things to say about X Factor, if you have read it you know what its like... thats what it was like, its always high quality, quick, quippy and action filled. Something specifically nice about this issue that highlights Peter David's knowledge and dedication to his characters was Monet's reaction to being trapped in her body. I have read all the stuff about her being Penance and it didnt even occur to me that it would effect her so well done to David for really getting into the heads of his characters and remembering their nuances. I am however a little unimpressed by how slowly X Factor moves and by how much pathetic drama goes on, I love the realism in the characters speech and the way they interact but it feels like it can get in the way of the storytelling and take over the comic. Anyway the next issue marks Peter David's 100th consecutive issue and the start of a new Hell war on earth saga or something, should be interesting!
7.8/10 (I know specific, I want it to be a 7.5 but it was better than All New 4)

Cable and the X Force #2
For a writer fairly new to the Marvel Universe and very new to this set of characters Hopless writes X Force like he has been writing it for years! The characters interactions feel natural and pure and the developments he is working on are interesting and hopefully unique. My favourite character of the issue was Domino who acts as kind of a mouth piece for the audience asking Cable why he is doing this AGAIN!!!. The time jusmping around is a little confusing but I think it is worth the trade off for the good mix of action and questions it brings. The return of Stryfe (who else is that shadow going to be) is a little disappointing as is Cables mystery illness, they are both character arcs I would like to have seen Cable move away from but other than that the series is going brilliantly. As I said last week Larroca's stuff is beautiful, his action is exciting his interiors are nice and detailed and I am really enjoying his work, more of the same is needed. It was nice to see Colossus' reappearance and it was well handled, of all the phoenix 5 power fluctuations his is my favourite. I do also dislike Cable's "visions" but until we see what they are actually all about I have no right to make my mind up. Overall a wicked second issue, another of my favourite Now series!
8.5/10

Hulk #2
I loved the development to Hulk that Waid created in issue one and this issue brilliantly built upon the ideas of the first with the ever cautious Iron Man (lol) questioning his allegiance to SHIELD and whether he can keep up working for them and control or at least aim the Hulk. I am not a big Hulk fan but I am loving the start of this series, Banner's character actually seems to have a character for a change and the Hulk vs Bannar arc has been left behind in the trash where it belongs. Yu's art was again brilliantly fitting, adding a darkness and a realism to Hulk and Banner. I dont have much more to say about this issue, it was wicked! End Of!
8.5/10

Captain America #2
I was terribly disappointed by issue 1 of Captain America but this second issue goes a long way towards making up for it. The unusual post apocolyptic style Z world is a little far fetched and I am sure there must be a time issue to fix as he can't have been there for a year, he would have vanished in other titles... but the issue itself is pretty good, cap's internal narration is nice and this is some of my favourite of Romita's art. Kick ass is pretty good but I am usually a little put off by him, in this issue it really fits, the scratchy shading makes Cap seem dirty and darker which works really well for the issue. I dont know what is going to come of the series, surely it must become more formulaic soon but I like the idea of exploring Steve's childhood through him bringing up and I hope it continues.
8/10

Monday 17 December 2012

Hunger Moodboard

Hey guys this is a moodboard for my Zombie project for uni called Hunger. It basically shows what I would like my visuals to be like and what my inspirations are.
Basically at the top you have bumbling Colin, to the top right you see possibly the romantic side of zombies or at least the pensive side. Bottom and right you see scenes of slaughter that should upset you a little, I want my zombies deaths to be upsetting. On the left you see the other brutal people and the brutal zombies that do inhabit the world!

Saturday 15 December 2012

What Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" has to do with my film...


Ok so this is a pretty heavy piece of work about Mulvey's Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema and how it relates to a planned film for uni. This may actually end up having a lot to do with Outbreak file 3. Also it includes a few little personal rants about Mulvey and reading too far into films. Basically this is what I do for uni, its pretty heavy stuff but it is interesting and a little enlightening as is the article itself which you can find a link to at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!... or fall asleep, like I said its pretty complex stuff....

My zombie film is to be all about identification and getting the audience on the side of my hero, Andy, a zombie. This may be difficult as zombies are generally not what audiences aspire to be, rather they aspire to be the survivors that fight off zombies in a survivalist fantasy. When looking at identification and differences between audiences and on screen presences it is always helpful to look back at Laura Mulvey's seminal essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) Originally Published - Screen 16.3 Autumn 1975 pp. 6-18. Whilst this strongly relates to Jaques Lacan's theories on the "gaze" and focuses on female audiences being forced to identify with male protagonists the method of which this identification is made is important to me as I can replicate it to make audiences identify with Andy.

One of the first important points and possible stumbling blocks for me is that "the image recognised is conceived as the reflected body of the self, but its misrecognition as superior projects this body outside itself as an ideal ego, the alienated subject. which, re-introjected as an ego ideal, gives rise to the future
generation of identification with others." This very first comment about recognition and identification brings about the point that we, when looking and therefore watching, identify with a character that represents the ego. This presents a problem as many of the things that define the ego are actually the opposite of what defines a zombie, who is more like the id.

The other "aspect of the pleasurable structure of looking" is that of scopophilia and the pleasure gained by "using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight" again this will be difficult within a post apocalyptic world. However as this article points out the literal act of sex or even sexualised images isn't necessary often the presence of a woman is enough for spectators to gain gratification as Hollywood conditioning and all sorts of psychoanalytic, Freudian and Lacanian processes take over. I am planning on having a living female protagonist in my film that develops a connection with Andy so perhaps this will help my cause. Also I understand that Mulvey's article is saying that most of these processes are bad and that women shouldn't be used in this way and I do agree but a film is a film and not a political tool after all. I think that the education of people into filmic ideas such as these does more to solve the problem than to stop using them, people recognising the problem is better than film makers not using the techniques because they are just ways of writing media that people enjoy and if it stopped and nobody knew why there would be no progress, no learning and no development for society, within a year or two people would start again and no one would be any wiser. That little detour just justifies in my mind the use of these techniques, I'm not an anti feminist trying to force women and men to see women as sexual objects, thats not my aim but I do understand that my ideas do do this.

Skipping over the arguments of women as passive and icon (not particularly relevant to my study) Mulvey continues to explain how "the active male figure (the ego ideal of the identification process)"  need the film to "reproduce as accurately as possible the so-called natural conditions of human perception." These include "Camera technology (as exempified by deep focus in particular) and camera movements (determined by the action of the protagonist), combined with invisible editing (demanded by realism)" which "tend to blur the limits of screen space." All of this is pretty basic, things like invisible editing and conventional cinematography are such staples of cinema they would be difficult to avoid when creating my own film.

Mulvey's final few paragraphs before her conclusion put into evidence her theories and show how Hitchcock has used the gaze and identification in a more intelligent way than most film makers. She that in many of his films he "uses the process of identification normally associated with ideological correctness and the recognition of established morality and shows up its perverted side." She also says that when scopophilia is concerned in his film the "hero portrays the contradictions and tensions experienced by the spectator". These ideas are pretty complex and I am not an expert on Hitchcock. The idea though of identification with a hero portraying contradictions and  tensions experienced by the spectator is interesting especially when looked at with a parallel to my narrative, even just my final scene.

Mulvey's analysis is always interesting and helpful however in this case the ground work theory itself is more interesting to me than her conclusion or her actual aims. To me the idea of identification and the encoding of specific characters to identify with is important and whilst gender is always an important topic in cinema I think the identification of females with males isn't a problem, at the end of the day they are characters and in many cases the genders could be swapped without any trouble. The article has given me a lot of ideas for theories to write into my film and questions to address in the subtext. I am not too worried about my audience struggling to identify, as Mulvey points out it has been such a common thing in cinema, and questioned so little that it is almost automatic. Possibly the fun and interest in my film will be in playing with the identification of the audience with Andy and his interanl stuggles in a Hitcock kind of way.

1. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) Laura Mulvey Originally Published - Screen 16.3 Autumn 1975 pp. 6-18. Accessed on: http://imlportfolio.usc.edu/ctcs505/mulveyVisualPleasureNarrativeCinema.pdf

Thursday 13 December 2012

CBT Iron Man #4, Avengers Arena #1, Cable and the X Force

Iron Man #4
The fourth issue of Iron Man was released this week, thats right Marvel are releasing it as fast as possible, I think thats the third issue in the last four weeks! But I am in no way complaining, this fourth issue has kept up the brilliant standard of fun and intriguing one off's about recovering the Extremis. Its the fourth part of a 5 part story so maybe I should talk about the whole thing when the next one comes out in a week or so but fuck that. I think this has been a brilliant and smart way to begin the series... with a lot of new readers (hopefully) thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Iron Man's growing popularity some one off stories are a good way for new readers to get acquainted with the character. Not only that but it gives Kieron Gillen a chance to show what he thinks of Iron Man before really putting him through the ringer, its a nice grace period for everyone to enjoy before the intense stuff starts. And yet, if you have read many of Gillen's interviews you will know a little of what is coming and each issue that has come out can be seen as contributing to the ethos of the later issues and the questions Tony will be faced with. This fourth issue is the easiest example of this, I can't remember which interview I read that Gillen said one of the themes the book and Tony would face is the idea of belief and magic (I know big subjects, hang on). After his confrontation with the Pheonix and the lack of clarity science gave him those themes make sense and the demonic creatures created with the Extremis in #4 nicely foreshadow and lay the ground work for some later heavier stuff. I think all of the issues have these little things in them I may do a big review sometime soon about them in detail if enough people are interested.... Anyway the issue was awesome I really liked the literary references and the concept of tech demons. Not to mention Tony saving himself with superstitious symbols, and one of my very favourite parts of Stark to date was him turning off his visuals, a beautiful touch that says so much about the man and the job he does. Art wise, well I love Greg Land's work, especially his Iron Man but I am still not a fan of his Stark or in this issue his Pepper who looks painfully like both his Jean Grey and his Pixie from his X Men runs. That being said his X Men work is some of my favourite art ever I just with he would draw a chick with a different hair cut! Not sure when #5 will be out, knowing this book next wednesday! But I am definitely looking forward to the last part of this story and the start of the new story. (SPOILER) I thought I would leave the last comment for the last page, Awesome! This is definitely going to come back in 20issues time. (END OF SPOILER)
8.5/10
Avengers Arena #1
The first of Hopless' two #1's this week is Avengers Arena, a teen drama that uses the plot of Battle Royale as inspiration (obviously) to drop some of the Avengers Academy cast, Runaways and X 23 into a new and unique(ish) situation. This is really odd... Dont get me wrong for a comic in which I recognise like 3 cast members I really enjoyed it but the concept is, well brave. It feels like it has the freedom of a creator own comic but with established characters, I definitely don't think anyone is safe but I am curious as to how long this can go on for. I think its definitely one to keep an eye on, and the art is awesome, I haven't read anything Walker has drawn before but he is a name I will look out for in the future. My favourite thing so far about the title is SPOILER the villain, Arcade, he is usually small time, comic and just not very good. He is a good character he just isnt good at what he does (an anti wolverine) so to see him actually being real bad ass is cool. ENND OF SPOILER I am really looking forward to seeing the group descend from almighty and rightous to murderers, hunting each other. My only problem (and this is a little biased as an X Fan) is that X 23 might just be treated as a mirderer when her character has really been developing recently. However I trust Hopless, he has brought us 2 wicked titles this week and Avengers Arena is definitely a good read, self contained and, despite its copywrite worrying plot device, is a really fresh way of looking at comic book characters we know and love or dont know in my case...
8/10
Cable and the X Force
I think this is one of my most eagerly awaited titles of Marvel Now if for nothing else than the lineup and the first awesome front cover, and Hopless and Larroca didn't disappoint. Every scene just seemed perfect, the characters did and said things that suit them so much that the comic just felt right, perfectly right. I know thats an odd thing to say but I think its well evidenced! The introduction to Domino was one of my favourite parts,  it was her just being her, being a bit of a spy, being a bit devious and being damn cool. I also love that she was talking to "Boom" (I'm guessing Tabitha Smith Aka Boom Boom from the origonal X force) ad that she is caught out, and the line "she's exactly like her old man" Perfect! I am really interested in seeing some more of Forge, he has been missing for a while since Ghost Boxes, which is strange considering its an Astonishing event and therefore not quite running alongside but whatever, its good to see him back and there is no place I would rather him be. Doc Nemesis is clearly going to be a little bit of the comedy element but in a way I can actually stand (ie. not Deadpool). I'm not a big fan of the design of Cable's new arm but after seeing it actually written into the story I am a little more comfortable with it. The arm is the only issue I have with the art, the book is beautifully drawn, Larroca has a certain simplicity to his art that specifically pops when mixed with D'Amata's colours. Thats not to say his art is simple though, there are some wonderfully detailed images, I mean its not busy, or overcrowded and in film terms he knows when its time for a close up... in face he is one of the best artists out there for drawing things in a cinematic way with unique but understandable "camera" angles. Also on a side note I hate the costume for Havok that everyone seems to be going with but the idea of his "head dress" actually being on his costume rather than a separate part like in the classic days and execution of that adaptation make this my favourite Havok in that stupid ass costume! I am also happy to see Hope appearing in the comic, one of the things I was worried about with Marvel Now was the lack of relationship development between Hope and Cable, that has been one of my favourite things to watch for the last 3 years I am glad to see it continuing. As far as the story itself is concerned SPOILER it looks like either TO or Phalanx to me which is interesting however I hope Cable doesn't get the TOV back, I want to see him now that he has developed into something new. In summary WOW a wicked first issue, I cant wait for Colossus to appear properly and I cant wait for the next issue!!!
9/10

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Trailer Madness!!! After Earth, Oblivion, Star Trek Into Drakness

We finally have our first peek at the new Star Trek film "Into Darkness" and on the whole it looks pretty cool. It seems like Cumberbach's character is basically Moriarty to Kirk's Sherlock and there is a very small amount of the main characters in the trailer, instead we see a lot of buildings and a weird red planet. What annoys me a little is how much it seems like the Iron Man 3 trailer, it uses the same beat and a similar evil voice over. Its mainly the beat, that annoys me because it is in a hell of a lot of trailers now and has just lost impact. The best thing about the trailer is that wicked looking Gatling Gun! Should be a decent block buster anyway, it looks action packed for sure!
0

Conspiracy! That basically looks like the plot, Moon mixed with... something with conspiracies + a big budget and Tom Cruise. Its also slightly bad that Morgan Freeman is the Savage black but maybe it turns out a little niceer than that. It again looks like a pretty good big budget action flick however I worry that it might be one of those films you spend an hour being lost and then the last 30mins are just answers and explosions. We will see but it looks like next year is going to be full of action packed SF!

It looks like things might be looking up for M Night Shaymalan as After Earth looks like it has all the cmoponents needed to be a good film, good actors, lots of money and a few nice ideas. I'm a little surprised at how much of it is set in the woodland area, I would have expected more of an I am Legend feel or something similar to Oblivion. It looks like Oblivion and After Earth are going to be battling it out pretty hard next year, although After Earth looks more like its going to be a character piece driven by action without a particularly complex story. I saw a funny tweet suggesting the big twist end to the film is POTA style and its set in the past. Wouldn't be a bad twist but would be funny if it was called right this early. Anyway the scenery looks pretty nice and there seems to be a few interesting gadgets and toys so I'm pretty hopeful overall.

Monday 10 December 2012

Fido (2006 Andrew Currie)


Fido is a fantastically funny zombie comedy that is set in suburban America (or Canada, its a Canadian film) set in an alternate 50's in which the humans won the zombie wars and enslave zombies with domestication collars. I didn't expect comedy at all, Fido was not what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised.

The film opens with a news informmercial with footage not unlike Night of the Living Dead (1968 Romro) however it quickly deviates, educating the audience in the universe of the film in which radiation created zombies and the founder of omnipotent Zomcon Dr Geiger (which I hope is a reference to H R Giger) created domestication collar's to enslave them. The oversaturated colour palette and white picket fences of the setting immediately signify the American dream and the idealised suburban America that comes along with it. This is a strong theme throughout the film and has many signifiers including the typical atomic family.

The child of the atomic family is our main character, Timmy, a young "weird" boy, bullied by Zomcon cadets and shunned by his parents. As he travels home one of many funny subtle zombie situations occurs, its as simple as a zombie being a lollipop man with a "slow" sign.

Also evident is a subtext of slavery and racism, there is no attempt to hide it, Timmy's mother comes out with some brilliant lines such as "Now we're not the only ones on the street without one" which clearly show the ownership and possession of zombies and how they are a commodity, an accessory to signify wealth and status much like black slaves would have been in America in the 1800's.

The basic storyline of the film is about a typical 50's American atomic family complete with emotional repression and now a zombie! The father is specifically written as a slight antagonist, this leaves the real role of a father open. He is afraid of zombies, god forbid, and dislikes the new family slave/ pet who they chain in the garden. He openly shocks the zombie with a remote, for negative re-enforcement and for fun, his fear turns into anger in a classic display of male emotional repression. This is again apparent in the multiple times he says things like "why are we talking about this? I thought we didn't need to talk about this!". His treatment of his son is awful, funny and over the top, so when the Zomcon bullies attack Timmy again his pet zombie saves him and begins to fill the space of father for Timmy giving his "son" the game of catch he wanted. Well almost, he's not very good. It is at this point he gets a name, I think its extremely important for the audience to have a name for the zombie as it gives him an identity and the name Fido (much like a dogs name) removes element of horror from his character.

Another important factor in the audiences sympathy for Fido is that he remembers what he was before, at least a little. When his collar malfunctions Timmy takes him to Mr Theopolis an ex Zomcon scientist with a questionable relationship with his zombie Tammy, who fixes his collar thus quenching his hunger, this means he wont get taken away. When there Fido grabs a cigarette and shows that he sort of remembers how to smoke, this shows he isn't all gone, he isnt a complete monster.

The next big step for Fido is to win the mother of the family over to his side, again this doesn't take too much effort as the relationship between Timmy's mother and father isn't exactly loving and emotional, its barely even there. The father doesn't even notice his wife is pregnant and they clearly sleep in separate beds, and so when Fido shows emotion by smelling Timmy's mothers perfume she is naturally flattered, it is of course the animalistic part of humans that remain but perhaps thats a thought better left for Mr Theopolis. Timmy and his mothers support of Zombies and Fido is cemented when at a funeral, many of which Timmy's father frequents to his pleasure, Timmy's mother announces to him that when they die "Timmy and I are going Zombie". A simple line that shows the main protagonists are on the side of Fido and the audience should be too, funerals after all are only liked by the cruel and weird father and nobody wants to be on his side.

The emotional high point of the film is on the way, as Timmy and Fido are out playing he is captured by the Zomcon cadet bullies who plan to kill Fido and act as though they saved Timmy from Fido and caught the Zombie that ate Mrs Henderson and sparked a small outbreak. It inevitably goes wrong as one of the cadets shoots the other and Fido attacks the final bully. Fido cant untie Timmy, his fingers aren't dexterous enough so he goes to get Timmy's mother in a hilarious parallel to Lassie as his mother asks "Where is Timmy?" and after being lead the correct way remarks "You wonderful crazy wonderful zombie". This act of complete heroism is a little inrealistic for a classic zombie but what a hero it makes of Fido, if the audience aren't on his side by now they never will be. Fido is definitely on Timmy's mothers side, when her husband refuses to relax and dance with her she dances with Fido instead, establishing a personal, maybe romantic relationship with Fido and Timmy's mother.

This is followed by Fido being taken away for eating Mrs Henderson returning the families life to normal. Timmy's father attempts to fix the relationship with his son by giving him a gun, bfore the legal carrying age of 12 and in an emotionally stunted scene explains "You have to get over feelings. being alive is what counts". Timmy inevitably goes back to save his surrogate father Fido from a Zomcom factory with the help of Mr Theopolis. He is followed by his parents and all carnage ensues as a breakout occurs. The real antagonist of the film Mr Bottoms is a security man, a big wig in the Zomcon company and a Zombie war hero, the strong figure head style man of the 40's, a symbol of power and oppression, and he is there to stop Timmy rescuing Fido. For his disobedience Mr Bottom locks Timmy out of the fence that keeps everyone safe, and into the "wild zone" where zombies roam free. At this point the Timmys fathers want the same thing, his actual father has taken control he enlightening tells his wife "Im a good father, my father tried to eat me, I nevr tried to eat Timmy" and when she asks for the gun, as she has proven she is gun competent he says "no U want to, I am a good father". Teaming up with Fido he saves Timmy but Timmy's father and Mr Bottom die.

The film ends with Timmy's fathers funeral, his mother happily points out "its what he wanted" before settling into family life with Fido. Finally even Mr Bottom turns into a zombie which his daughter is "just calling him daddy", even the worst of fathers and the most strict of people can be nice once zombified.

Whilst Fido wasn't what I was expecting I thoroughly enjoyed it, the spoofing of traditional idealogical America with zombie inserts is genius and the performance Billy Connoly gives as Fido is inspiring. Fido is a different genre to most zombie films but the character development or at least the audience development from thinking of zombies as brainless slaves to characters and is a narrative I would love to emulate.

Sunday 9 December 2012

An academic review of Colin (2008 Marc Price)


Colin is a low budget indie film by film tutor Marc Price about a zombie called Colin and his stumbling. Reportedly made on only £57 Colin has a few production issues such as the occasional issue with exposure and white balance but in general it is beautifully shot. It is commendable for making the post outbreak world feel so real on such a small budget, you really feel when watching it that the whole of the town and country has been infected and that is a difficult thing to achieve without too many wides. Even more spectacular than the blocking and shots is the story, one that is emotional, well paced and ultimately uplifting?
The film begins with Colin as a human, an important decision as it means the audience can identify with him a little before he becomes a zombie. The opening is a little overexposed as I have previously said but as a camera user I understand why as the shot moves from a dark doorway to a window, I think despite the exposure its the right shot to use, the tracking around as Colin walks past and the close up on the hammer actually brilliantly set the tone for the whole film as far as pacing, shooting and emotion are concerned. Our hero isn't to be a human for long however, Colin has already been bitten giving him a nasty wound on his arm, again this makes you sympathise as an audience member however the slightly cheesey and low quality blood mix virus thing isn't needed. After a brief but amusing battle with his house mate Colin is tired and dying, we see him worsen, get sicker and sicker until his death.

We all know thats not the end though as Colin turns into a Zombie, his rigor mortis breaking fingers crack as he wakes up from death. As an audience we pretty much see him turn, he is under coats I would imagine this little joke was added to lighten Colin's death and in lew of the money needed to do a visual transformation but we basically watch him change and the audience in a way turn with him. We don't get to see his face for a while, an important decision  it makes the audience question how disfigured he will be after his transformation. The first time we do see his face is in a reflection, as Colin sees his face, curious, staring, we see that he isn't that different.

Colin spends his first night as a zombie comically trying to escape his front room, fooled by a door (a long running joke through the film) the transition between night and day is wickedly used and Alistair Kirton's performance as an angry Colin is perfect as he steps back, slips and inadvertently falls out of a window thus escaping the room. He clearly has know idea where to go as he pops up into frame and looks around him with a brilliantly confused expression, this again gets us to like Colin, who as he has only just become a zombie, isn't very good at being a zombie, he isn't scary or a murderer he doesn't have a clue what he is doing.

The next collection of shots, whilst setting the desolate scene of the world show again that Colin isn't all that viscous, firstly he ponders over a yellow lego piece. There are two possibly significant things about this, the first being a link to childhood and the idea that zombie-nes is a regression in the mind, and secondly that the piece is yellow, a reoccurring colour of importance to Colin in the film. He is then knocked to the ground by survivors before being denied a meal by an angry looking female zombie. When Colin finally does get to eat he doesn't actually kill the man he eats, no Colin's victim has fallen from a roof and is dying as Colin begins to eat. Despite his meal finding and the horrific nature of eating humans the guy Colin gets is already on his way out so we don't feel bad for the guy, its not like Colin hunted him down, so Colin is furthered into the audiences hearts once again.

The next slightly comical section makes the audience question how much of his past life Colin remembers, as he pulls off a guys (a guy that is being eaten by someone else so Colin still isnt a killer) ear to eat and ends up with his headphones and mp3 player. The Unfilmable Life of Terry Gilliam is playing on the headphones and Colin listens happily and even picks the headphones back up after his next meal. Obviously the Colin liking music makes the audience smile, the idea that he enjoys something that isnt eating people or remembers something from before give the audience some sort of hope and satisfaction. So when the batteries die and Colin gets mad it is almost impossible not to sympathise with poor Colin.

Another important factor in the likeability of Colin is how the remaining survivors act towards him, this is shown in the next scene where two survivors are looking for zombies to loot and spot Colin's nice shoes. The idea that thieves steal from zombies is brilliant and the way they pin down Colin seems cruel and brutal. However Colin's sister is around and saves Colin from getting cold feet but unfortunately gets bitten in the process. This is the first bit of true back story we get for Colin, we now know that he has a sister that survived, through her the audience can empathise and see the tragedy of Colin becoming a zombie, even zombies have families!

The soundtrack to this film is absolute brilliant and highlights the desolation and isolation in the next section in which Colin simply wonders around, past survivors and buildings, chasing pigeons and just being a nice zombie in general. One of my favourite shots is a wide of Colin who bumbles across the shot before someone runs past him causing him to walk all the way across the screen again who finally decides he isnt going to catch up and turns again to go the way he was. The final of the cutaway style shots of Colin wondering is of him looking up at a road sign that points two ways, this could signify loads, but with its recurrence later the it mainly serves as a plot device.

Colin stumbles across a house under siege (a Romero reference for sure as the upstairs room in the house has a sign saying George's room) and with a video camera an inset narrative of "my awesome zombie movie" can be and is shown. This nice little section seems to show some nice special effects whilst parodying classic horror with its token black and final escaping female. A female which is clad in yellow! Colin follows her to the next location, a dark creepy cellar of a sadistic psycho who cuts up zombies and takes photos, where does he keep these experiments? The cellar! I like that this section shows that zombies aren't the worst things in an outbreak of the virus, it also gives some real creeps a chance to do the kind of things they have always wanted to and sometimes those people are the real monsters, not Colin. It is funny however that Colin doesn't actually come to the rescue of the girl as she is strangled to death but just wonders past, out of the cellar and back into the wider world. This scene basically just shows that not only is Colin not evil but the bad things he does aren't as bad as the things humans do in context, well some of them.

The next scene is one of the biggest plot points as Colin is kidnapped, at first we don't see who by, this bit is very carefully filmed to make us experience the kidnapping in the same way Colin does, with confusion and terror. An absolutely amazing tracking shot takes us into the bathroom Colin is tied up in and through a blood splattered mirror reveals his captor, his sister. Colin is probably his most angriest in this scene, the sheer emotion of the scene between Colin and his sister whilst she tries to make him remember her is brilliant  personally it made me feel sorry for Linda as she is going to become a zombie but more so it made me feel sorry for Colin as we can clearly see how much he has lost since becoming a zombie. The photographs he carries with him show how much he did once care and the shots of the empty bathroom, dripping tap, dangling shoelace (that Colin was tied up with) are the most cinematic of the film and have a sorrowful feeling of loss about them. We next follow Colin in a Hessian bag all the way to his old home and to his mother, who Linda is convinced he will remember. The viewpoint of Colin is the viewpoint of the audience for this whole section from the bag to the kitchen which through glass Colin can see his family, separated from him. His bangs on the glass as he tries to get to them are clearly because he wants to eat them... but visually it is heartbreaking to see him banging on the window, trying to get to all that he has lost, his family and his humanity. The shot is beautifully framed as it ends with him slowly tapping away at the window his arm framed to hug his mother who stands at the window. Also evident at this point is the boyfriend of his sister who clearly dislikes him and is violent towards him, fair enough Colin did bite his girlfriend but in general we as an audience also dislike him. Colin spends the night brainlessly staring at a tv, a quick comment on society?

Colin is no longer alone, his sister is also a zombie, thrown into the room with him and they are hidden behind newspaper articles taped to the windows by their mother. A nice way of getting across some exposition in a highly emotional scene. One might think they are trapped in the house, however Colin's sister has the brain and motor control Colin lacks and opens the doors for him, letting him stumble down the step and back out in the open. Upsettingly Zombies recognise each other even less than zombies recognise humans and the two go their separate ways.

Our final group of survivors, an aggressive mob like group burst onto scene with an explosive, knocking Colin and his fellow horde of zombies down, the ensuing carnage is a little confusing but bloody for sure. The leader of the gang is clear, a hard, solemn looking man wielding a catapult with razor blade ammo, as the chaos of the battle continues he descends on Colin, pulling out a hammer not dissimilar to the hammer Colin once used. Colin is seemingly killed and the group is left to deal with the clean up of the battle, when asked what to do about the people that have been bitten, the leader harshly but simply replies "deal with it". This dark and gritty group of survivors are largely emotionless or just scared (depending on which group member) and whilst they are not demonised their brutal gang killing of those that have been bitten again goes to show that zombies aren't the only threat. Not to mention THEY KILLED COLIN!

Actually they didn't, I don't know how but Colin managed to survive with a half blown off face, and he travels though picturesque snow to a house and inside that house to a sign, yes that very same road sign at which point the story jumps back in time to when Colin was still a human. He berates the girl and owner of the house Laura for leaving the door open ironically saying "if you leave it open one of those thnigs can get in here". They fight off a zombie that was in the upstairs bathroom together but Laura gets bitten, you see her collect some photo's some of which Colin has in the future, and her ring tone is the very same song Colin was listening too as a zombie on the headphones. It is a little unclear whether this was Colin's girlfriend or just a survivor he came across but the YELLOW wearing Laura signifies a lot of the things Colin has pondered over as a zombie. He emotionally holds her as she dies, as she wakes up and after getting bitten holds her down and kills her. This sequence is brilliantly shot and acted and brings a tear to the eye. As he covers her face with her hair the times switch between zombie and non zombie Colin and we see zombie Colin knelt beside the body of Laura, perhaps that was where he was trying to get to the whole time, who knows but you definitely feel there is a good reason he has come here and that he does remember something. To me that is an uplifting end to Zombie Colin's story and as for living Colin, we see him walk back home and as the camera pans up we see his house mate in the window and the circular narrative of Colin is nicely wrapped up.

Colin is an absolutely brilliant film, it manages to get the audience to empathise with Colin and really experience a day in the life of a zombie. This could be boring and slow but its not, its paced perfectly and given enough of a plot to make it truly interesting not only that but its so cleverly written there is character development in Colin without making him some kind of super zombie. Colin follows many zombie conventions but looks at them from the other side of the coin, analysing what it is like to be a zombie, it is an intelligent and sympathetic look at the monsters we think we know so well. The only thing I personally would like to do differently with my own film is to cut out any sections in which we see the zombie before they are infected, I think it will be more of a challenge to get the audience to identify with the character without seeing him as a relatable human

Friday 7 December 2012

Team Stryker by Andrew Grieve (Review)

http://www.teamstrykercomic.com/
Team Stryker is a biweekly online indie comic by Andrew Grieve that lovelingly mocks the beefcake action war heroes of computer games, films and comics. Featuring a fun mix of hard and soft boiled characters the first two full missions (or issues) have been released and feature insane situations, I get the feeling they could end up literally anywhere and as issue three points out any when, as they end up fighting a dinosaur with a phd back in the past.

The comic clearly focuses on exploiting the characters for brilliant comedy which is spot on my taste so I have found every issue and pretty much every page a laugh. I think my favourite character is the strong and silent Jeffrey... The butterfly...
Although Jeffrey aside all of the characters are fantastic, I love the dynamics off the group and despite them being based (loosely) in real people the characters feel very influenced by lots of pop culture. Every time Eagleheart shouts Eagle Punch! I have to try not to say it in Captain Falcon's voice although I'm sure Eagleheart would never be as camp as Cap' Falcon. Dead Eye makes me think of Snake from MGS, I love that he seems to be the most competent and blood thirsty of the group. Casanova is always a laugh although I can't see how he got into the group, shouldn't he be... getting laid? And V Scope, well I love the concept for his character, a snapshot typical character that is easily distracted and never convering the team when he should be... Sneaky Jeffrey! Although no Jeffrey in #3 :( I hope he becomes a big villain, you read it here first, Jeffrey will be the mastermind behind the first big arc, the Moriarty to Eaglehearts Sherlock... a perfect analogy...

The art and colouring as well as writing is all done by Andrew himself which is always a commendable feat and I have to say the comic looks pretty sweet, I have only read it online, it would be nice to buy a paper copy sometime so I can really inspect the artwork. The slightly cartoony panels work really well and all the art is real nice, the pannelling is pretty basic but always works well, I think the page above is my favourite panellling wise. As for the look of the characters, they are all decent beefy action heroes that can appropriately kick ass.

Team Stryker is a definite one to watch, I will be keeping my ye on the new pages every week for sure! The satirical angle on action heroes isn't exploited enough and especially not in comics. I think what I would personally like to see would be a few slightly closer parodies of characters that we know really well. Perhaps a Gears of War or Halo reference and even more some Marvel comics piss takes would be great to see and god knows some of the beefier characters deserve it, Im thinking Hulk, Punisher, Hercules. I would like for the webpage to have a slightly easier page browsing system but I have no idea how that would work, I can barely work blogger! Anyway a wicked effort and an inspiring one too, its really nice to see someone with an idea and a little skill put together something as coherent and professional. Well Done Andrew!
7.5/10

If you want to get more info you can follow Andrew @TScomic
https://twitter.com/TSComic
or on FB
http://www.facebook.com/TeamStryker?fref=ts
To read the comic itself go to
http://www.teamstrykercomic.com/mission001page00/

Thursday 6 December 2012

CBT Iron Man #3, All New X Men #3, Spider-Man #699, Thunderbolts #1, X Factor 248, Avengers #1

Lots of wicked comics this week, its a good day to be a marvelite!

Iron Man #3
Another great issue of the new volume of Iron Man hit the shelves this week, continuing the escaped extremis storyline Tony ditches his modifiable liquid suit for a more tailor made armour, specifically focused on stealth! Using this new suit he infiltrates the home of a big drug boss who has the extremis, SPOILER Finding a girl infected he believes it is against her will and becomes all visible again.... unfortunately she is there of her own will and after the ensuing battle Tony confronts the big drugs overlord and discovers all he is trying to do is save his cancer ridden daughter. With Tony's help the girl survives END OF SPOILER! This issue kept up the good run from issues 1 and 2, the light humour is well balanced with deep sentiments and unique techno jargon. Page 13, the splash page beginning the battle of the comic is awesome, probably one of my favourite of the comic so far, it seems Land's art is at its best when it is in action. The panneling in this issue is simpler but the images themselves are superb, the three exoskeleton nobody's that battle Tony give Land a good chance to have fun with his art (something Gillen and Spencer talk about in Decompressed in Gillens site, check it out!) and it looks great! The three best things about the comic were the sandwich, black widow and the last line, Awesome!
8.5/10

All New X Men #3
All New X Men this week was another pretty basic book full of exposition, at least this time however it was with characters that matter, not out of time character that will hopefully leave... soon! Cyclops' team begin the issue by setting up the base of their revolution, the old weapon x facility, and they plan to fill it. However the phoenix force doesn't make it that easy, Cyclops' teams powers are faulty and failing, which is proven as Magneto fails to stop a truck and Cyclops' blast overpower his visor and appear more concussive than ever before, this leads to them breaking Emma out in a more destructive way than they had planned. An Emma who cannot use her telepathy and is pretty pissed with Scott about it. Its clear from this issue and from Bendis' interviews these two are over but that doesn't mean she is off the team as they teleport to a new emergence of a mutant. The comic is pretty simple, well written of course and it is nice to see a little more phoenix fall out, the best parts are the slightly soppy but weighty argument between Mags and Cyke, and the final splash page which is one of the best pictures of the series for sure!
8/10

Amazing Spider-Man #699
Firstly Dan Slott gets too much shit on twitter! Readers need to have a little trust! That being said I expected more from 699, I have only read up to spider island then 697,698 and 699 but I was left wanting. As its the end of an era and a big change for the book I expected a more epic feeling to the book, its not that the storyline isn't impressive or well thought out I just feel like its just another spidey story, not the spidey story to end all peter parker spidey stories. People are going on about him getting blood on his hands and being put through the ringer but I dont think its been all that bad, not yet anyway. As you may know I'm not a big fan of Ramos' art but this is one of his better issues for sure. The book is well written, its nice to see a whole comic from inside peters head, looking back on doc ock's life but it feel a little rushed, like that one comic could have easily been two or three. Maybe its my current lack of Spidey fandom but 699 didnt get me all that excited, it just didn't feel epic...
7.5/10


Thunderbolts #1
The new Thunderbolts team is a big switch up, with only one member of the cast being a returning character (venom, although it was a different venom), the team is to be led by Red Hulk/ Thaddeus Ross, I'm afraid I have no idea where he stands in the universe but his recruiting tactic was pretty cool. I am quite a big fan of Way's run on Wolverine Origins so this book caught my eye and it seems to be written just as well. Not too wordy but long enough that you dont feel robbed, it is a shame however that Dillon has reunited with Way as I am not a fan, I dislike the basic pastel like drawings and have never liked a single nose he has drawn. I like the red and black look of the team and am looking forward to seeing them interact as this was more of a recruiting issue, and a simple one at that.
7.5/10

X Factor #248
This weeks X Factor is a nice relaxing laugh, full of ridiculous circumstances to solve a hell of a cliff hanger Pipp's death amounts to nothing important, well not a death anyway. The story however introduces the Hell on Earth story that is to be the big thing for issue 250 which looks sweet. The callback to previous actions of the characters within this comic is commendable but as Peter David has written all 98 issues of Xf I am not surprised with the continuity. The art is still a little off, I dislike the pencils in general, everything seems a little too twisty but it is readable. It was cool to see Lyla using her force field offensively and I am looking forward to an action packed next issue. I am a little disheartened by the lack of Madrox's classic internal monologues and wish they would feature more heavily again along with the series returning to its noir routes although I think its a little past that now.
7.5/10



PICK OF THE WEEK!
Avengers #1
Wow... just wow. I am not a big Avengers fan I generally collect X Men but I thought hey its MarvelNow what better time to start, and what a brilliant start. I will start with the negatives, Opena's art... I am undecided on whether I like it or not, there is a horrid looking hulk, but some wicked stuff too but the whole style in general worked a lot better for avengers than I expected. I have read Uncanny X Force which he worked on for a long time and the style of art works really well for that series so I wasn't sure if it would work, it definitely gave the avengers less of a star spangled feeling and a much more of a dark pessimistic comic. The new logo or at least style of the previously and next symbols are awesome fresh and interesting! Now... onto the writing, perfectly placed and paced action to keep the book interesting, bad ass looking villains(although they look like they should be in Uncanny X force), an intriguing conversation by two of the "big three" avengers and a wicked voice over narration throughout that climbs to an awesome ending that has me truly excited for more! An Epic comic and an Epic start to MarvelNow's Avengers!
9/10

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Night of the Living Dead (Romero 1968)


Night of the Living Dead is simply THE classic zombie movie, it is undoubtedly the film that sparked the modern zombie genre. Inspired the siege of the house in Richard Matheson's vampire novel I Am Legend, George A Romero created his own house siege in Night with the stars being surrounded by ghoulish humans back from the dead and hungry for human flesh, these ghouls were later identified by the press as Zombies and that is what they became. Night is a story all about power, made in the 60's a time of cultural fear and anger over the Vietnam War the comparison between the ghouls and 'gooks', Vietnamese, isn't difficult to see but its not the only reading to be made. Romero himself says

"To me, the zombies have always just been zombies. They've always been a cigar. When I first made Night of the Living Dead, it got analysed and over analysed way out of proportion. The zombies were written about as if they represented Nixon’s Silent Majority or whatever. But I never thought about it that way. My stories are about humans and how they react, or fail to react, or react stupidly. I'm pointing the finger at us, not at the zombies. I try to respect and sympathize with the zombies as much as possible."

So maybe Zombie's aren't an encoded metaphor for anything and more a simple plot device however that doesn't stop anyone from decoding many messages from the film. It seems however that it is the humans that need to be analysed and read into arguments of race, family and gender are clear.

The film opens with a clear American flag, a simple signifier that the characters in the film, along with the zombies, represent all of America which gives significance to the first conversation. Barbra and her brother discuss why they bother driving down to the cemetery in the town they used to live to plant a wreath on the grave of their father about whom Johnny remarks coldly  "I don't even remember what the guy looked like". This clear breakdown of the atomic family is representative of the time in which traditional values were disintegrating and foreshadows the later scene in which Karen Cooper kills her parents in an even more extreme signifier. Another of the traditional values to be attacked in this first scene is the church, when Johnny sees Barbra praying  he simply says in a dismissing tone "Come on church was this morning". After Johnny is attacked Barbra begins to flee in a hysteric manner thus displaying her generally passive and pathetic character that could be accused of being a typical horror female. There is a lot of evidence against this however specifically in Stephen Harpers "They are us" Representations of women in George Romero's Living Dead Series" in which Harper excuses Barbra's character as either an attack on how patriarchal society makes women or a satirical comment on typical horror heroines.

As Barbra escapes one stumbling Boris Karloff esque zombie into thee refuge of an abandoned house that becomes the main set and the victim of the aforementioned siege. The lighting within the house is spectacular, the black and white visuals are lit in moody squares as if through the windows, the spooky effect is perfect and haunting. A few random shots of animal heads frighten Barbra further showing her hysteria and possibly referencing Hitchock's Psycho from 1960 furthering the possibility that Romero is mocking classic horror/ thriller females.

Barbra is saved however by the main hero of the film, Ben an African American man who stamps his authority on the situation and kills zombies left right and centre. Although Ben was never written as a black character he is one of the first back leads in film that don't have a romantic partner and his presence alludes to the ever present zombie theme of racism. Ben's later death is a harrowing experience and Romero himself has said that it isn't a reference to Martin Luther King's assassination but when he was transporting the film to the studio to be printed he heard of MLK's assassination and thought there was a creepy parallel. Ben's character takes control and boards up the house before telling Barbra and the audience his story which is amazingly delivered and evokes fear and empathy in the audience.

The reliance of our survivors on the media becomes apparent as they perch by the radio which imparts small gems of knowledge calling the zombie outbreak an "explosion of mass homicide  in which victims are "partially eaten by their attackers". Even Ben is reliant on some greater force as he believes that if they survive long enough "someone is bound to come and get us" thus highlighting the public's reliance on government to save them from situations of danger. Whether Romero sees this as positive or negative is unclear as when people do come to help they do the exact opposite and kill Ben. Romero has said in commentary on his other films that he thinks its funny that if this ever happened it would only be the government and the red necks that would be able to defend themselves, an interesting if not frightening idea.

The arrival of more zombies outside the house is clear as they stumble along eating bugs and bark to delay their hunger. Clearly seen in the foreground is a naked female zombie, this goes some way towards supporting the argument that Night is a feminist film as the woman is in no way sexualised but just there wondering round like the others. With the arrival of more zombies comes the arrival of Harry, Tom and Judy from the cellar down below, after hearing the noioses and hiding they finally decided to find out what was going on, finding Ben and beginning the ever present power struggle between Ben and Harry, Black and White. Ben never falters simply saying "go back down into the cellar, you can be boss down there."

The breakdown of the modern family is contained in the cellar, within the family of the Coopers, father Harry, mother Helen and ill daughter Karen are hiding out in a hope to survive. They however are not happy as Helen states "We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything" and ironic foreshadowing again of their soon to be death. Again the television and media leads them astray or at very least leads them as the Vietnam like footage of search and destroy missions tells them that their best chance is to get to a refugee centre. Whether it is right or not Ben is willing to do it because "the television says its the right thing to do" Ben saying "television" not scientist or government official is extremely important as it shows that he doesn't so much believe the specialist as he does the media that control his actions.

Ben's plot to save them by fuelling the fire fails and the young love of Tom and Judy fails and dies with is, a pessimistic statement about relationships and sacrifice. Harry sees this as a chance to overtake Ben, he believes he has gone too far and when Ben drops his gun to deal with a Zombie it is snatched by Harry. He however doesn't have the guts to shoot Ben who wrestles the gun from him and shoots him. Its every man for himself as the Zombies break the house down, the women however band together as Barbra finally starts to be productive. Her heroism is shortlived however as Johnny arrives at the house and pulls her into the horde.

Meanwhile Ben retreats into the basement where Karen has been eating her father and stabbed her mother to death in a horrifying scene. The trowel scene is brilliant, the slanted lighting  canted camera and screeching soundtrack all make for a horrifying death, all the more scary for the corrupted innocence of the young girl Karen Cooper, who destroys the atomic family completely.

Ben does survive the onslaught by killing the Coopers and hiding in the basement as per Harry's original suggestion. However as he steps into the light in the morning he is killed by a search and destroy squad who believe he is a zombie, this scene bares a stark resemblance to lynch mobs of the time. In the following photo montage Ben is grabbed with hooked poles and thrown on the fire as one of the gang simply say "thats another one for the fire". Exactly what Romero is trying to say with Night isnt perfectly clear, there are a lot of motifs and a lot that can be re read into the film but at its heart the horror and fear are clear and the anti government possibly nihilistic sentiments are clear.

Whether you see Night as a political statement or just as a good scare one thing is perfectly clear, it is a masterpiece!
9.9

Tuesday 4 December 2012

"They're US": Representations of Women in George Romero's 'Living Dead' Series by Stephen Harper

"They're US": Representations of Women in George Romero's 'Living Dead' Series is an essay by Stephen Harper which analyses the feminist views on the Living Dead series. The essay itself is well written, well informed and well evidenced, concluding in a persuading argument for Romero as a feminist film maker. Not only does this persuade readers that Romero is a feminist film maker but that he has represented women in not just binary passive/ active or positive/ negative but questions "the ability of binary categories of gender to comprehend the fluidity and diversity of images of women."

In Night of the Living Dead (1968) his representations of women are as passive, inactive characters who do little to help the cause. Whilst that would seem incredibly negative Harper flips this around in a few ways. The strongest proof for Night as a feminist text is the argument that the females passivity is the fault of the overly aggressive patriarchal males who force them down, thus making Night not a critique of weak women but a critique of patriarchal society. This is evidenced first by Johnny's playful teasing "They're coming to get you Barbra" which Harper argues is not a reference to the zombies but "playfully foreshadows the aggression of all the men at various points in the film.". The other main piece of evidence is a piece of speech from Tom who says "if all three of us were working together" things would be easier, Harper points out the important people Tom is talking about are the three male characters. This is a little weaker in my mind as it is Tom is trying to force Ben and Mr Cooper to get along, the women aren't involved in the conversation, however maybe the point is that they should be involved. The final evidence for a feminist reading of Night is the character of Mr Cooper who is an extreme stereotype of a controlling patriarchal male, however his constant fight for control is evident and it is worth noting the young female character fights back against him finally devouring his body. Harper argues it is Mr Coopers "authoritarian personality" that epitomises the male oppression within Night and excuses the female characters passive behaviour. Finally another possibility is that "Night might be read as a satirical comment on traditional representations of women in horror cinema" this is definitely a possibility when you consider the satirical content ofDawn of the Dead (1978).

Harper than moves over to an analysis of Dawn of the Dead (1978) in which the heroine is much more active but not an opposite to the passive feminine character of Barbra. Fran is a more complex character she is a professional in her field and is a strong character who is "consummately articulate and aware of the men's sexist assumptions about her". She is also pregnant and feminine and often takes on typical gender rolls such as nursing, home making and mothering. There are two specific scenes Harper analyses one being the scene in which Fran sits opposite a zombie, a pane of glass separating them and the other a scene in which she succumbs to capitalist desires making herself up with expensive lipstick and mascara. The first scene, with the 'softball zombie' shows Fran's "commendable sensitivity as she sees it as both her unborn child and identifies with is an oppressed and forgotten woman. The second scene sees Fran as a "mannequin" who "applies her lipstick" and "adopts the vacant gaze of the stereotypical consumer". Whilst it would be easy to read this scene as an anti-feminist scene showing a woman steeped in capitalism, make up and stereotype that is only what is on the very basic surface. A closer reading of the scene shows that "Romero refrains from criticising Fran for her participation in the makeup ritual and focuses instead on the social pressures that work to turn intelligent women into consuming mannequins." Harper concludes this section by fairly summing Dawn up as a film in which Romero "critically examines the many possible images of femininity available to women in the 1970's"

Day of the Dead (1984) and the remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990) written by Romero and directed by make up artist guru Tom Savini. In Day, Sarah is the most active female of the series, she flips the roles of Night as she acts as "protector for her emotionally shattered partner". Haper notes that Day offers the clearest parallel between humans and zombies through Professor Logan and Captain Rhodes; "Professor Logan's objective is to 'condition and control' these unruly creatures, just as Captain Rhodes seeks to control (both professionally and sexually) the ungovernable Sarah". The main point of Day is a continuation of the theme in Dawn that Sarah is a strong and active female that "also acts in a caring stereotypically motherly fashion towards her partner". Harper's analysis of the remake of Night is interesting however I don't personally count it as one in the series. Harper sums Night up as a representation of the limitations of feminism as well as a visual parallel of the differences between women in the 60's and in the 90's.

Harper sums the whole series up as positive towards women and as feminist texts that don't just show women as active and passive. The development of women in the films is clear and the fact that Romero has managed not to fall into the pit holes of strong sexist action heroes and over sexualisation is commendable. When I personally analyse Romero's thee most recent zombie films I will keep this article in mind and see if Romero has continued to fight for feminist values.

Sunday 2 December 2012

Sons Of Kreel

Sons Of Kreel is a new indie comic by Glenn Makin and James Eskdale that premièred at thought bubble this year. I got the pleasure of meeting these two creators in person and getting this awesome commission by James
But anyway back to the comic at hand, Sons of Kreel #0! This action packed taster teases the audience with a look at the characters to be featured in the series in the future. And what a glimpse it is! The two main characters Kasimir and Morritz, a teacher and student both assassins of Kreel. We are given very little back story and the lore and myths surrounding the Kreel assassins are something we are going to have to wait to find out but what we do know is that they are outcasts and that their enemy are the clerics one of which clashes with the pair in the exciting climax of #0. It seems that there is also some sort of magic available in the world which makes it all the more interesting. The art throughout the comic is fantastic, a mixture of dynamic panelling, great pencils and movement lines make the action in the book flow really nicely not to mention the awesome splash of Bastor Vetori which is truly stunning. The comic is in grey-scale  whether that is a cost thing, a stylistic decision to reflect that it is set 10years before the main series or if its just a personal choice by Glenn and James it somehow makes the comic feel more assassiney which is good.... its a wicked choice and it well pulled off for whatever reason.

With Sons of Kreel comes a little peek at the characters to come which look awesome. I also purchased the new characters book, a collection of stories about characters within the Sons of Kreel universe. Whilst they didnt shed much light on the universe or the sons of kreel they were awesome stories that have me really excited about whats to come. The whole world feels like its been carefully considered and there is a lot of directions for the comics to go so I am looking forward to getting steeped in good myth and fantasy. I recommend this to all! Whilst there isnt much for you to purchase right now keep your eyes on these guys I expect lots of good things from them in the future. If you are into you fantasy, your dnd, your Game of Thrones the comic and character book are two things you shouldn't miss!
8./10

Find out more about sons of Kreel at these sites:
http://www.facebook.com/WorkOfGlennMakin?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/JamesEskdaleArt