Dawn of the Dead (1978) image analysis - 3

The scene from Dawn of The Dead (1978) demonstrates features of Stephen’s character to the audience as he’s left to fend for himself when being followed by a zombie. As he has a pregnant wife, we expect Stephen to assume the role of a Male Hero and protect Fran; however, his character is very powerless as Stephen can’t properly use a gun and fend for himself, let alone others. In this scene, the cinematography is quite important as the close ups, handheld camera and point of view shots all contribute to conveying an eerie, peculiar feeling to the audience. This is a prime example of how powerful generic conventions can be to a film generating an emotional response, a fact acknowledged by Thomas Schatz in his book Hollywood Genres. For example, when Stephen first realises he’s been joined by a zombie, we’re shown some close ups that emphasize his scared, fearful emotions to the audience. The point of view shots also allows the audience to see through both the zombie’s and Stephen’s eyes which adds to our feeling we are also in the scene; this is combined with the handheld camera to emphasize the feeling of disorientation and uncertainty further. Not only has this, but the low key lighting also added a more ominous, dark impression that makes the audience more on edge.

This scene also adds to the underlying theme of loneliness and being trapped as Stephen is alone in the large, noisy boiler room. This symbolises the idea that even their source of safety (the mall) isn’t entirely safe which makes the audience constantly question what may happen next. Again, Romero is incorporating his auteur style into the film by making the white character a victim which goes against typical character stereotypes and media conventions.  This is a strong element of Romero’s films that allow the audience to identify his views and values; Andrew Sarris’ “Auter Theory” relates to this due to the fact that audiences would enjoy going to see Romero’s films purely because they enjoy how he merges the conventional style of horror with his own beliefs.