Phelps 1 Fans of George A. Romero the Fandom That Revolves Around
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'The Whole Burden of Civilisation Has Fallen Upon Us'
‘The Whole Burden of Civilisation Has Fallen upon Us’. The Representation of Gender in Zombie Films, 1968-2013 Leon van Amsterdam Student number: s1141627 Leiden University MA History: Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence Thesis supervisor: Marion Pluskota 2 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4 Theory ................................................................................................................................. 6 Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 9 Material ............................................................................................................................ 13 Method ............................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 2: A history of the zombie and its cultural significance ............................................. 18 Race and gender representations in early zombie films .................................................. 18 The sci-fi zombie and Romero’s ghoulish zombie ............................................................ 22 The loss and return of social anxiety in the zombie genre .............................................. 26 Chapter 3: (Post)feminism in American politics and films ....................................................... 30 Protofeminism ................................................................................................................. -
ABSTRACT Title of Document: COMMUNICATING FEAR in FILM
ABSTRACT Title of Document: COMMUNICATING FEAR IN FILM MUSIC: A SOCIOPHOBIC ANALYSIS OF ZOMBIE FILM SOUNDTRACKS Pedro Gonzalez-Fernandez Master of Arts, 2014 Directed By: Dr. Patrick Warfield, Musicology The horror film soundtrack is a complex web of narratological, ethnographic, and semiological factors all related to the social tensions intimated by a film. This study examines four major periods in the zombie’s film career—the Voodoo zombie of the 1930s and 1940s, the invasion narratives of the late 1960s, the post-apocalyptic survivalist fantasies of the 1970s and 1980s, and the modern post-9/11 zombie—to track how certain musical sounds and styles are indexed with the content of zombie films. Two main musical threads link the individual films’ characterization of the zombie and the setting: Othering via different types of musical exoticism, and the use of sonic excess to pronounce sociophobic themes. COMMUNICATING FEAR IN FILM MUSIC: A SOCIOPHOBIC ANALYSIS OF ZOMBIE FILM SOUNDTRACKS by Pedro Gonzalez-Fernandez Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor Patrick Warfield, Chair Professor Richard King Professor John Lawrence Witzleben ©Copyright by Pedro Gonzalez-Fernandez 2014 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS II INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Introduction 1 Why Zombies? 2 Zombie Taxonomy 6 Literature Review 8 Film Music Scholarship 8 Horror Film Music Scholarship -
The Zombie in Popular Culture from "Night of the Living Dead" to "Shaun of the Dead"
Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-03-17 Ghouls, Hell and Transcendence: The Zombie in Popular Culture from "Night of the Living Dead" to "Shaun of the Dead" Jasie Stokes Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Classics Commons, and the Comparative Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Stokes, Jasie, "Ghouls, Hell and Transcendence: The Zombie in Popular Culture from "Night of the Living Dead" to "Shaun of the Dead"" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2103. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2103 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Ghouls, Hell and Transcendence: the Zombie in Popular Culture from Night of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead Jasie Stokes A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Carl Sederholm Charlotte Stanford Kerry Soper Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature Brigham Young University April 2010 Copyright © 2010 Jasie Stokes All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Ghouls, Hell and Transcendence: the Zombie in Popular Culture from Night of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead Jasie Stokes Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature Master of Arts Considering the amount of media created around the zombie and the sustained interest in its role in our society, we can clearly see that a cultural phenomenon is underway, and it is important for us to question this phenomenon in order to gain some understanding of how and why its appeal has stretched so far. -
Thematic Connections Between Western and Zombie Fiction
Hang 'Em High and Bury 'Em Deep: Thematic Connections between Western and Zombie Fiction MICHAEL NGUYEN Produced in Melissa Ringfield’s Spring 2012 ENC1102 Zombies first shambled onto the scene with the release of Night of the Living Dead, a low- budget Romero film about a group of people attempting to survive mysterious flesh-eating husks; from this archetypical work, Night ushered in an era of the zombie, which continues to expand into more mediums and works to this day. Romero's own Living Dead franchise saw a revival as recently as 2004, more than doubling its filmography by the release of 2009's Survival of the Dead. As a testament to the pervasiveness of the genre, Max Brooks' zombie preparedness satire The Zombie Survival Guide alone has spawned the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks and the spinoff novel World War Z, the latter of which has led to a film adaptation. There have been numerous articles that capitalize on the popularity of zombies in order to use them as a nuanced metaphor; for example, the graduate thesis Zombies at Work: The Undead Face of Organizational Subjectivity used the post-colonial Haitian zombie mythos as the backdrop of its sociological analysis of the workplace. However, few, if any, have attempted to define the zombie-fiction genre in terms of its own conceptual prototype: the Western. While most would prefer to interpret zombie fiction from its horror/supernatural fiction roots, I believe that by viewing zombie fiction through the analytical lens of the Western, zombie works can be more holistically described, such that a series like The Walking Dead might not only be described as a “show about zombies,” but also as a show that is distinctly American dealing with distinctly American cultural artifacts. -
Considering Blackness in George A. Romero's Night of the Living
CONSIDERING BLACKNESS IN GEORGE A. ROMERO’S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: AN HISTORICAL EXPLORATION A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In The Department of English by Jennifer Whitney Dotson B.A., Middle Tennessee State University, 2004 August 2006 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………...……iii Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………..…………..1 2 An Overview of the Twentieth Century Zombie in the West….….....12 3 Night of the Living Dead…………………………………………….39 4 Conclusion…………………………………………………...………66 Bibliography………….………………………………………………………….69 Filmography………………………….……………….……………….…………72 Vita.……………………………………………………………………..………..76 ii Abstract When George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968, the independent black and white zombie film stunned American moviegoers. Having assaulted the audience with a new level of violence-laden gore, Night of the Living Dead received much attention from both popular and critical audiences, with the former rushing to theaters to see the film over and over and the latter almost universally panning the film for its poor taste and gratuitous violence. Since its release, however, Night of the Living Dead has become one of the most written about horror films in American history, with critics praising the film for its ingenuity and reviving the zombie genre and also for its treatment of American sociopolitical issues, including the most critically noted issue— the Vietnam War. Although I agree with those critics who assert that controversy over Vietnam War is raised in Night of the Living Dead (as well as are many other sociopolitical issues which are well worth exploring), the Vietnam imagery of the film has been almost exclusively analyzed at the expense of exploring what I believe is another important aspect of Night of the Living Dead— its re-inscription of blackness in the zombie film. -
Special Effect Supply Corporation
Books Special Effect Supply Corporation “Largest Selection of Books West of Mule Creek” 164 East Center • North Salt Lake UT 84054 • Phone (801) 936-9762 www.fxsupply.com [email protected] Fax (801) 936-9763 Special Makeup Effects Books: More Books on How to Make Stuff: Special Effects and Related: Techniques of Three-Dimensional Makeup Behind the Mask by Lee Baygan Mold Making and Casting Guides: Secrets of Hollywood's Monster Makers The most complete book on makeup prosthetics available. Four book set includes: MOLDMAKING GUIDE, CASTING by Mark Salisbury and Alan Hedgcock Contents include: Making a Life Mask, The Three-Piece Mold, GUIDE, SOURCE GUIDE, BONUS GUIDE. Moldmaking Take a close look at the men and their monsters; Dick Smith, Modeling and Casting Large Pieces, Plus much more. 180 Guide is 63 pages. Casting guide is 77 pages. Source book for Stan Winston, Rick Baker, Bob Bottin, Steve Johnson. pages, paperback, color photos, 1988. ISBN: 0-8230-5261-3. 186 sources of 210 materials is 28 pages. There is also a bonus Highlights film's greatest monsters from The Exorcist t o B613 Tech. of 3-D Makeup/Baygan..............................................$29.95 guide with charts and other valuable information. 8.5x11, Jurassic Park. Sure to be a classic. 125 pages, paper, b/w and Stapled, Illus. color photos throughout, 1994. The Technique of the Professional Make-Up Artist B042 Mold Making and Casting Guides/Castcraft........................$36.00 B885 Behind the Mask/Salisbury/Hedgcock.................................$23.95 by Vincent J R Kehoe Much expanded version of Special Makeup Effects. Updated for Monster Makers Mask Maker's Handbook the next generation of make-up artists. -
Film Reviews.6
Page 75 FILM REVIEWS Black Swan (Dir. Darren Aronofsky) U SA 2010 20th Century Fox International “Done to death, I know. But not like this.” When Vincent Cassel’s leery ballet school director, Thomas Leroy, introduces his cast to the new season’s programme featuring ‘Swan Lake’, he describes how he will reinvent the classic ballet by stripping it down and making it visceral. To do this, he needs a new lead dancer, a woman capable of embodying the characters of both the innocent white swan and the seductive black swan. Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan takes us on a journey from rehearsal to the stage as a delicate young woman, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), prepares for the role and undergoes a tragic transformation. Aronofsky’s latest film doesn’t so much delve into the world of ballet as use it as a pretty setting for his psychological tale of artistic obsession. Nina’s life consists of dancing and not much else. She appears to have no interests outside ballet and lives at home with her mother (Barbara Hershey as a truly terrifying composite of stage mother and classic horror psycho mother), whose grip on her daughter is far tighter than Nina’s own grip on reality. Already unpopular with the other dancers, and with suspicion surrounding her sudden elevation to prima ballerina, the introduction of a new dancer to the company (Mila Kunis) quite literally throws Nina off balance and forces the viewer to reel with her for the rest of the film as she tries unsuccessfully to regain her footing. -
From Voodoo to Viruses: the Evolution of the Zombie in Twentieth Century Popular Culture
From Voodoo to Viruses: The Evolution of the Zombie in Twentieth Century Popular Culture By Margaret Twohy Adviser: Dr. Bernice Murphy A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master’s of Philosophy in Popular Literature Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland October 2008 2 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to explore the evolutionary path the zombie has followed in 20th Century popular culture. Additionally, this thesis will examine the defining characteristics of the zombie as they have changed through its history. Over the course of the last century and edging into the 21st Century, the zombie has grown in popularity in film, videogames, and more recently in novels. The zombie genre has become a self-inspiring force in pop culture media today. Films inspired a number of videogames, which in turn, supplied the film industry with a resurgence of inspirations and ideas. Combined, these media have brought the zombie to a position of greater prominence in popular literature. Additionally, within the growing zombie culture today there is an over-arcing viral theme associated with the zombie. In many films, games, and novels there is a viral cause for a zombie outbreak. Meanwhile, the growing popularity of zombies and its widening reach throughout popular culture makes the genre somewhat viral-like as well. Filmmakers, authors and game designers are all gathering ideas from one another causing the some amount of self- cannibalisation within the genre. 3 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Chapter One 7 Evolution of the Dead Chapter Two 21 Contaminants, Viruses, and Possessions—Oh my! Chapter Three 34 Dawn of the (Digital) Dead Chapter Four 45 Rise of the Literary Zombie Conclusion 58 Bibliography 61 4 Introduction There are perhaps few, if any fictional monsters that can rival the versatility of the humble zombie (or zombi)1. -
1 April 2012 DEAD by DAWN 29 March - 1 April 2012 All Screenings in Cinema One
29 March - 1 April 2012 DEAD BY DAWN 29 March - 1 April 2012 All screenings in Cinema One Thursday THE FIELDS 2330 – 0115 Friday RED TEARS 1200 – 1335 What You Make It short film programme 1415 – 1515 THE OMEN 1600 – 1800 Long Shorts short film programme 1900 – 2035 BELOW ZERO + Q&A with Signe Olynyk and Bob Schultz 2115 – 2315 THE PUPPET MONSTER MASSACRE 0015 – 0130 Saturday DELIVERANCE 1245 – 1445 Cutting Edge short film programme 1530 – 1715 NIGHTMARE FACTORY 1815 – 1950 LOBOS DE ARGA + Q&A with Juan Martinez Moreno 2045 – 2250 Late Night Triple Bill Bear + JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS 0000 – 0155 Infernal Nuns + DEMONS 0230 – 0405 MACABRE 0425 – 0600 Sunday CREEPSHOW 1345 – 1550 2D & Deranged short animation programme 1630 – 1740 RED NIGHTS 1830 – 2015 HAUNTERS 2100 – 2245 Freebies, Blethering, Shit Film Amnesty 2330 – 2350 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS 2350 – 0140 Some times may be subject to slight change. Welcome to Dead by Dawn! It’s sound advice to be more afraid of the living than the dead. Sure, the dead can kill you, but at least they’re easy to spot. In this year’s programme too many of the monsters will smile when they meet you, and will still be smiling when they lock you in a meat freezer. Or encourage you onto a ledge. Or offer to share their martini. You could try politely declining their kind offer, see how that works out... Dead by Dawn is a discovery festival which exists to showcase potential and vibrant emerging talent, but also aims to screen the widest possible range of what can be described as horror both in feature and short form. -
"Those Things" and "You People" : Issues Of
d “THOSE THINGS” AND “YOU PEOPLE” Issues of Racism in Zombie Cinema Kyle Allkins Judith Halberstam claims that “it would be very difficult in a horror film to show and punish racism simultaneously,” but this essay contends that zombie films show racism through their representation of African American characters and the ways zombies function as racial “others” who exemplify the nonnormative and inhuman (Skin Shows 4). Zombie films also link the colonized racial “other” to the colonized white female in interesting ways. The extermination of zombies in cinema represents racism, racial profiling, racial violence, and racial selfhatred and links racism with sexism. At times, zombie cin ema may also punish the culturally normative “we or us” for seeking violence against the racialized or feminized “them.” Cinematic zombies evoke fear in part because zombies can be anyone. Spouse, sibling, coworker, friend, priest, cop, Mayor, President, girl next door—anyone in a zombie film can be altered and “turned” in no time at all. Those that haven’t been turned are slowly being outnumbered, becoming the mi nority, becoming nonnormative themselves. Audiences have eagerly consumed films about zombies since their first appear ance in White Zombie, a 1932 horror film starring Bela Legosi. 112 Subsequent zombie films such as Jacques Tourneur’s 1943 I Walked with A Zombie, George A. Romero’s 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead, and even Wes Craven’s 1988 The Serpent and the Rainbow, continued to shape the genre by adding unique elements. The website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_zombie_films lists the dozens of zombie films made in America and abroad over the last eight decades and attests to the genre’s continuing popularity. -
Taylor Doctoralthesis Complete
21st Century Zombies: New Media, Cinema, and Performance By Joanne Marie Taylor A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Studies and the Designated Emphasis in Film Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Peter Glazer, Chair Professor Brandi Wilkins Catanese Professor Kristen Whissel Fall 2011 21st Century Zombies: New Media, Cinema, and Performance © 2011 by Joanne Marie Taylor Abstract 21st Century Zombies: New Media, Cinema, and Performance by Joanne Marie Taylor Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Studies and a Designated Emphasis in Film Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Peter Glazer, Chair This project began with a desire to define and articulate what I have termed cinematic performance, which itself emerged from an examination of how liveness, as a privileged performance studies concept, functions in the 21st century. Given the relative youth of the discipline, performance studies has remained steadfast in delimiting its objects as those that are live—shared air performance—and not bound by textuality; only recently has the discipline considered the mediated, but still solely within the circumscription of shared air performance. The cinema, as cultural object, permeates our lives—it is pervasive and ubiquitous—it sets the bar for quality acting, and shapes our expectations and ideologies. The cinema, and the cinematic text, is a complex performance whose individual components combine to produce a sum greater than the total of its parts. The cinema itself is a performance—not just the acting—participating in a cultural dialogue, continually reshaping and challenging notions of liveness, made more urgent with the ever-increasing use of digital technologies that seem to further segregate what is generally considered real performance from the final, constructed cinematic text. -
Introduction
INTRODUCTION Having picked this book off the shelf, you’re probably asking yourself, “How could there be a neuroscience of zombies?” While yes, zombies do have brains (you have to destroy their brains in order “kill” them, or so the myth goes), we would be hard pressed to make a case that “zombie neuroscience” qualifies as its own field of study. Neuroscience— the study of the brain, particularly its relationship to behavior and cognition—already has its fair share of perhaps silly and fantastical “specialty” subfields; why add to the list? Well, did you know that we neuroscientists have the answer to every thing? Regular readers of the Opinion page of the New York Times or other popular media outlets will already know that neuroscience can explain why you are in love with your iPhone, why lying to your kids about Santa is a neurologically sound form of parenting, and why inducing a coma leads to proof of heaven. You see, by filtering all of human existence through our very muddy lens we can answer all of life’s questions. By our estimates, an fMRI study explaining the meaning of life should be coming out by sometime early 2015 (hint: it involves 42 brain regions). We hate to break it to our colleagues in the fields of philosophy, religion, and physics, but thanks to a few fancy brain imaging machines and a couple of decades of pretty hard think- ing about stuff, we neuroscientists now can understand every- thing, so they’ll probably need to seek employment elsewhere. If neuroscience is the panacea and explanation for everything else, why not the zombie apocalypse? There’s a market for that, right? Verstynen.indb 1 7/24/2014 8:15:00 AM 2 | Introduction Let’s return to the book you are holding in your hands.