Shaun of the Dead- Narrative structure and genres
The movie is a mixture of two genres that slowly follow up and cover each other. Firstly the movie seems like a rom com about classic relationship issues but as time goes by it slowly leaks into zombie horror which is a big shift however it's perfectly managed and timed so it makes a great combination of rom com zom horror movie where the characters have to face more than just one problem at once.
As I said, the beginning of the movie opens up with rom com genre features as the opening scene contains our protagonist being in an english pub- Winchester with his girlfriend Liz having a talk about their relationship. We are put into a situation where they have a problem and in basic words Liz wants Shaun to grow up for her as she suggests spending more time alone together, without Shaun's friend Ed and Liz's friends Davs with Diane. Shaun is shown as the one who is immature by his performance, opposite of Liz, as his face is almost entire time of the scene just blank and he looks lost, also when Liz uses the word "exacerbate" he doesn't understand her. Later in the movie Shaun uses it while talking to Ed, presenting of his growing up. This problem is not the only one Shaun has to solve but also relationship with his stepfather. The mise-en-scene when the framing shows Liz and Shaun opposite each other and Ed in the middle of them represents the barrier between their relationship. Their character personalities add to the romance genre the comedy tone and so creates rom com overall.
Later on it starts to begin to have some elements leading to changing the movie into zombie apocalypse type of movie even tho the rom com continues. For example even before we start to see any suspicious events happening, we hear non-diegetic sound references to zombie horror movie. The first time we notice the disruption of rom com by zombie genre is when Shaun is in flower shop and sees a man in the park through the window acting weird but before anything happens he disappears, before we also see newspapers in the intro shop with information about the disease and in news, however the audience doesn't really pay attention to this. Even Shaun himself doesn't notice anything as he's so consumed about to fix his relationship and in the mean time drastic things around him are happening. This can be seen when there is a mirror scene of the first time Shaun goes into the shop, it's a long scene with camera following the character and changing the angles on him. He basically does the same things as before however the surrounding changed- around him are walking zombies- and he still doesn't realise yet as he doesn't pay attention about surround world, even when he opens a fridge with blood on it. When he comes back home he switches the TV to find some good program and as he does so the words perfectly fit into sentences about what's actually going on, he sometimes encounters with TV news talking about it but always switches it to something else so he's still not familiar with the situation.
While the zombie genre continues, Shaun tries to fix the disruption within his relationship with Liz however the narrative of a zombie horror is the thing that helps to create a new equilibrium of the narrative after realising and fixing the disruption of the original equilibrium. In the Shaun of the Dead it's also shown when Shaun grows up for Liz and they fix their relationship as their characters develop, Shaun's domestic interior changes from how it was at the beginning with living with Ed. Now here appears the female part as well as it's tidy, we see some pink pillows and it looks just more better than before, there are still some his elements such as that the furniture is still at the same place as it was before. This both genres helped the new equilibrium to be created and zombies made a big part also in friendships and resolute some things between the characters.
The movie is a mixture of two genres that slowly follow up and cover each other. Firstly the movie seems like a rom com about classic relationship issues but as time goes by it slowly leaks into zombie horror which is a big shift however it's perfectly managed and timed so it makes a great combination of rom com zom horror movie where the characters have to face more than just one problem at once.
As I said, the beginning of the movie opens up with rom com genre features as the opening scene contains our protagonist being in an english pub- Winchester with his girlfriend Liz having a talk about their relationship. We are put into a situation where they have a problem and in basic words Liz wants Shaun to grow up for her as she suggests spending more time alone together, without Shaun's friend Ed and Liz's friends Davs with Diane. Shaun is shown as the one who is immature by his performance, opposite of Liz, as his face is almost entire time of the scene just blank and he looks lost, also when Liz uses the word "exacerbate" he doesn't understand her. Later in the movie Shaun uses it while talking to Ed, presenting of his growing up. This problem is not the only one Shaun has to solve but also relationship with his stepfather. The mise-en-scene when the framing shows Liz and Shaun opposite each other and Ed in the middle of them represents the barrier between their relationship. Their character personalities add to the romance genre the comedy tone and so creates rom com overall.
Later on it starts to begin to have some elements leading to changing the movie into zombie apocalypse type of movie even tho the rom com continues. For example even before we start to see any suspicious events happening, we hear non-diegetic sound references to zombie horror movie. The first time we notice the disruption of rom com by zombie genre is when Shaun is in flower shop and sees a man in the park through the window acting weird but before anything happens he disappears, before we also see newspapers in the intro shop with information about the disease and in news, however the audience doesn't really pay attention to this. Even Shaun himself doesn't notice anything as he's so consumed about to fix his relationship and in the mean time drastic things around him are happening. This can be seen when there is a mirror scene of the first time Shaun goes into the shop, it's a long scene with camera following the character and changing the angles on him. He basically does the same things as before however the surrounding changed- around him are walking zombies- and he still doesn't realise yet as he doesn't pay attention about surround world, even when he opens a fridge with blood on it. When he comes back home he switches the TV to find some good program and as he does so the words perfectly fit into sentences about what's actually going on, he sometimes encounters with TV news talking about it but always switches it to something else so he's still not familiar with the situation.
While the zombie genre continues, Shaun tries to fix the disruption within his relationship with Liz however the narrative of a zombie horror is the thing that helps to create a new equilibrium of the narrative after realising and fixing the disruption of the original equilibrium. In the Shaun of the Dead it's also shown when Shaun grows up for Liz and they fix their relationship as their characters develop, Shaun's domestic interior changes from how it was at the beginning with living with Ed. Now here appears the female part as well as it's tidy, we see some pink pillows and it looks just more better than before, there are still some his elements such as that the furniture is still at the same place as it was before. This both genres helped the new equilibrium to be created and zombies made a big part also in friendships and resolute some things between the characters.
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