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Film vs. Television: A look into what makes a compelling zombie apocalypse

5/18/2020

By Sammi Shuma

In the past 10 years, zombies have become a staple in the horror genre. Before media like The Walking Dead, average consumers did not know what a zombie was. Since then media with zombies has exploded in popularity, to where grandmas buy zombie survival guides for their grand kids. These are fleshing eating beasts, what makes stories with these creatures so compelling? Shows like The Walking Dead worked well initially, zombies were the framework of the characters’ conflicts. Now on its 10th season, The Walking Dead has grown stale. Zombies are hardly an issue and the characters are losing their spark. Eventually zombies could die out in the mists after the initial outbreak, but a zombie centered story should never go that far. Without a threat breathing down the back of the characters’ necks, there is nothing scaring the audience to keep them entertained. Because of the longevity and structuring of tv-shows, they are not the best platform for showing the zombie apocalypse. Films, on the other hand, don’t have time to let the zombie hoards settle. Viewers are thrown back and forth until the film ends. Films like Train to Busan, a 2016 Korean horror film, shows what a zombie apocalypse should be like. It has just the right mix of horror and characters, making films one of the best platforms to show a zombie outbreak. In this analysis, we’ll be looking at Train to Busan and why it works so well as a piece of zombie media, and how it compares to zombie television shows.

From this point on, there will be spoilers for Train to Busan, and minor spoilers for the Walking Dead.
What is considered scary is subjective, but it ultimately boils down to how controllable a story's situation is. A horde of zombies will instill more fear than a single zombie, because it is easy to overpower one zombie and almost impossible to overpower a horde. We are scared of situations we cannot control and that is reciprocated when we witness characters facing an uncontrollable evil. Characters are in constant danger in Train to Busan. Right from the first zombie attack, the train is apprehended in mere minutes, leaving only a fraction of the passengers. With only an unlockable sheet of glass dividing the survivors from their death, viewers have no idea what’ll happen next. There are several instances of false safety. When the train first stops and the survivors disembark, they reach the exit of the train station only to reveal that the troops stationed there are all dead. The survivors must run back into a zombie infested train in order to survive. With zombies everywhere and no safe place to go, we experience a constant state of anxiety and fear because we don’t know what is going to happen next.

The following clip contains blood and gore: viewer’s discretion is advised. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hur7k7qGV4s

The zombie outbreak in Train to Busan is completely overpowering and uncontrollable. These zombies turn quickly and are ready to kill. This is further emphasized by the sheer number of zombies shown in the film. From dozens on the train to thousands in outdoor scenes, they climb over each other, press into each with no regard for injuring themselves or others, just to eat someone. The visual of these monsters pressing against glass and contorting their mangled bodies to function is truly unbearable to watch. They are an unstoppable evil ready to kill the film’s characters at any moment.

This constant feeling of fear and lack of control cannot be managed through the span of a tv-show. Each season must experience a climax and a resolution. Where this format takes place in about 2 hours in a film, this takes about 12 hours in an average season. When a zombie story is given that much time, the zombies cannot be a constant fear. Characters in The Walking Dead hardly ever experience an uncontrollable situation. Either there are only a couple of zombies or a horde that can be overpowered by guns. They can either overpower the enemy or have an opportunity to escape. Since we can’t have all of our stories character’s die in a tv-show, the situations are written so they can either be fled from or overcome by the survivors. The fear that comes from witnessing uncontrollable situations is completely missing, thus the story simply isn’t scary.

The following clip contains blood and gore: viewer’s discretion is advised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKeJ34qjORQ

When there is a constant chaos around the characters, viewers can never know what happens next. In Train to Busan, we have inexperienced and unarmed characters who can easily die. Since there is only so much time a film has, with no expectation of the story continuing after the credits roll, the story can include as many character deaths as possible. Towards the end of the film, all of the survivors are in car 15, only a glass door between their death or their safety. Our main cast, now boiled down to 4 characters, has been placed in the baggage car (since fellow passenger’s fear of them being infected). There is implied safety, a chance to take a deep breath. But as the scene plays out, their fellow passengers are quickly eradicated. The threat is once again right in front of them. By the end of the film, our cast of 9 main characters (that are established at the hit of the outbreak) are down to 2. The characters that live (Su-an and Seong-kyeong) are also the least likely to survive (a child and a pregnant woman). The film ends in a way that was against audience expectations. The actions leading up to the end were extremely interesting and were the result of “the best we could do in the time we had.” Things turn out the way they do because characters did know what to do and did not have time to react.

When a media’s structure limits the time the story can be expressed, the tension and fear can be sustained in a meaningful and interesting way. When the story of a zombie apocalypse is limited to a 2 hour story structure, there is no time for the zombies to back off or slow down. There is also no need to keep characters alive for the sake of continuing the story. TV shows, especially The Walking Dead, have hundreds of hours to express their storyline,arcing over 10 seasons with no clear end in sight. With this long, seemingly never ending story, a scary/attention grabbing tension is just not sustainable. If you want to watch zombie media that gets your blood pumping, watch a zombie film (Train of Busan being one of the best).

Work Cited: Elliott, Matt. “How Much Time Will You Spend Binge Watching Your next TV Show?” CNET, CNET, 28 May 2014, www.cnet.com/how-to/find-out-how-much-time-youll-spend-on-your-next-binge-watch-show/.

All American Seasons 1-2 Review

5/15/2020

By Joseph Naguski

One show capturing America by storm over the duration of this quarantine is the sports Drama television series All American (April Blair, 2018). With the lack of sports being televised at the moment it leaves many enthusiasts with a hole to fill their time with. Amongst other popular sports media recently arisen such as The Michael Jordan Documentary The Last Dance (Jason Hehir, 2020), All American seems like a good way to gratify the eager sports fan. This is what I perceived from it when I was first going into it. In reality, while still containing elements of football within it, All American is much more than just a sports show. (And this may make some sports fans shy away).

All American loosely revolves around the life of Spencer Paysinger (played by Daniel Erza). It follows Spencer being recruited from his Crenshaw home by the head coach of the Beverly Hills High School coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs). Though initially turning down the request, through encouragement from his mother Grace (Karimah Westbrook) Spencer reluctantly agrees to transfer to Beverly for a chance at a better life and a promise from Billy to get him into the NFL. The story meanders through the relationships of Spencer, the Baker family, his best-friend Coop (Bre-Z), and the players on his new and old football teams. It tackles issues involving family, relationships, homosexuality, drug addiction, gang violence, racial injustice, and infidelity all on top of the overarching ambitions concerning football.

The plethora of topics covered in All American make it have much more traits of a drama than a sports series. The show is more accurately a story of relationships and overcoming adversity. Though sometimes melodramatic to a point, overall the acting of the series is pretty phenomenal and helps capture the emotions of the narrative. Specifically, Daniel Erza’s portrayal as Spencer really drives this home. Erza’s depiction of Spencer’s confident attitude coupled with his deeper sentiments towards his absent father captures perfectly a personality of one who wants the greater good for his community and to be the best football player but is hindered by the adversity which challenges them.

Spencer (Daniel Erza) with the real life Spencer Paysinger behind him in his role as an assistant coach of Beverly High

Especially prevalent in the second season, All American tackles a lot of gang-related issues as well as the racial injustices black Americans face. It shows just how hard it can be for some to escape gang-life and the hood in general. An example of this is the in-show memorial and mentioning of the real-life assassination of American rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle. Much of this is also depicted through Coop’s side story. Coop is such an interesting character in the show because of her struggles with gang activity and acceptance in society caused by her homosexuality. Matters relating to racial profiling are also prevalent and can shed light on the way some are treated because of the color of their skin.

All things considered, this series so far has a very interesting narrative captured representing portions of Spencer Paysinger’s life. While some events seem over the top, much of the show is well acted and the writers do a good job of keeping the audience at the edge of their seats most episodes. If you’re going in to watch this show because of football like I was, reconsider watching it for the relational storytelling aspects which are the dominant part of All American and it will be a much more enjoyable experience.

Dr. Sleep: How to Reference Effectively

5/11/2020

By Bill Friedell

One of the biggest points of debate in the current landscape of franchise filmmaking is over the use of callbacks to previous entries. Some see these references as fun additions while others see this as distracting and creatively bankrupt. The worst thing a film can do when using a callback is distract the story, or worse, serve as the substance of a film. In my opinion, I find that the best way to use callbacks to previous films in a franchise is when it serves the story it is telling. One of the best films to practice this idea was released last year; Mike Flanagan’s Dr. Sleep (2019), the sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic The Shining (both Dr. Sleep and The Shining are adapted from novels by Stephen King). By carefully choosing its references and having those references support the story it is telling, Dr. Sleep acts as one of the best examples of a sequel to a decades old film.

Dr. Sleep tells the story of grown up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he moves to a new town, looking to run away from himself, as he’s become an alcoholic and is still haunted by his experiences as a child. Thanks to the compassion of a local townsperson, he begins to recover from his alcoholism and begins to use his ability to shine. He uses this as a supernatural sense that allows him to see the dead and communicate with his mind) to comfort the elderly who are about to die (giving him the nickname Dr. Sleep). At the same time, a gang of vampire-like creatures who eat people’s ability to shine is discovered by Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a girl with similar shine abilities to Danny. Wanting to stop them, Abra seeks out Danny for help.

It is the restraint that took me by surprise on my viewing of this film. The plot of Dr. Sleep is fairly removed from the story of The Shining. The supernatural elements in the original films were limited to ghosts and the ability to shine. So this new threat of these “vampires” creates an antagonist that is seperate from the Overlook Hotel (the location and central threat of The Shining). And while there is a ghost from The Shining referenced at multiple points in the film (the woman from the infamous room 237), she is used to get across a thematic idea central to the story. She represents the trauma Danny went through in The Shining. The horror he saw left a mark on him that he never fully recovered from. The only way he was able to cope with the “ghosts” of the Overlook Hotel was to lock them in boxes within his mind. This reference isn’t there to simply remind you of The Shining, but is making a statement about the trauma Danny has experienced since childhood. It is used as a benchmark for how both Danny and Abra handle the hardships they face, as each must eventually face her.

Spoilers ahead.

It isn’t until the third act of the film that the Overlook Hotel becomes a part of the story. In order to confront Rose (Rebecca Fergusen), the leader of the band of vampires, they need to overwhelm her with the Overlook Hotel, as he was in The Shining. This is where a lot of referencing and homages occur. Danny and Abra’s ascent up the mountains to the Overlook Hotel is similarly shot as the opening of The Shining as the iconic main theme of The Shining plays. As Danny goes through the hotel to “wake it up”, it acts as a sort of haunted walk down memory lane, as each room is directly from The Shining. This is able to work as we had experienced the horrors that alluded to by watching The Shining, having experienced the horror of Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) breaking down the bathroom door, so when we see the crack through the door, it feels like an old memory, because it is to the audience, putting us in Danny’s shoes.

Jack (Jack Nicholson) iconically sticks his face up to the crack he made with an axe.

Danny (Ewan McGregor) looks through the crack his father made years ago.

Perhaps the most direct homage is found when Danny goes to the bar in the ballroom. Both scenes begin with each respective character talking to seemingly nobody, until the camera cuts to the bartender ghost. The difference is when “Lloyd” is revealed to the audience, it isn’t the Lloyd (Joe Turkel) from The Shining, but is revealed to be Jack Torrence (Henry Thomas), Danny’s father. The hotel torments him by reminding him of how the it devoured Jack and their shared demon of alcoholism. It isn’t a homage just for the sake of homaging a scene from The Shining. This is important for Danny’s development as he is facing his trauma head on. It is in service of Danny’s character arc as he faces the trauma of his past and what he could become (his father) if he stayed on the path he was on in the beginning of the film.

This meeting with Jack isn’t the only reunion he has; his next confrontation with his past happens when he releases all of the ghosts he kept in his head to defeat Rose. After she is killed by the ghosts of the overlook, they turn to him as the hotel overtakes Danny, making him act like his father in The Shining, axe and all. This frames Danny as becoming his father and is succumbing to his demons (or in this case, ghosts). It takes Abra to reach him, giving himself enough time to destroy the house, sacrificing himself.

The purpose of the callbacks in Dr. Sleep doesn't simply remind you of The Shining, giving you empty nostalgia. It seeks to use the original film to explore the idea of trauma through the shared experience of a character and an audience. The film uses references to inform the development of Danny Torrence and allow for a new story to be told while incorporating references where it says something about the characters and their development. It isn’t a crutch to rely on, but a tool to effectively tell its story.

A Promising Review of The Promised Neverland

5/1/2020

By Daniel Sison

In a time of isolation and quarantine, it is fairly easy to lose hope. Every day, the comfortable home starts to feel more and more redundant without a change of setting. Because of jobs downsizing, work or school moving online, and having less people to hang out with, everyone has been spending more time on the screen.

As social distancing continues, audiences may start to find that their list of movies or TV shows to watch has become smaller and smaller. For those who have depleted their watch list, The Promised Neverland (約束のネバーランド), directed by Mamoru Kanbe in 2019, is an extremely underrated animated Japanese TV show that is worth watching.

The first episode begins by introducing the main characters - Emma (Sumiere Morohoshi), Norman (Maaya Uchida), and Ray (Ise, Mariya). They live among other children in an orphanage called “Grace Field House”, with a caretaker who they call “Mama” (Yuuko Kaida). All of the kids are innocent, cute, and seem to be living happy lives in the institution.

However, some things do not seem quite right. For example, the children are not allowed to cross the fenced area outside the main house. Then, as the episode continues, one of the kids is permitted to leave the orphanage through a gate on the opposite side of the property. The caretaker, or Mama, calls it “graduating”. Why do the graduated children never send letters, even if they promise to? Why is Mama the only adult? Why are they not allowed to cross the boundary? As the mystery unfolds, Emma, Norman, and Ray find that they have to risk their lives in order to escape the home they love. Suddenly, their situation becomes a cat and mouse game. One wrong move, one small failure, is equivalent to death.

There are many themes that the anime presents that are relevant to this day. For example, the series plays a lot with despair and hope. The moment the protagonists become hopeful that their situation can improve, despair comes to shut them down. For example, the protagonists of the series realize they are being kept on the property with no visible way out. Similarly, people being quarantined may feel trapped in their own household.

The Promised Neverland is currently only twelve episodes, which differs from more popular anime, which usually contains anywhere from twenty-four to hundreds of episodes. However, because of its length, each episode of The Promised Neverland is packed with a considerable amount of quality. Longer anime series usually have episodes called “filler episodes”, which are basically episodes created for the sole purpose of taking up time. In addition, filler episodes do not usually contribute to the overall plot. The Japanese animated TV show Naruto (Hayato Date, 2002-2017), is notorious for containing around five hundred episodes, but many of which are just fillers.

From left to right: Norman, Emma, Ray. This is part of the picture of the front cover of the series.

The greatest aspect of The Promised Neverland is its storyline. Although the plot starts simple, it grows increasingly more complicated with each episode. Usually, shows like these have trouble conveying the complexity, but it pairs dialogue with scenes so masterfully that the audience is able to absorb every essential detail. Another common problem with complex storylines is consistency. Somehow, the series stays consistent throughout the entire time, and leaves little to no plot holes.

The presentation of the storyline through art and cinematography is also an important contributing factor to the series. For instance, The Promised Neverland utilizes first person, slow panning shots. There are many scenes where the camera drifts around a dark corner, creating suspense. Many psychological thrillers have used similar techniques to increase uneasiness or fear in the audience. However, this kind of technique is rare in animation since it is a lot harder to do. In real life, the camera would just move, but animated films do not have that luxury. Instead, the animators move the surroundings in a way that gives the illusion that there is a camera.

The interactions between the characters are very intricate. The plot is complex, and so are the relationships between the characters. Although Emma, Norman, and Ray grew up together and are best friends, they have very different motives and notions. For example, Ray has a dark personality, and he is the most realistic of the group. Emma’s personality is pretty much opposite to Ray’s. She is bright, hopeful, and is not afraid to chase dreams even if they seem unreachable. Naturally, although they try to get along, there are times where their ideals clash, and Norman, whose personality falls between the two extremes, has to try and reach a compromise. Ultimately, their shared goal, survival, unites them.

Emma, Ray, and other children looking out into the distance with determination.

Even the protagonists’ character design reflects their personalities. Emma is a young, lively girl with orange, messy hair, which reflects her energetic personality. Ray has long, black hair, and spends a lot of time reading and analyzing. His dark hair represents his dark personality. Norman has white hair like a lamb, reflecting his gentle and caring personality.

The main antagonist, Mama, is also an important player within the character dynamic. For the main characters, she is the single, most threatening obstacle. She is such a difficult opponent for the children because of her mental aptitude. Her strategies and observation skills are unmatched. Also, since she raised all of the children in the property, she knows all of their ins and outs. As soon as the trio started even thinking about escaping, she could already read it on their faces. Unfortunately for the protagonists, she is heavily against their decision.

The music and sounds also fit within the theme of the story. Whenever exciting events would happen, suspenseful music would play. During emotional moments in the series, the music just takes the scene to another level, and can even send chills down the audience’s spines. The opening theme song is Touch Off by Uverworld, a Japanese rock band consisting of six members.

Overall, The Promised Neverland is a great Japanese animated TV show, and deserves a watch, especially for those who are looking for content. Because of its presentation and storyline, along with well written characters, the series naturally draws the audience in. Each episode actively engages with the audience, allowing them to question every little detail. Even if it is an exhausting mental workout for some, it is still worth the watch.