THE CRAZIES (2010)

Directed by Breck Eisner

Does The Crazies follow the ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’?The ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’ structure was created by Todorov. This is when a film starts with an equilibrium, meaning that everything is normal, which is then disrupted causing disequilibrium. At this point, a chain of events must take place to resolve the problem, resulting in a new equilibrium. The Crazies does not follow the ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’ because it does not start with an equilibrium. The opening scene of the film shows the town of Ogden Marsh is on fire and therefore we already know that something is wrong as this is not a normal site. But it also doesn’t follow this structure because it is a horror film and so there is no new equilibrium at the end because we know that same events are going to take place all over again when we realise that the military are about to invade the town that Judy and David are heading towards. This is very conventional for horror films as there is very rarely a happy ending to these films and usually end with a cliff hanger, which made lead to a sequel.

Opening Scene, The Crazies 2010

How many of Propp’s character types can be identified in the film?Propp was a Russian critic who examined 100s of folk tales to see if they shared any structures and as a result identified 8 character roles. From the film The Crazies, have identifies 5 of the 8 character types, these are:■ The Hero (our main protagonist and victor) is David as he is the lead character who helps him

and Judy escape from the military and survive the execution. ■ The Villain (also known as the ‘baddie’) would be the government and the military. The

government created the biological weapon which contaminated the water and spread the virus. The military are also villain's as they are executing everyone in the town.

■ The False Hero (the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping them) would be the military. At first it appears as if the military is helping the town by separating the sick from the healthy. However, later on in the film, we find out the military have executed everyone, including the people that didn’t have the virus.

■ The Helper (who aids the Hero) is Russell and Judy. When David and Russell find each other at the station, Russell helps David to find Judy and helps them escape from the military. When we later find out that Russell has the virus, he lets the military kill him to cause a distraction for Judy and David to get away. Judy is also a helper as she assists David throughout the film when they are in danger. If Judy wasn’t there it is highly possible that David would not have survived.

■ The Princess (the reward for the Hero) is Judy as David would not have escaped the military if Judy hadn’t of been taken from him. The film focuses on David wanting to keep Judy safe and get them both away from the town and the military.

Propp’s Character Types

Judy, the Helper and the Princess

David, the Hero

The Military, the Villain and the False

Helper

Russell, the Helper

5 examples of Binary Opposition.Levi-Strauss looked at a narrative structure in terms of Binary Oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts.1. Humans/Nonhumans: Everyone who was infected by the virus turned into the Crazies,

who wanted to kill everyone they saw. David and Judy were the humans along with the military. This a Binary Opposition as the humans were having to fight the nonhumans.

2. Innocence/Corruption: The military were the corruption in the film as the innocent people thought they were going to help them. However, we later find out that the military killed everyone, rather than just those who were infected with the virus. All the other characters showed innocence as they didn’t know what was going on and they hadn’t done anything wrong knowingly.

3. Normal/Strange: At the beginning of the film, the opening scene shows a street on fire which we as an audience, we would perceive to be strange as it is not something we see in our day to day lives. Although, after that scene we are shown picturesque shots of the town and the locals going about their daily routines. This gives us the sense that everything is normal was some kind of mystery lurking in the background.

4. Known/Unknown: Throughout the film we are faced with numerous questions like, why are people acting strange and why isn’t the military answering any of the questions. David and Judy seek to find out the truth that the military is hiding from them, which they later find out is a virus infecting the population. However, they are not told that the military are also executing the people that don’t have the virus. So even when the audience believe they know the answers, there is another twist in the storyline.

5. Safety/Danger: The whole film revolves around David and Judy trying to get to safety and away from the military who is trying to kill them. Throughout the film David and Judy go to various places, like their own house, which they believe to be a safe place until they are attacked by Crazies. They also hide in a car wash for safety from the military but again they are attacked. In the end, David and Judy believe they have found a safe place in the next town ‘Cedar Rapids’ but as an audience we are aware that they are actually heading towards danger as the military are about to invade that town next.

Identify the 3 durations within the film.There are three durations found within every film, these are: Screen duration, Plot duration and Story Duration. Screen Duration: This is the time it takes to show the film, so with regards to The Crazies, the screen duration is 92 minutes or 1 hour and 32 minutes in total.Plot Duration: This is the length of time the plot covers within the film. From the film we are able to work out the story covers about 4 days of David and Judy’s life. Story Duration: This is the length of time the story covers including all the inferred events we are aware took place before hand. So reading this film, we know that the government must have planned and created the biological weapon way before the plane crashed. Taking that into consideration the Story Duration must at least be about 1 year if not longer.

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’. 1. The most important event that takes place before

the film starts is the Plane Crash. The plane that crashed had a biological weapon that was part of a government operation. This weapon released a virus into the water which was then drunk by the local town and caused the people to act oddly, which is the main storyline within the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztYt7FfpJI8

2. Judy’s pregnancy started before the film but plays a significant in the story. Due to her pregnancy, when the military tested her temperature she had a fever, causing her to separated from David. This then forces David to escape from the military and go back for her, which we later learn saved his life as the military executed everyone he was with.

List two events from the 92 minute film that happen in a different time and space to the one we are shown. 1. One of the events that take place is the military killing everyone at

the gas station. The only reason we know this happens is because Judy finds the bullets on the floor and we are shown the empty buses that used to have all of the healthy people in. From here we can make the assumption that the military executed everyone.

2. Another event that takes place is Judy getting her blood tested at the hospital when she is separated from David. We find this out later on in the film when she tells David what they did to her but we do not see them directly test her blood.