The Crazies (Breck Eisner, 2010)

1.Does The Crazies follow the Classic Hollywood Narrative? Why or why not?The start of the film actually shows a fast forward to later in the film where the town of Ogden Marsh is on fire, showing that there isn’t normally from the very start of the film, rather later in. It also shows a satellite view of the town on a few occasions listing certain protocols that the military will conduct during the film, further breaking the classical Hollywood. Not to mention the film is of the horror genre, meaning that the narrative won’t return back to normal as a tremendous amount of damage is done, wiping away any trace of normality for future events.

2.How many of Propp’s character types can be identified in the film?There are five of Propp’s character types, as follows:The Hero – Sherriff DuttenThe False Hero – Deputy RusselThe Villain/s – The crazies and/or the MilitaryThe Helper – Judy and in some instances Deputy RusselThe Princess – Judy

3.List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.Good and evil – The humans against the military both of whom are against crazies.Humans and mutants – Normal humans and the mutated, insane crazies.Powerful and powerless – The military are powerful and the humans are powerless.Innocence and corruption – Innocent residents of

Ogden Marsh and the outbreak. The known and unknown – The residents of Ogden Marsh and not knowing what’s going on with the military (e.g. mass hysteria at the school quarantine).

4.Identify the three ‘durations’ and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.

The screen duration (what the audience sees) is 92 minutes in duration.

The plot duration would be around 4 days given what we’re shown.

The story duration could be months or even years, based on research of the bio weapon, military planning for quarantines, protocol and other events.

5.Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’.One example would be Judy’s pregnancy, as it causes her fever which in turns separates her from Sherriff Dutten which in turn causes him and Deputy Russell to free her which in turns saves them from the massacre at the truck

stop. Another example would be the plane crash contaminating the water which could’ve also happened before the film ‘starts’ as we see Rory is infected and shot close to the beginning of the film, meaning that the plane crash that led to the water contamination must be before this point early on in the film.

6.List two events from the 92-minute film that happen in a different time and space to the one we are shown.A simple example of this would be Judy’s blood test. She says that her blood was tested but we never see it done when she’s in the school quarantine. Another example would be the ‘extermination’ of the so called ‘safe’ residents of Ogden Marsh in the back of the trucks they’re transported in. We only see them as Judy discovers them,

meaning that it happened outside the screen time and place.