Dawn of the Dead (1979) image analysis 1

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979), the zombies are inside the shopping mall. This emphasises the fact that George A. Romero is an ‘auteur’ and this film seems like his attack on consumerism. The rise in shopping malls started in the 70’s so this scene fits into the context of its time, Janet Staiger notes in Interpreting Films (1992) that certain things are more shocking in eras close to the events in a film. In this case the fact that zombies are inside the mall will cause some viewers to question their own consumerist obsessions. This scene emphasises how far the diagesis is outside of the cultural dominant ideologies (CDI) of the viewers which shocks them. Low-key lighting is used to create a dark and gloomy atmosphere which produces negative vibes and connotes death. The slow montage of shots and slow moving zombies adds to the miserable effect, a high expressionist angle is used in this shot to show how many zombies there are, the zombies look small and weak from this angle and in other parts of the movie which in a way makes the audience feel sorry for them.