Post-Apocalyptic Films(Genre)

Aspects I am going to cover:1.Narrative conventions of post apocalyptic films2.Character conventions of post apocalyptic films

3.Typical settings in post apocalyptic films

Post apocalyptic film timeline: http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/post-apocalyptic

By Henry Vichi

Narrative conventions of post apocalyptic filmsNarrative conventions of post apocalyptic filmsTypical narrative themes •Commonly take place in the after-effects of a disaster •Several themes relate to real-time fears in society – some examples would include: technology, medical advances, Cold War, economic crashes and environmental change.•Typical narratives: usually take place in the after effects of a terrible disaster

•Natural disasters – Earthquakes, tornados etc. Example: 2012 (Roland Emmerich, 2009)

•War – example: Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

•Plague (virus, illness) example: 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

•Alien invasion – example: Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)

•Nuclear holocaust (virus) example: The Day After (Nicholas Meyer, 1983)

•Many Post-Apocalyptic narratives tend to be based around the involvement of humanity possibly coming to an end. In post-apocalyptic films mankind itself is on the balance between life and death so the post-apocalyptic action is based around urgency and importance.

• ‘When the modern world lies broken and fragmented, the remaining vestiges struggle for their very survival’ – (Post-Apocalyptic Film & The Postmodern Apocalypse by Dr. Eric Dodson) – an example for this would be the film The Road (directed by John Hillcoat, 2009) as it is about a father and his son trying to survive in America which was destroyed by a disaster in the past.

• Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher who is now living in France; he had a theory that follows three steps:

• 1. The environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be) • 2. It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium) • 3. New equilibrium is created at the end of the narrative.

• There are 5 main stages the narrative can progress through (I am using the film The Day After Tomorrow directed by Roland Emmerich as an example)

• 1. A state of equilibrium: The father (Jack hall) is at work and his son is on a college trip.

• 2. A disruption of that order by an event: Jack Hall is a Paleoclimatologist and he discovers that a huge ice sheet has been sheared off.

• 3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred: after a series of weather related disasters everybody soon realizes that the world is going to enter a new ice age.

• 4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption: Jack makes an attempt to rescue his son and his friends who are stuck in New York.

• 5. A return of restoration of a new equilibrium: Jack finds his son Sam and they both survive the disruption. They get flown to Mexico in a helicopter.

Character conventions of post apocalyptic filmsCharacter conventions of post apocalyptic films• Characters within Post-Apocalyptic films have different strengths and weaknesses and then when they form together as a

group they ‘can really do the best work’ – quote from Shane Acker’s article. An example would be the groups/tribes in the film Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) as they seek to profit from violent disorder, the more they have in a group the better chance they have of surviving.

• Post-Apocalyptic films usually feature a heroic male protagonist moving in a world of violent action.

• A ‘Post-Modern Cowboy’ is a common character in post apocalyptic films, an example would be from the film I Am Legend (Francis Lawrence, 2007) as he is a loner and pushed into action.

• The heroic male protagonist usually has a ridiculous ability of some sort which no other character can perform. ‘Heroes are resourceful..building high-tech devices out of whatever crap they find lying around’ – quote from – Greatest MacGyver’s of science fiction article.

• A lone male hero-figure, ‘he moves capably and admirably in a brutal, unforgiving world fraught with sudden violence’ . – Quote from Post-Apocalyptic Film & The Postmodern Apocalypse by Dr. Eric Dodson

An example would be Arnold Schwarzenegger from the film Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)

Typical settings in post apocalyptic films

As most post apocalyptic films involve humanity almost coming to an end and also usually taking place after a horrific event the main settings will include abandoned places which feature nothing much at all. Popular aspects of abandoned areas would be rubbish, dumped vehicles, derelict buildings etc.

Examples of typical settings:

A dystopian world where there are large areas of abandoned roads and fields - The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009) an example would be when the father and his son are walking through the streets.

Derelict buildings - 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002) an example would be when Cillian Murphy who is the actor of the main character is walking through the streets of London.

4. History

Social realism in film is a style which represents the world of realism. The stories and people shown are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist standard are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily routine. An example of an urban drama film would be Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004) which is a true life story.

Genre Themes Genre Themes

• Social realism is known to be the typical British genre out of all the film genres.

• When social realism films were first being produced the producers/directors had a tendency to base their film around what's happening at the time the film was made, nowadays producers are making social realism films which are not based around what is occurring now but what the audience would be most attracted to.

Narratives • The narrative conventions provide a realistic mood that allows the

audience to relate to the narrative. The main focus for social realist films is to present the audience with an overview of particular social groups which shows the realistic events faced in society.

• Social realism covers a range of social issues such as domestic violence, incest, alcoholism, gay relationships, drug abuse and gang violence have all been explored. An example for this would be in the film Kidulthood ( Menhaj Huda, 2006) as there is use of drugs and gang violence .

• Social realism films usually contain large casts and mixed narratives with the narrative split across a range of diverse characters, events and situations.

Characters

The age is an important aspect of social realism films, most films use young teenagers and young adults from 13-20, two examples who are the main characters would be Thomas Turgoose from This is England (Shane Meadows, 2006) and Katie Jarvis from Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009).

Because the more modern social realism films are using young actors the films would appeal to a younger audience. An example would be the film Kidulthood ( Menhaj Huda, 2006) attracting teenagers around 15-19 as the culture expressed

in the film appeals to the modern youth. All the main characters in Kidulthood are also young actors.

History of social realism • After WW1 many people thought that the source to cinema was realism.

• One of the first British films to highlight realism's value was the 1902 film directed by James Williamson called A Reservist Before and After the War which memorialized a Boer War serviceman coming back home to unemployment.

• When it got to the 1930’s states started to sponsor documentary filmmaking, this got the British interested in realism because genuine things were the things that got funding to produce it, when finding funding from else where it meant that projects were restricted and often precarious.

• The 1940’s was the time documentaries were moved up to the mainstream and British cinema became a rousing appeal to a mass audience.

• Social Realism in British films came to its highest peak during the 1960s when what people used to call the British New Wave emerged. The new wave directors such as Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson had made a number of documentaries before moving on to feature films.

• The United States was one of the last countries to take on this form of style in cinema. A man called Kine Weekly who was a trade newspaper (The Kinematograph Weekly) for the British film industry between 1889 and 1971 said ‘Americans have shown

they want pictures reflecting the simple emotions. We are trying to crash into their market by offering them gloom-sadism-and-soft-focus. We must aim at the box office and not the art gallery. It is no good aiming over their heads. It will not help us earn dollars’. Quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_realism. Kine thought that films should aim for the box office because that’s where the money is, not making films for the stylistic and creative point of view.

Lindsay Anderson Karel Reisz Tony Richardson