Dawn of the Dead (1979) Image Analysis

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (DOTD) (1979) the audience see that Stephan (Flyboy) challenges his original stereotype of the male hero. Stephan is represented as a good looking television reported that can fly a plane. The audience find out in this scene that he cannot use a gun correctly, and nearly shoots Peter. Stephan’s gun is a representation of his masculinity, which is pretty much non-existent in this scene. A medium shot is used in this scene so that the audience concentrate on Stephan’s facial expressions, and Rogers’s ability to shoot perfectly; this could also be considered as an expressionist angle because it shows how Stephan is confused and shocked, whereas Roger is calm and relies on his own ability in order to save Peter from getting attacked. Thomas Schatz’s “Genre Theory” is relevant in this scene, as well as many others, DOTD (1979) is represented as a horror/action, the guns are a signification of an action film, as well as the slow to quick montages that are used in this scene, as well as lots of others.