Levi-strauss: His theory is on binary oppositions.
Sane/Insane - The Sane people within the text are the uninfected, where as the insane, are those who have become infected and dubbed 'The Crazies'.
Male/Female - Our two protagonists here show the conventional male and female roles, David is being the strong male role model, and Judie is being the stereotypical woman in horror that doesn't normally survive, she needs caring for and looking after each step of the way.
Known/Unknown - The known obviously being everyday life for these people, living in a small rural town where everybody knows everyone, and there isn't a single thing in town that gets past anyone, and then the unknown being this mysterious cargo plane, that seems to appear at the same time as the infection.
Normality/Chaos - This is important within the film, as at the beginning we see a disruption in which the town is in flames, but then it returns to the equilibrium where everything is fine, these two slowly transcend into one another.
Infected/Uninfected - One of the biggest binary oppositions in the film, showing the distinction between those who are fine and those who need a bullet in their head.
Light/Dark - The most common in horror films, the technique being used, when everything is light, everything is fine, but when it becomes darker, we know that something is not right.
Vladimir Propp:
Villain: The U.S Army are the villain in this movie (not often you'll see an american movie do that!), as they are the ones who release this bio-weapon into the town. although it was not purposeful, it was their doing.
The Hero: David our protagonist is the hero, as he rescues his wife and several others and escapes from the quarantine. He is also one of the only ones alive at the end of the film.
Donor/Helper: Deputy Russell Clark qualifies as both the Donor and Helper. He is the donor because he gives his life so that David and Judie can continue theirs. And he qualifies as the helper because he saves David’s life on three separate occasions.
The Princess/Father: Judie, David'd wife, qualifies as the princess because she is married to David and he is trying to save her and create a new life. She also qualifies for the role of the father as she attempts to protect ad save Rebecca throughout
The Dispatcher: Rory seems to fit this role as he is the first person within the town to become infected.
The False Hero: The Mayor is the false hero as he refuses to turn off the water for the town and by doing so he allows the virus to spread throughout the town.
Tvetan Todorov:
Todorov's theory states that the movie should start with an equilibrium, I believe in this movie it does, we see an equilibrium of the town in flames, and destroyed, you may not think this is an equilibrium at first, but it is the 'new equilibrium from the US Army's point of view, the narrative then soon after returns us to the original equilibrium. There is no real resolve of equilibrium from the protagonists point of view, but that is not who you have to look at this theory from.
Bordwell & Thompson
We do not see all of the events unfold on screen, we only see a portion of them, for us, we start at a baseball game, in which a supposedly drunk man, stumbles onto the field with shotgun in hand, we later learn about the crashed plane with the bio-chemicals on board which is the apparent cause of this behaviour, this leads to the other events unfolding; people become infected, they then become crazy, the crazy people begin to kill the normal people, the crazy people get destroyed by a nuclear blast, survivors/carriers continue into closest city for help, infection starts again.
Sane/Insane - The Sane people within the text are the uninfected, where as the insane, are those who have become infected and dubbed 'The Crazies'.
Male/Female - Our two protagonists here show the conventional male and female roles, David is being the strong male role model, and Judie is being the stereotypical woman in horror that doesn't normally survive, she needs caring for and looking after each step of the way.
Known/Unknown - The known obviously being everyday life for these people, living in a small rural town where everybody knows everyone, and there isn't a single thing in town that gets past anyone, and then the unknown being this mysterious cargo plane, that seems to appear at the same time as the infection.
Normality/Chaos - This is important within the film, as at the beginning we see a disruption in which the town is in flames, but then it returns to the equilibrium where everything is fine, these two slowly transcend into one another.
Infected/Uninfected - One of the biggest binary oppositions in the film, showing the distinction between those who are fine and those who need a bullet in their head.
Light/Dark - The most common in horror films, the technique being used, when everything is light, everything is fine, but when it becomes darker, we know that something is not right.
Vladimir Propp:
Villain: The U.S Army are the villain in this movie (not often you'll see an american movie do that!), as they are the ones who release this bio-weapon into the town. although it was not purposeful, it was their doing.
The Hero: David our protagonist is the hero, as he rescues his wife and several others and escapes from the quarantine. He is also one of the only ones alive at the end of the film.
Donor/Helper: Deputy Russell Clark qualifies as both the Donor and Helper. He is the donor because he gives his life so that David and Judie can continue theirs. And he qualifies as the helper because he saves David’s life on three separate occasions.
The Princess/Father: Judie, David'd wife, qualifies as the princess because she is married to David and he is trying to save her and create a new life. She also qualifies for the role of the father as she attempts to protect ad save Rebecca throughout
The Dispatcher: Rory seems to fit this role as he is the first person within the town to become infected.
The False Hero: The Mayor is the false hero as he refuses to turn off the water for the town and by doing so he allows the virus to spread throughout the town.
Tvetan Todorov:
Todorov's theory states that the movie should start with an equilibrium, I believe in this movie it does, we see an equilibrium of the town in flames, and destroyed, you may not think this is an equilibrium at first, but it is the 'new equilibrium from the US Army's point of view, the narrative then soon after returns us to the original equilibrium. There is no real resolve of equilibrium from the protagonists point of view, but that is not who you have to look at this theory from.
Bordwell & Thompson
We do not see all of the events unfold on screen, we only see a portion of them, for us, we start at a baseball game, in which a supposedly drunk man, stumbles onto the field with shotgun in hand, we later learn about the crashed plane with the bio-chemicals on board which is the apparent cause of this behaviour, this leads to the other events unfolding; people become infected, they then become crazy, the crazy people begin to kill the normal people, the crazy people get destroyed by a nuclear blast, survivors/carriers continue into closest city for help, infection starts again.
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