Dawn of the Dead - 1979 Film Scene Analysis

The first scene that I'll be analyzing from the original 1979 version of Dawn of the Dead, is the famous mall scene, part of a larger montage of clips. In the sequence, Flyboy aka Stephen and Peter are seen to be enjoying life in the mall that they're held up in, having locked out the zombies outside. Whilst the still shows that they're enjoying themselves, it's strictly in essence pointless, as although they have all the money in the world- life as they know it, or civilization is over. With an every-growing threat and presence that the zombies outside could break in at any moment, the fact that they are enjoying themselves in such a desperate act of time is both comical and saddening. This is all the aspects of consumerism

A still from earlier in the film, at the very start shows Flyboy/Stephen unable or rather 'can't shoot' a zombie that's merely meters away from him, whereas Roger the stereotypically 'good guy/action man' can. Whilst Stephen is portrayed to be a "good man" and supposed to be the star role, in a series of shots it's actually Roger that can do what's necessary to kill another (although not fully human) being. However, later on in the film we find out that Stephen has a child to defend for (Francine, his partner) is pregnant, which leads Stephen to "man-up" in theory and protect both himself and his friends.

In this still, from a much later point in the film; Stephen having trained his shot & improved his aim at protecting not only himself now, but the mall that they're held up in. However, instead of just defending themselves from zombies, they also have a band of spiteful bikers, both looting and trashing the place leading to the famous line "It's ours we took it", again playing on the consumerism element that although technically they've sheltered here for months, that a few TVs and clothes aren't really theirs.