THE GENRE’S CONVENTIONS

Elements of the genre

Style

Design

Sources

Elements of the genre

Characters. Some characters, such as the hero Ben (played by actor Duane Jones) are portrayed in a more realistic and dimensional way than others. For example, Barbara (played by actor Judith O’Dea), arguably, is portrayed as a stereotypically powerless female, while Harry Cooper (played by actor Karl Hadman) is portrayed with little depth, as selfish and un-heroic.

Plot. The drama focuses on a basic conflict: the undead cannibals versus the living humans holed up in the farmhouse. The living struggle to survive as the ghouls try to break into the house to eat them. There are also conflicts among the living—particularly between Ben and Harry Cooper—as they clash over how to fight and where in the house to take shelter as they await rescue. Interestingly, the story ends differently in the final film, departing from the original conclusion of the shooting script.

Music. As illustrated in the “Safe House” scene, the soundtrack to the film is used to build tension and emphasize the horror. For example, a grating, high-pitched sound begins at the moment Barbara discovers the body on the landing and gets higher as it goes on for many seconds, until the end of the scene, when Ben and Barbara make it back into the kitchen and safely, for the moment, behind the closed door.

Acting/performance. In order to get the audience on the hero Ben’s side, actor Duane Jones must convince viewers that his character is real and deserves their empathy. He must also convince them to have confidence in his actions. In the “Safe House” scene, actor Judith O’Dea’s main job is to convince viewers of her terror.

Style

Dialogue. In the shooting script for the film, the dialogue is formatted in a specific way, indented, with characters’ names capitalized and centered over the dialogue spoken. In the “Safe House” scene, there are more than a dozen paragraphs describing action, but only a few lines of dialogue toward the end, when Barbara encounters Ben. In the final film, this scene doesn’t include any dialogue at all. It is documented that Romero and Russo revised the script as they shot the film. For this scene, they must have decided on set that it was more effective to let the action, music, and sound effects convey this part of the story.

Action. In the shooting script, the action is indicated in paragraph form, aligned on the left margin of the pages. In this scene, the action in the script begins when Barbara enters the farmhouse, and closes when Ben arrives indoors. As noted above, the writers revised the script as they shot the film. The final film varies from the shooting script in a number of ways, not only in the action and (lack of) dialogue this scene, but in the plot, in the ultimate conclusion of which character survives the undead.

Camera shots. Typically a shooting script includes camera shots, provided with scene numbers and directions, usually in all capital letters. In this particular script, camera shots are included in the action paragraphs. Camera work in this scene includes, from p. 14: “The camera starts to pick up the top of the stairway…the floor of the second landing…a brief glimpse of something on the floor there…she continues to climb…the floor of the landing…zoom in…toward camera, the hand of…a corpse.”

Design

Cinematography. Camera angles emphasize point of view. For example, in the “Safe House” scene, there is a long shot of Barbara as she enters the living room, but the camera closes in on her and the horrors she discovers in the house (the animal trophies, the dead phone, the corpse).

Sound. The shooting script includes directions for sound in the action paragraphs. For example: “There is no sign of the attacker. Suddenly, there is a noise from outside: the pounding and rattling of a door.”

Setting. The settings for this film are realistic: the location a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. The film is shot outdoors in the natural landscape, and inside the house; the interior scenes are shot in a way meant to make viewers feel trapped and claustrophobic.

Props are indicated in the script. For example, in this scene, the script notes the steak knife that Barbara finds in the kitchen, and the phone that she tries to use in the living room.

Sources

George A. Romero and John A. Russo co-wrote the script for this horror fiction film. While the work is the product of their imaginations, Romero has cited an earlier novel—Richard Matheson’s 1954 I Am Legend, which was adapted for film—as inspiration for the story.