The Crazies

Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?
I believe that The Crazies does NOT follow the classic Hollywood narrative as it doesn’t begin normally as the opening scene is of a village on fire and very derelict which is not the norm.  In addition to this, the ending of the film does not return to normal as you can see the characters being followed which implies that they are not safe and that the cycle of the film is now about to repeat itself.  These two factors do not follow the classic Hollywood narrative as the theory states that the ending and the beginning is both supposed to be normality.

How many of Propp’s character types can be identified within the film?
The villain- In The Crazies, I would say that the government is the villains as they are the cause of the virus and that it what is leading to the people being a threat to others and the disruption of the village.
The hero- The hero’s in the film can be seen as David and Judy as they both plan on saving their village and preventing the damage happening as well as the virus spreading.
The donor- Russell can be seen as a donor as he provides an escape for David and Jody by distracting the police.
The helper- Russell can also been seen as the helper as well as he is constantly by David’s side and is seen as his second in command. 
The princess- This could been seen as Judy’s baby as their happy life with the baby, is their reward if getting out of the village alive.
Her father- There isn’t really a rather within the crazies as there is no one actually giving out the reward.
The dispatcher- This could be the person in the truck who Russell kills as him and the soldier gives them information on the virus which results in them having the knowledge of having to leave the village quickly.
The false here- This could also be Russell because although he helps Jason and Judy, it turns out that he does have the virus and takes away the potential get away when he kills the man in the black car.

List five examples of binary opposition in the film and explain them briefly.
Binary opposition is the opposite values that reveal the structure of media texts.  The first example in the film is healthy and the infected which describes the difference between David, Judy and Becca compared to the characters we see with the virus.  The second binary oppositions is the government and the innocence of the people.  This is seen as the government are clued up and protected by their gas masks compared to the people of the village who have no protection of the virus.  This leads on to the third opposition which is the difference between the power of the government and the lack of power that the people of the village have over the virus.

  The forth binary opposition is the difference between science and nature.  Science being the virus and causing the people to be infected and cause more deaths in comparison to the norm of the village people who lived in a very natural, farming environment.  The final binary opposition is known and the unknown.  Once David and Judy knew what was happening, they were able to protect themselves compare to the other villagers who weren’t aware of what was happening which lead to their deaths.

Identify the three durations and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.
There are three durations of films and these are- Screen duration, pot duration and story duration.  The screen duration is the time the film takes to show and with The Crazies, this was 1 hour and 40 minutes.  The plot duration is the length of time that the plot covers which is around four days,  the first day which is when Rory gets shot at the baseball game, the second day when bill kills his wife, the third day when they realise the plane crashed and that night when David and Judy get taken away, the fourth day is when they’re running away, the village gets blown up and they get away and then we see the very beginning of the fifth day when they are walking to the next village.  The story duration is the length of time the story covers which is about 3 years in The Crazies as the drug has to be made before the film even begins.

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’.
Firstly, the decision to create a drug that makes humans become violent and want to destroy others.  This causes the village people to kill other residences due of the side effects of the virus, resulting in more deaths and murders.
Secondly, the decision of the government to fly the virus to Texas and destroy it.  This event resulted in the plane crashing, the virus spreading and the government feeling they had to destroy and illuminate the village and its people.

List two events from the 92 minute film that happens in a different time and space to the one we are shown.
The first event in the film is that plane crash.  Although we know that it happens at the same time we watch the film, we don’t see it happen only that another character hears the event.
The second event in the film is the army killing all the uninfected residents.  We know this happens because we see the dead people that are previously alive in the film.