The document summarizes the evolution of zombie appearances in films from 1968 to the present day. It describes how zombies were initially portrayed in 1968's Night of the Living Dead as having missing limbs and slow, stiff movements. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, their appearances became more disheveled and decayed. By the 1980s film The Evil Dead, zombies had white flaky faces and pure white eyes. Modern zombie films still typically feature pale, bloody zombies moving slowly, though some films depict faster zombies. The document also provides brief biographies of directors Sam Raimi and Edgar Wright, and discusses British film rating classifications.

1. Media Studies Coursework
Research Evidence.

2. History of Zombie Trailers
• In 1968 it was the birth of the modern zombie, zombies were portrayed as being lifeless bodies this was
in the film Night of the Living Dead in which all the zombies attire was what they wore when they died
or what they wore in their caskets after burial. Injuries such as missing limbs were common and the
zombies intelligence was very low and their movements were slow and stiff.
• In 1970 the zombies in horror films around this time were shown to have blue/green faces, black
eyes, messy appearance e.g. blood spilt on them, mud smeared all over their clothing and rips and holes in
the clothing the zombies were wearing.
• In the film Dawn of the Dead(1978) the film is now in colour , their faces are a blue tint, their
movement is still slow and stiff and there are random injuries to the zombies and patches of blood on their
“ordinary” clothing.
• In the 1980‟s The Evil Dead's version of zombies was due to possession of evil spirits, so their faces
became white and flaky and their eyes became pure white and have black outlines around them.
• It became clear that there are certain rules to a zombie film such as:
• If you didn't die first, you aren't a zombie.
• Zombies are not cannibals.
• They do not feed on each other only living flesh.
• The only way to stop a zombie is a well placed head shot. (Hammer, ice-pick, gun, axe, etc.)
• Intelligence is not a their strong point.
• Present day: the zombies are now wearing everyday clothes, their faces are a pale white with red around
their eyes. Like most of the zombie films injuries are still common to the zombies they are also covered in
blood and their movement is still slow such as films like Shaun of the Dead. Although there are some
films that don‟t fit this “rule” such as Resident Evil and World War Z where the zombies are “fast-
moving.”

3. Research on a Film Director
I have chosen for this section to look at both a
British director as well as a American director. I
chose a more experienced director and a more
recent director to compare.

4. Sam Raimi
Samuel M "Sam" Raimi was born October 23, 1959.He is an
American film director, producer, writer and actor, best known
for directing Evil Dead series, and the Spider-Man trilogy;
his most recent work is 2013's fantasy film Oz the Great and
Powerful.
He has two brother one of which is the oldest out of the three
brothers, Ivan Raimi and the youngest brother Ted Raimi
(Theodore "Ted" Raimi.)
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father
brought a movie camera home one day and he began to make
Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce Campbell In
college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert
Tapert and Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-
minute horror film which raised $375,000, as well as the short
comedic film It's Murder! Through family, friends, and a
network of investors Raimi was able to finance production of
the highly successful horror film The Evil Dead(1981) which
became a cult hit and effectively launched Raimi's career. He
began work on his second film Crimewave (1985), intended as
a live-action comic book—the film was not successful, due in
part to unwanted studio intervention. Raimi returned to the
horror genre with the Evil Dead II.
He was influenced by John Woo, Steven Spielberg, The Three
Stooges and Wes Craven.

5. Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright is an English film and TV director and writer. Edgar has been a director/writer since
1994 to present. I chose Edgar to research as I know directed Shaun of the Dead which relates to the
genre we are focusing on as it is a zombie comedy. Edgar also helped co-write Shaun of the Dead
with Simon Pegg who also features in the film as the main character Shaun. Edgar has worked with
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on multiple of occasions on films such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz
and the TV series Spaced. . Simon Pegg is Wright's most frequent collaborator, appearing in six of his
films. Edgar Wright‟s work is more favoured to directing comedy films such as Hot Fuzz and Shaun
of the Dead.
Edgar Wright has been influenced by the popular well known American film director Sam Raimi who
directed the Evil Dead series.
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Shaun of the Dead

6. Research into film classification
BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification
The U symbol stands for Universal.
A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over.
PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means the parent will have
to supervise the child.

7. Research into film classification
BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification
12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied.
The 12 certificate is just for videos, DVDs and Blu-rays.

8. Research into film classification
BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification
No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film.
Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18
is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or
buy/rent an 18 rated DVD.

9. Identify film magazine front cover
conventions Masthead behind the
main image shows
that the image is
more important and
the focus of the
attention .
The back ground
fits in with the
“Captain America‟s”
costume and the
fact he is called
Captain America as
the background is
the American flag.
Sticks to the
conventions of a
magazine front
cover as it uses
specific colour
scheme throughout
instead of using a
wide range of
colours it sticks to
two main colours
for the fonts.
Puff to interest the reader and to grab their attention
and also to promote the magazine
Puff is
used to
attract
the
attentio
n of the
reader
and also
make
them
want to
know
more
The
main
image
looks as
if it has
been
take out
of the
film
itself

10. Puff due to it offering „free‟ posters to
the readers which persuades the reader
to buy the magazine and its also used
to promote the magazine
This magazine
sticks to the main
conventions of a
magazine front
cover with the
use of the same
colours white,
yellow and red
throughout the
cover instead of
using a wide
range of colours
This is the use of
anchorage as the
colour of the text
relates to the
meaning of the text
as many people
relate aliens as being
green therefore the
text is green to show
this
Direct
address to
the reader
which will
encourag
e them to
buy the
magazine
due to
them
thinking
the
magazine
is
directed
straight at
them
The masthead is in bold with the font
being bright red will attract the
attention of the reader and is effective
as it stands out on the dark
background
The masthead is in front of the
main image which is usual for a
front cover

11. Audience Research Analysed
When I was researching the main target audiences for zombie movies I looked at current zombie films
and the certificates that they were given.
I discovered that the zombie film 28 Days Later (2002) was given a 18 rating which suggest there is
a lot of blood, gore and violence in this film that is not suitable for a younger audience.
The Crazies(2010) another film based around zombies was given a 15 rating which is presumable
because there is less gory scenes in this film.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)was given a 18 rating which again suggest a lot of violence is featured in
this film.
Dead Snow(2008) was given a 18 rating.
The Evil Dead(1981)was given an 18 rating.
Night of the Living Dead(1968) was given a 18 rating.
Resident Evil(2002) was given a 15 rating.
Shaun of the Dead(2004)was given a 15 rating.
Warm Bodies(2013) was given a 12 rating due to it being more of a romantic film than a horror
film.
Zombieland(2009) was given a 15 rating.
From this research I discovered that most of the zombie films that‟s main genre is horror has a higher
rating such as a 15 or 18. this could be for a multiple of different reasons such as there is a lot of blood
and gore that some younger viewers will find disturbing or that there is sexual references throughout
the film that will be unsuitable for younger viewer. Also the violence levels in a 18 rated movie will be a
lot more graphic than it would in a 15 rated movie.