'Dawn of the Dead' (1979) Enjoying Mall Analysis

This is the scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979), where the combination of Flyboy, Peter, Roger and Fran are enjoying the perks of being in a mall. In this still shot you can see Flyboy and Peter stealing money in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, where you wouldn’t need money because the rest of the people are zombies. This is heavily addressing the theme of consumerism with the context at the time; in the late 1970’s shopping malls were on a massive rise, getting bigger than they have ever been before. George A. Romero’s negative views on this are quite clear when analysing this shot.

This shot is taken from a high and expressionist angle looking down on both Flyboy and Peter stealing the money connoting weakness and vulnerability, which indicates that Romero sees consumerism as a weakness amplified by the state of their situation.

This scene is a very strong replication of George A. Romero’s feelings about consumerism, injecting his auteur style into the film. He does this by referring very closely to the context at the time, making it fresh in the audience’s minds. He has further enforced his point by the cinematography of this scene, with the different shot types creating a sub narrative.