You've got Red on You...

A couple of nights ago, I sat my girlfriend down to watch possibly my favourite feature film 'Shaun of the Dead" Dir: Edgar Wright. As one of the most popular British films of the past ten years (and having been shown ad nauseum on ITV2) I was surprised that she hadn't seen it and I felt she was missing out. I consider "Shaun of the Dead" to be a seminal work, not only in horror, comedy nor British film but in cinema itself.

Now, I know a film marketed as the first Zom-Rom-Com is probably not going to be seen as high art and I would agree with those who said that. It is a very archetypal story. Shaun, 29, has lost the love of his life, Liz, at the same time as a zombie apocalypse. He and his waster best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), must now rescue Liz and her friends and stick out the invasion. This is not high cinematic art, however it details the principles of filmmaking so very well.

The opening scene establishes every single confict and character-trait within three minutes with extremely sharp dialogue and useful camera work and it maintains its hilarity.

The establishing shot above tells you everything you need to know about Shaun and his relationships. He is unaware, he is thoughtless, he isn't taking care of himself or his friends. The first line of dialogue is his name as his girlfriend says "Shaun?" He has to bring himself back to a reality which is not satisfactory. From that point to 3:30 minutes into the film we establish every character's name, every single conflict between them and the tone of the piece.

The concision continues throughout. With sequences, which more indulgent filmmakers would have extended, Edgar Wright keeps the pace going to end the film at one hour and thirty minutes, for instance the scene where Ed and Shaun discuss what their plan is. The first time they run through it, everything is much more full in the visuals by the final time they run through it Shaun is now giving glib in the scenes saying "Sorry" rather than "I'm so sorry, Philip" when planning to dispatch his soon-to-be-dead step-dad. Wright's creative use of camera and sound with Simon Pegg's excellent writing is exactly what got them known for Spaced.

The film is also hilarious. The relationship between Shaun (Pegg) and Ed (Frost) is a classic use of the archetype of the young man with potential held back by the whims of his ignorant slacker friend. Throughout, Shaun's efforts are hampered by Ed's thoughtlessness. Answering the phone in front of hundreds of zombies; crashing a perfectly good car so he can drive Shaun's step-dad's Jaguar; playing the fruit machine when they are trying to stay quiet. (SPOILER ALER!) Ultimately, Ed has to die for Shaun to grow up and by the end of the film we are not just crying for the loss of a best friend but also for our own youth.

I could wax lyrical about every single sequence and scene in this film, but the main thing I have taken from this film is that concision in storytelling is the essence of fimmaking. How to say as many things as possible in the smallest amount of time possible. This is something I always consider when making my own films and I recommend (as I have) that anybody who wants to learn storytelling 101 watch "Shaun of the Dead" over and over (my current count is 67 times).