DYSTOPIA

Generic Conventions

Dystopian worlds

Postmodern themes/futuristic nightmare

Aftermath of a disaster:This is normally a large scale disaster, like war, alien invasionor a nuclear holocaust. The film is then set around the bases of this eg War of the Worlds

Most post-apocalyptic ‘disasters’ have a man-made cause.

Survivors struggle for existence,there could be a chance that yourthe only ones left. The fear of fighting To stay alive.

New beginning:

A dystopian world is one that is the opposite of a utopia, where everything has gotten worse and no one wants to be living there. Eg Dredd

Dystopia films tend to create a sense of survival or a new beginning in which we can start fresh and do things differently in the future

Character Types

Heroic male protagonist

‘Post-Modern Cowboy’This is a character who is always in constant danger but survives against all odds. Eg. 28 days later

Groups/tribes

Human surviver group

The Helper

These groups are animal like and often have conflict with the main male protagonistEg mad max

This character is often from the opposite side trying to help the hero

These groups are often saviours from before the apocalyptic disaster and are helped by the hero

The main character is often a male heroic surviver who fixes whats gone wrong Eg I-robot

Sub genre

Science Fiction (‘science gone wrong’) Metropolis (1927), BladeRunner (1982), The Terminator (1984), The Matrix (1999)

Post-Apocalyptic

E.g. Planet of the Apes (1968), Mad Max (1981), The Road (09)

Horror

Dawn of the Dead (1978), 28 Days Later (2002), I am Legend (2007), World War Z (2013)

CrimeJudge Dredd,Shank

Time-line

Pre War (1920s) Before the war people were scared of mass production and the fact that you can bring Something in the world so quickly. Getting over run by a political system in which the state holds total authority over the society (totalitarianism) for example Fascist states like Nazi Germany at the time. The idea of getting watched and having no real freedom, big brother style scenarios. E.g. Metropolis (1927)

Post War

After the war everyone became very scared of the nuclear weapons in the world. On August 6, 1945, a uranium gun-type device was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which shocked the whole world into this unknown about who has nuclear weapons. The Cold War also put the fear of invasion and into a lot of the public at that time. There were a lot of post apocalyptic idea flying around and this impacted the cinema. E.g. Planet of the Apes (1968)

1970/1980’s

This is the time when people started fearing technological advancements and genetic modification. Apple Macintosh was invented in 1984 and these kinds of powerful computer scared people. Genetic modification started taking place and these big ideas of growing a human being. At the time no one really knew what was out there and this scared them. This lend to the idea of robots and machines that would take over the world, and from these fears great films were created like Blade runner(1984). Which took the idea of machines taking over and the power to create life form with life spans. The Terminator (1984) was another film that took the idea of robots becoming stronger than mankind in a post-apocalyptic event and the idea of human v robots.

1990’s and now

1990’s up until now one of the main fears is dystrophic events and environmental disasters. There has been so many films now involving the idea that worlds going to end or we as the human race have destroyed our own planet , these films range from every genre . For example ‘2012’ which was based around global warming the end result of us destroying our planet, this same theme is seen in ‘Wall-E’ the Disney Pixar film about everyone having to leave earth and live on a space ship slowly getting fat. This is also seen in a the hit comedy ‘This is the end’ which put a joke on the end of the world but has strong dystrophic themes. These are all created using postmodern ideas of Hybrid genres and pastiche. E.g. 28 Days Later (2002), District 9 (2009)