The Football Schedule in Dawn

[Philly_SWAT]

I had an epiphany about Dawn while reading some quotes from Sir Author Conan Doyle the other day. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he is the creator of the greatest fictional detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes. The two quotes that made be realize something important about Dawn were… “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” And “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” I already gave credit to George A. Romero for making a series of films that I really enjoy, but now I realize that he had even more genius as a filmmaker than even I gave him credit for, and I gave him a lot to begin with. There are several flaws seen in the movie Dawn of the Dead, most notably with automobiles, but…were they really flaws? Or were they simply part of an overall line of brilliance, so subtle, that you would literally miss if it you blinked? More about this later… The scene in when Roger and Peter first discover the security office…what is this really all about? Many answers could follow. One thought I always had was that it was dumb of them to turn the main mall escalators on. This is what led the zombies upstairs…(remember, they didn’t see any on the second floor prior). But mainly it was a way for them to find the walkie talkies and the keys to the doors. But why the need to get keys? As we see shortly thereafter, they have trouble opening the doors, almost getting overwhelmed as the story is just getting going. It would have been easier to just break in a door, and then barricade with the counters once inside. So why have them have the keys? Why have the close up shot of Roger grabbing the big keying? Then it hit me…the point of the scene is not that Roger is grabbing the keys, but to show what is on the wall BEHIND the keys! The football schedule! Now, the schedule is really only shown for a second (literally) so if you blink you might miss it. Here is a screen cap… At first glance, the schedule may appear to just be something unimportant to the story. A piece of paper that just happened to be in the actual mall office. Something the script girl just missed. But this schedule is the key to many things that previously I considered to be movie flaws. Doyle – “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important”. Of course! This has to be the key! Why was the security guy dead in the first place? He had blood all over his face, but didn’t appear to be bitten or shot. Why were there cars driving all over the place in the background? Why was Roger driving a Pittsburgh police car and not a Philadelphia police car? Doyle – “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth”. So it came to me as if a bolt out of the blue. The security guy was also the head football coach at Gateway High School, which had just won the State Championship. It was a feel good story about an underdog overcoming the odds…it was a statewide sensation. But he wasn’t good managing his money, so he worked part time as mall security. That is why the schedule is there! While he was chasing a rat in an out of the way part of the room, he fell and hit his head, hard! He didn’t die right away, he lay there for days, delirious, slowly bleeding, and unable to call out (his now weak voice couldn’t be heard anyway). That’s why he was dead, not shot or attacked! But when he didn’t show up to school on Monday, it started a panic. Local news ran stories, “Coach Missing…A Community in Crisis”. People were searching all over for him, even as the zombie outbreak was gaining steam. He had relatives in Philadelphia, so the Pittsburgh police chief made a special exception and let some officers drive to Philly to see if they could find him there….but alas, they couldn’t. The car had engine problems after driving cross state, and they were needed back home, so they borrowed a car and drove back, leaving their car there. That’s why Roger had a Pittsburgh police car in Philadelphia! In fact, in all likelihood, that is why Flyboy subconsciously started to fly from Philly to Pittsburgh. Sure he wanted to escape the madness in the city, but even the Philly TV stations were running the story of the missing Gateway coach. Flyboy wanted to spot him from the air! Brilliant! That’s why he was flying west instead of north to get to Canada! Even after communication broke down across the State, and the zombie epidemic was continuing full steam, people were still worried about the coach (not realizing that he had died as a result of hitting his head and bleeding to death chasing a rat in the boiler room, and being shot after he rose again by Flyboy). So all those cars we see in the background of Dawn? People out looking for the coach! Most of them were football players from the high school. Remember the movie Red Dawn? High school football players are survivors! (Red Dawn…was that a silent tribute to Dawn of the Dead? Excellent!) That is why Roger and Peter don’t mention the van driving in the truckyard. OBVIOUSLY, it was people still driving around looking for the coach! No need to mention the obvious! I can’t believe it took all these years for me to realize the simple truth in all this. ROMERO IS A GOD!! This is why he is so respected as a filmmaker. He doesn’t treat his audience as if they are idiots (like so many filmmakers do). He treats his audience with respect, knowing they will notice the less than one second of screen time he gives to the football schedule (cleverly disguising the shot as a look at some “keys”), and also knowing they will figure all this out. Special thanks to Sir Author Conan Doyle. Your quotes were an inspiration for me to figure all this out. Long live misé-en-scene!

[bassman]

Damn Philly. I respect your opinion and all the time and thought you put into this, but I'm pretty sure it was just something already on the wall. If it was intended to have any significance I think it would have a longer shot. And to be honest....I'm having a hard time deciding if you're being sarcastic or serious about this.

[Thorn]

By George, I think you've got it!!! How did he solve this mystery? It was... “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

[Philly_SWAT]

And to be honest....I'm having a hard time deciding if you're being sarcastic or serious about this. That was my goal

[Yojimbo]

Dudes, my hat goes off to Philly for this one. This may come from sarcasm, but the reasoning he utilizes is sound, and it very well may be the actual truth as much as the truth can be extrapolated from Romero's well made -albeit not well thought out - universe.

[EvilNed]

Simple logic, Watson!

[sandrock74]

This again?!?

[SRP76]

It doesn't matter. It's there, and it fits the other two time indicators: Fran's calendar and the season outside. If something fits, use it. The only reason not to is to stubbornly try to deny all the evidence in place, and claim Dawn takes place in July. So unless you're trying to prove the movie takes place in July, there's no reason to claim "it doesn't exist".

[MoonSylver]

[Philly_SWAT]

It doesn't matter. It's there, and it fits the other two time indicators: Fran's calendar and the season outside. If something fits, use it. The only reason not to is to stubbornly try to deny all the evidence in place, and claim Dawn takes place in July. So unless you're trying to prove the movie takes place in July, there's no reason to claim "it doesn't exist". Who was saying it doesnt exist? Here is another calender shot for you... this calender on the wall, which clearly shows three months that are X'd off...which does make it appear to be March at the end of the movie. Still dont see a year though. And we also dont know how long they have been in the mall, it is hard to tell exactly how pregnant Fran is.

[EvilNed]

Well... There was a year on the football schedule. Not saying that year was accurate. Me? I don't go by the football schedule at all. I go by the silly fashion.

[Thorn]

The fashion clearly marks this a 70's film and it dates it. As does the video games, style of the malls arcitecture, and a number of other items such as the vehicles. Could ALL the vehicles be aging but still in use? Certainly. Is it however likely? No not at all, it would defy logic and common sense. "Hey we know it is 2001 but let's all wear bell bottoms, drive dated vehicles, ans hang out in a mall with stores and architecture that plainly mark it straight out of the 70's." Even the video cameras, the color schemes, the interior design all scream 70's/early 80's to me. I just do not know what we are debating here. Maybe someone can sum it up in a brief paragraph for me.

[EvilNed]

I think that the football schedule kinda ruins Philly's idea of the film being set "Now", since it has a year printed on it. So he's trying to come up with whatever explanation there is to try to deny that there is infact a year stamped in Dawn of the Dead 78. As if the fashion styles hadn't given it away.

[Philly_SWAT]

The fashion clearly marks this a 70's film and it dates it. As does the video games, style of the malls arcitecture, and a number of other items such as the vehicles. Could ALL the vehicles be aging but still in use? Certainly. Is it however likely? No not at all, it would defy logic and common sense. "Hey we know it is 2001 but let's all wear bell bottoms, drive dated vehicles, ans hang out in a mall with stores and architecture that plainly mark it straight out of the 70's." Even the video cameras, the color schemes, the interior design all scream 70's/early 80's to me. I just do not know what we are debating here. Maybe someone can sum it up in a brief paragraph for me. Ever see the movie Rollerball? Not the remake, but the original with James Caan? (If not, you should, it is an awesome movie). That movie was set "in the future", I dont think any specific year was every mentioned, but it was a future where corporations have taken over the world. In that movie, even though it was set in the future (filmed in 1975), rather than making some futuristic looking outfits, people just wore what people wore then. Very wide collars, top 4 buttons not buttoned, exposing their chests (very 1970's). The "futuristic" TV sets they show look very chincy compared to what is available now. So should we take that this movie was set in "the future" or in 1975? I think that the football schedule kinda ruins Philly's idea of the film being set "Now", since it has a year printed on it. So he's trying to come up with whatever explanation there is to try to deny that there is infact a year stamped in Dawn of the Dead 78. As if the fashion styles hadn't given it away. I think your fault here EvilNed lies in the fact that you are trying to make art objective, not realizing that art is personal. I know a lot of people in here are not Nascar fans, but I am. I have a big picture in my living room of the 1987 All-Star race, "The Winston". It is clearly marked with the date May 17, 1987. Why would I have such an old picture in my living room? Because I like it and is is important to me. It is not unreasonable to assume that a football schedule could be important to someone (for example, they were on that years team, their son was on that years team, that there grandson was on that years team, etc.) It is also not unreasonable to assume that the schedule could have just been laying around a cluttered office. It is not definitive proof, but not unreasonable. I had a file cabinet at work that no one ever used that had all kinds of old shit in it. Years ago shit. Employees that were no longer there had stuff in there. It is not unreasonable to think they days before whatever caused the mall to cease normal operations, someone found this ancient schedule in an old drawer, pulled it out and displayed it in the room. Not saying we should assume this is the case, just saying it is not unreasonable to think it is possible. As far as the Nascar picture in my living room, if I took a picture of my living room, you would see that picture sitting there. If I took the picture now in 2009, but you saw a picture clearly marked as 1987 there, it would not be unreasonable either to think you are looking at a picture taken in 1987, or soon thereafter. But although it wouldnt be unreasonable for you to think that, you would in fact be wrong. To both of you, when a film is in black and white, do we assume that for some weird reason that colors have ceased to exist in the universe?

[EvilNed]

I think your fault here EvilNed lies in the fact that you are trying to make art objective, not realizing that art is personal. Uhm. That's just bullshit, Philly. I'm the one who's been pointing out the subjectiveness all along, whil you're the one who's basicly screamed out that "The football schedule should be ignored! Obey me!". If subjectiveness to you is to follow what GAR says, and the crew of the film intended, then sure. That's one sure-fire-way to misinterpret the word "subjective". Infact, I can't believe that you even said that... You're basicly stealing my line! Also, it's quite frustrating when you accuse me of saying things I've never said. I never said that the film took place in 197X, and that's that. Look it up yourself before you even go on making such a claim. Infact, all I ever claimed was that the football schedule was on the wall, and shouldn't be ignored (unless you choose to do so, but it's still there). Man, oh, man Philly, have you missed the mark. Please, do not accuse me of saying things I never have. It's kinda annoying, actually, and not good for the "debate". As for Rollerball, it's set in a future where the 70's never stopped!