 Originally Posted by 3pidemiC
Hello,
I hope this isn't really that noobish of a question to ask. I've watched Romero's Living Dead films countless times and I've always wondered about the time frame between each one. If someone could clarify, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.
Personally, I think that this is a great question! Rather than direct you to other threads, I will give you my answer here in this thread. As one of my favorite topics, my response may be lengthy, but I will attempt to answer as completely as I can.
Your specific question is about the "time frame between each one", which I will give my thoughts on. Before that, I feel it is worth mentioning the issues of "when do they take place" and "are they related to each other", which are two separate questions, but topics that others here have already addressed, even though they are not directly tied to your initial question.
As to "are they related", I suppose that is up to the viewers own interpretation, however, I would ask which option seems more reasonable to you, that GAR made separate movies, all set within the same story-telling universe, but chose to have them not related to each other, or that he made separate movies within the same story-telling universe, and chose to have them related to each other? I think it is far more logically to assume that they are in fact related to each other. Why bother to create such a great story-telling universe, and then tell separate stories that have nothing to do with each other set in that very universe? You will have to decide that for yourself, but I mention this first to let you know that I in fact believe they are connected to each other, and my answer to your initial question will be influenced by that belief. If they are not connected to each other, then by definition your question would be invalid to begin with. There would not be any "time frame between each one", since they are not connected to each other.
As to the "when do they take" question, I will briefly say that I believe the when is unimportant, and that the movies themselves should be seen to be set in a ... "non time-frame specific" universe, in other words, they are timeless. Part of the reason why questions such as these exist is that GAR was making movies on a limited budget, and without a lot of forethought into endless disection by us decades later. When he uses 1960's clothing styles in Night, and then late 1970's clothing styles in Dawn, it is not to be inferred that Dawn takes place a decade after Night, rather, he just shot the films in the real-world time they existed, without giving thought to the time frame problems that such issues create. Again, you have to make your own judgement on this question, but this is what I believe. Night is not set in 1968, but simply "at the start of the outbreak".
Now to your question. To determine how much time passes between each film, I suggest that we have to use the evidence provided within the films themselves. The evidence can be a little hazy at times, and not definitive, so again, you have to make your own determination. As already mentioned, there has been much debate over this issue in the past, so feel free to look at those posts in a later time. But here is my opinion, based on the evidence we have in the films themselves, and based on the core beliefs that I have expressed in this post.
Night - The start of the outbreak, around the time the US goes on Daylight Savings Time.
Dawn - Takes place approx. three weeks after the events in Night. The main evidence for this is Dr. Foster right at the beginning of Dawn saying "its been three weeks!" He was making the argument that it had been 3 weeks since the outbreak, and the situation is getting worse by the minute, and people had better start listening to him or all will be lost. The events in Dawn take place over a period of several months, as evidenced by Fran marking the calendar, and the fact that it is revealed that she is pregnant, and is showing at the films end.
Land/Day - Here I have an opinion that most disagree with, but it is my opinion nonetheless. I believe that the events in Day happen after the events in Land. The exact period of when the events in either film happen in relation to the events in Dawn is unclear. Many feel that Land takes place 3 years into the outbreak, due to several mentions in Land about "3 years", such as Cholo saying he worked for Kaufman for 3 years, and the dude in the garage saying "no car has driven out of here in 3 years". I could make logical arguements against this theory, however nothing definitive, so even if the events in Land are 3 years after the start of the outbreak, I still say the events in Day happen after that. I look to the evidence in the films themselves to support this idea. Day is more dark, more bleak, more lacking hope. It seems to me that is has to be much further into the outbreak that the events in Land. In Land, there are survivors all over the place. They are still using money to exchange for goods and services. With all of the people that are alive in the Green, they are still able to find food, medicine, booze, etc. in towns close enough to the Green to support everyone. Seems to me that after a long period of time, towns close enough for raids of this type would be depleted in short order, and the idea of using money would no longer be realistic. The mindset of the characters was still set in a "pre-outbreak" world, even though the world had obviously changed. Cholo, who seemed to be a rather smart guy, was obsessed with getting money, and Kaufman was also obsessed with keeping his money....to what end? Cholo wanted to money to take to another outpost, to Cleavland. Even though he realized that everyone in Cleavland may be dead, he still wanted the money. They were still deluded about things being the way they were. There is no such delutions in Day. They realize in Day that they are screwed. Communications are down. There is no hope in sight. They have searched for survivors 100 miles in each direction, and found none. Is it more logical to assume that for some reason survival rates would be so much higher in Pittsburgh that in Florida, or that more time had passed since Land, and there were less survivors left by the time Day rolls around? And all of these questions are clouded by the movie making techniques of GAR.
So in closing, I say the time between each movie is...
Night - start of outbreak
Dawn - 3 weeks later
Land - 3 years after start of outbreak (this seems like too much time to me, I think it is much shorter, but everyone seems to like 3 years, so whatever, no real way to tell)
Day - hard to give any definitive answer, but after Land
This is my best answer to your question.
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AHHHH! This again!
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