Dawn Script

[Skippy911sc]

I was reading the Dawn of the Dead script a little while ago...and since I am somewhat new to the board this may have been mentioned before...

this was from the 1977 draft written my GAR

748 Peter backs into the storage room, slamming the door. The
creatures approach the door and the super-gun roars one last
time. The Zombies push through the door and move in for their
feast.

749 Several zombies manage to scramble up the skylight to the roof.

Fran stares, transfixed. The blades roar up to full speed.

The creatures advance toward the machine.

Fran steps out onto the running board; the creatures very close
now. She crouches, watching for a moment, then looks up at the
spinning blades.

She stands straight up, driving her head into the spinning
blades.

A headless form falls to the roof. The Zombies advance.

750 In a wide shot, silhouetted against the dawn sky, we see the
creatures huddled under the chopper blades, feasting on their
last victim.

The credits crawl up.

Just as the credits end...

the engine of the helicopter sputters...

and dies.

After reading this I thought WHAT A GREAT ENDING!!!
and wonder if it has ever been discussed before why it was changes???

Any thoughts or complaints about rehashing an old topic ;)

[Legion2213]

GAR's own words...

"I really pulled toward the tragic ending but then I couldn't decide whether I was doing it just because I wanted a family resemblance to the first film. The effect didn't work great — it would have been spectacular to have her stand up in the blades and I'm sure that had the effect been successful I would have kept it that way. I just woke up one day and decided to let them go simply because I liked them too much."

Picture of "decapitation Fran"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DawnHead.jpg

[bassman]

Yeah, that was the original ending. Romero changed it to give it a more up-beat ending. Savini has argued for the years that it was actually shot, but then Romero and other crew members say it never was....

If i'm not mistaken, the model head that gets blown apart by Wooley in the projects is actually a mold of Fran's head that was to be used for the ending. Only with facial hair, paint, and whatnot...

Legion....I think that photo was just of special effects tests. It wasn't ever filmed, from what I remember being told...

[SRP76]

I'm one of the few that absolutely hated this when I read it. It's way, way too abrupt.

Maybe it wouldn't seem that way on film, but, in text, it seems to go along swimmingly until Stephen revives, then -BOOM!- everyonesdeadtheend.

I like what actually got into the film more.

[Trin]

I also liked the filmed ending waaaay better than the scripted one.

I saw Peter as level headed and heroic. How could he leave the pregnant gal to fend for herself and just give up? Nope. That would've been totally against his character. A moment of weakness - sure. Complete abandonment - nope.

Also, with 3 kids of my own I don't see the pregnant gal giving up - ever. The instinct to protect the child would preclude it.

[sandrock74]

I like that Peter and Fran got away. It gives us something to speculate on!

[Danny]

I like that Peter and Fran got away. It gives us something to speculate on!

bow-chicka-bow-wow

[SRP76]

Another change for the better was the use of handguns.

The script had Peter using the hunting rifle for everything, including killing himself. That wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.

[CapnRhodes]

I like the movie ending better

[Philly_SWAT]

Any thoughts or complaints about rehashing an old topic ;)

While many people complain about the rehashing of an old topic, I for one like it when someone new wants to discuss something that may be old to some of us here. I can remember when I was a new guy back on the old boards, and liked discussing ideas fresh instead of just reading old posts.

Anyway, the particulars have already been discussed about the "why it was changed" question, and the dispute of whether the scene was actually shot or not has ben brought up, so I will just weigh in and say that I liked the ending where Fran and Peter survive. Their prospects of survival were still pretty bleak, low on fuel, low on supplies, and a pregnant Fran for Peter to have to try to protect. But at least there was a glimmer of hope for us dead fans to think about.

[SRP76]

So much for my being "one of the few".:lol:

[Redge777]

The author had a choice, be evil and show all the living killed, or show mercy and let them live. He chose to show mercy once again confirming to me the innate goodness of man.

[DubiousComforts]

The author had a choice, be evil and show all the living killed, or show mercy and let them live. He chose to show mercy once again confirming to me the innate goodness of man.
Oh my God! Well, at least you kept it short and simple.

[Legion2213]

The movie ending leaves it up to the veiwer, if you decide that they run out of fuel and crash or have to land in the most zombie infested place on the planet, you can...on the other hand, you can immagine them striking it lucky, finding an abondoned airfield, refueling the whirlybird and flying off to to the Canadian wilderness.

I'm pretty sure that there are one or two fanfics on this site that continue on from the end of DothD

[Skippy911sc]

I feel that the filmed ending was just sooooooo Hollywood...the script ending I read was so unlike most movies...more Emire than Jedi...you dig?

But again it was all about the elites in our...JKing :D:D

[Legion2213]

Another change for the better was the use of handguns.

The script had Peter using the hunting rifle for everything, including killing himself. That wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.

Yeah, but what a gun! I'd use that badboy at each and every opportunity!

"What's that Fran? Tin opener? Yeah, stand back" *boom* :D

[Mike70]

Oh my God! Well, at least you kept it short and simple.


and without drivel thrown in about "the elites."

i, too, am glad that peter and fran got away in the end-to whatever fate was waiting for them. too bad peter didn't take along that killer 70's pimp fur coat he had. he looked like he stepped right out of superfly in that.

[Yojimbo]

Yeah, that was the original ending. Romero changed it to give it a more up-beat ending. Savini has argued for the years that it was actually shot, but then Romero and other crew members say it never was....

If i'm not mistaken, the model head that gets blown apart by Wooley in the projects is actually a mold of Fran's head that was to be used for the ending. Only with facial hair, paint, and whatnot...

Legion....I think that photo was just of special effects tests. It wasn't ever filmed, from what I remember being told...

You are correct that it is Fran's head made up to look like a man that gets blown apart in 107. Regarding whether the Fran's suicide scene was actually shot, I know that there is some dispute. Both Savini and GAR remember this one differently. One of them, not sure which (this was mentioned on the commentary of one of those versions) mentioned being on the roof with Boris and Fran's head . Apparently it was a really cold morning because they remember freezing up there on the roof. It was staged like helicopter zombie's death scene, but the footage has never surfaced, or at least that is what they say. Romero's later comments about why he changed the ending seem to indicate that he at least saw test footage, if not actual dailies of this sequence and did not like the way it came off. He did state that he began to like the characters and decided that he wanted them to live.

[acealive1]

Yeah, but what a gun! I'd use that badboy at each and every opportunity!

"What's that Fran? Tin opener? Yeah, stand back" *boom* :D

"you bring a can opener?"

"no"

"then dont knock it,it's got it's own key"


:lol::lol:

[Griff]

Picture of "decapitation Fran"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DawnHead.jpg

Ha ha, that dummy actually has a slight passing resemblance to Simon Pegg.

[AcesandEights]

Ha ha, that dummy actually has a slight passing resemblance to Simon Pegg.

:lol: Excellent call! Now that you mention it, I see it clearly.

[clanglee]

Didn't they end up using Fran's head for the head exploding scene in the apartment?

[aga]

I don't think they could of topped the bleak ending of Night. And after Night perhaps the "happy" ending would be the shock ending to those expecting a similar down beat conclusion.