DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) image analysis

This scene from DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) focuses on the representation of black people within the film. Straight away we can see the differences between these two characters as Andre is wearing black connoting danger and Kenneth is wearing white connoting goodness. This is seen in their personalities and history as Andre is an ex-criminal, most likely a gangster, which gives him a negative stereotype to begin with and tells the audience that he is going to do something that we aren’t going to like at some point within the film. They are talking about him trying to turn his life around by protecting Luda and his unborn child which we already know is a helpless task as she has been bitten. Kenneth is the male hero in the film as he is tough and uses a giant phallic symbol (shotgun) as a weapon. He has a respected job as a policeman and he is talking about Andre being the kind of person that robs shops and that he has to deal with on a regular basis. The superiority Kenneth has over Andre is also shown in the image as Kenneth is closer to the camera so looks larger than Andre does. The over the shoulder, slightly high expressionist angle also emphasises this.