The Bigger Bang Theory: Writing within the Genre of Apocalyptic Cinema
An
Exegesis supporting the writing of the Feature Film Screenplay by David Moore,
Entitled: Fallout
Victorian
College of the Arts School, of Film and Television
Masters
by Research (Screen Writing)
Student
No 210274
5th
Draft, 25th May, 2008
Abstract
In
writing my first feature film script I have explored many narrative texts, both
written and visual, concepts, film theoreticians, and scientific facts, all to
inform my praxis. Fallout’s narrative
centres upon a man trying to escape his destiny set against a bleak nuclear
future. The story is established within science fiction cinema, but it uses a
strong dramatic form. As the main focus of this exegesis, I examine the
problems facing science fiction cinema, as it seems to have lost it’s edge,
becoming more of a hollow medium as the narratives become exemplified by the
visual effects over story. I look specifically at the lack of realism within
the apocalyptic genre, where I discover that most apocalyptic narrative is more
about perpetuating the triumphal American narrative, a derivative of the cold
war period, and before that, the Christian Armageddon myth, rather than the
realities of war. I examine my own motivations for writing such a film and
discuss how I solved problems associated with this genre. Fallout isn’t simply about a nuclear apocalypse; it’s also about a
psychological apocalypse. I have explored what this means from a character
perspective, in addition examining audience perceptions in regard to the
structuring of the story and their expectations. The research and feedback I
have received has allowed me the best possible solution to creating a story
that I believe is solid in its foundations. I hope you as the reader find this
true.
Submission
Declaration
I hereby
certify that, except where due acknowledgment has been made to other material,
the thesis submitted to fulfil requirements for the degree of Master of Film
and Television (by Research) comprises only my original work.
David Moore
Thankyou and acknowledgements
Firstly
and sincerely to my dear wife, Michal Teague and my two gorgeous children, Finn
and Darcy, thankyou for persisting with my late nights and grey clouds. To my
parents, for their continual support. To Chris McGill for his attentive, caring
guidance on this excellent voyage, I couldn’t have done it without you. Ray
Mooney whose invaluable feedback, encouragement and patient mark ups were an
invaluable lesson, thankyou. My friends, Iris Huizinga and Sasha Whitehouse for
their excellent feedback and suggestions. To Josephine Wright and Kelly Chapman
for their love and support. To Felix (and many friends) for listening to my
groaning ALL THE TIME; and finally to the staff of VCA, particularly the ever
vibrant Tracey Claire for the countless run outs she performed for me and Paul
Freaney for pulling me through at the end and Ian Lang’s faith in my ability to
(eventually) submit.
Sincerely,
thank you to all.
David Moore
CONTENTS
Such Places as Memory: Poem
Short Synopsis
One Line Synopsis
Introduction
CONTEXT: BACKGROUND
TO FALLOUT:
A Childhood of Cold War Influences
What was the Cold War
The Americanisation of the World
The American Fear
The Apocalypse and Religion
WRITING WITHIN THE APOCALYPTIC GENRE
Archetypes
Science, Science Fiction, Hollywood and the problems with Science Fiction Cinema
Utopian/Dystopian Concepts at Play in Fallout
Writing with Authenticity in Fallout
The problem with Apocalyptic Cinema
Other Apocalyptic films navigating ‘real’ issues
The Psychological Success of the Apocalyptic Genre
Reinvigoration of the Apocalyptic Genre
Science, Science Fiction, Hollywood and the problems with Science Fiction Cinema
Utopian/Dystopian Concepts at Play in Fallout
Writing with Authenticity in Fallout
The problem with Apocalyptic Cinema
Other Apocalyptic films navigating ‘real’ issues
The Psychological Success of the Apocalyptic Genre
Reinvigoration of the Apocalyptic Genre
THE WRITING OF FALLOUT
Moral or Psychological Apocalypse in Cinema
Character Development for the Protagonist: Robert
The Wife, Gwen
Anya, the Feral Girl
Issues of Time and Space in Fallout
VISUAL STYLE
CONCLUSION
Areas of Development, Budget and Production within Australia for Fallout
Changes to the script
Audience
Solving the issue of reality in the Apocalypse narrative within Fallout
Areas of Development, Budget and Production within Australia for Fallout
Changes to the script
Audience
Solving the issue of reality in the Apocalypse narrative within Fallout
Appendix
Plate A
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FILMOGRAPHY
Hiroshima
bleaches the very shadows
the evaporation of white
protons, electrons, and neutrons
in disarray as when the
hive has lost its Queen
the bees flying in cacophony
panic
their terror
of abandonment.[1]
short
synposis
Fallout is about a man who believes he
exists in two worlds, the ‘present’ and a ‘future’ that is only a few days
ahead. The difference between the two realms is, in his ‘normal world’ he’s in
a strained marriage, whereas in the ‘future’ he runs through a post-apocalyptic
city, reeling from a horrific bombing attack where his wife has disappeared.
Attempting to find her whilst escaping, he encounters a strange young woman.
Robert, convinced that the ‘future’ chaotic world is imminent; forces his wife,
Gwen, at gunpoint, to drive to the outback to escape the deadly radiation
fallout. Only when he comes across the same strange young woman on the side of
the road, does both his worlds really start to fall apart.
one
line synopsis:
In escaping the
fallout, can you outrun your own destiny?
Introduction
This exegesis
is the formalised journey of my creative research, writing processes, praxis
and problem solving in the writing of my feature film script, Fallout.
In writing
these documents it gave me the opportunity to explore my own long held
fascination with the apocalypse. Being one of the last generation of cold war
infants, images of destroyed cities shrouded in detached silence has always
captured my imagination. So in Fallout,
I wanted to delve into these dark places.
Working within
a long held genre such as ‘Apocalyptic Cinema’, is a challenge. Research is the
key to originality, on the long road, already worn down and well trodden.
In examining
‘apocalyptic narrative’ I find it differs from similar genres such as
‘disaster movies’ and ‘action films’, certainly encompassing common traits, but
following its own beast. This exegesis will centre on my endeavours to solving
the problems that I have identified within the science fiction, and respective
apocalyptic genres to bring authenticity to my storytelling.
So why do
filmmakers and writers perpetuate the myth of the apocalypse? Why am I using
Cold War rhetoric as a device in my script?
Stories about
the end of the world have re-emerged into great popularity. Historically,
nothing has really changed, the bible told the Armageddon story originally,
film makers still profess spectacle, because the archetype has the ability to
capture imaginations. The cold war perverted this myth into the apocalyptic
genre and then has successfully propagated it through American foreign policy,
initially to it’s own citizens and then to the rest of the world as a
resonating fear. The world readily, if not eagerly, accepts the apocalyptic
genre on several levels, this is evident at the box office because film makers
have, by means of design or accident tapped into the archetype of the
Armageddon myth, within the relative safety of a cinema. What I found when
addressing my own desire to utilise these concepts was that it might simply
sell more tickets and make a better movie[2],
“Premillennialist apocalyptic fiction has
borrowed some of the devices of science fiction… cloning, computers, asteroids,
and other astronomical props, biological weapons, other advanced weaponry, etc
– in telling a story that otherwise requires little in the way of new ideas.
When they appear, these technological innovations, or cosmic phenomena may be
instrumental in the apocalyptic destruction of the most of humankind through
the biblical judgements. If they are key elements in the particular apocalyptic
scenario, these technological innovations act as an implicit explanation of why
prophecy is to be fulfilled now and not before and give voice to audience
concerns about such innovations and related societal changes.” [3]
The problem
with the apocalyptic narrative is that, as part of North American cinema, the
treatment of such subject matters should be viewed as the continual propagating
of the triumphal narrative, as infused by the successful propaganda of the cold
war era. September 11 gave the narrative invigoration and it has since been
represented to ‘allegorically relive the trauma’ as part of societies way of
working through its grief.[4]
Many current action films now strive to focus on an individual and their
attempts to regain control after this recent trauma. As part of this struggle
with loss of national identity, films now recognise that it was impossible to
save all those who died. [5]
But as the effects of Computer Generated Image improve, thus stories seem to
stray further away from the subject matter that engendered it, so narratives
have become more vacuous, resonating little with audiences.
In the chapter:
Background to Fallout I will examine
the influences of the ‘Cold War Era’, as a qualification to Fallout. I analyse the influences of
growing up at the tail end of this era, observing how the ‘Armageddon Myth’
became conflated into the ‘Apocalyptic Genre,’ with the advent of the fear of
the nuclear bomb. I will discuss how the ‘American Fear’ of the bomb, became a
‘global fear’ unwittingly, through the highly successful implementation of
American Foreign Policy and its by-product, the Americanisation of
international culture. This serves to explain how the research has impacted my
screenplay, and character development.
Furthermore, I
will explore how the Science Fiction genre owes a debt to Christian
millennialist thinking in the precepts of ‘apocalyptic cinema’, in respect to
the use of utopian/dystopian concepts, mythology and archetypes.
‘The real point of apocalyptic literature
is eschatology, the vision of the end-times, which can also be phrased as the
question of where human society is headed. Science Fiction also has its roots
in the apocalypse.’[6]
In Writing within the Apocalyptic Genre, I
examine issues needing resolution to create a sense of authenticity in the
script. In review other works of Science Fiction artists and discuss the
problems relating to the genre and it’s sometimes dubious relationship with
‘science’ and audience expectations, in the age of CGI (Computer Generated
Images) within the Hollywood blockbuster.
The tepid
breath of ‘apocalyptic cinema’ is still appealing today through the reaches of
history. In discussing Archetypes and Invigoration of the Genre, I reveal the
continual success of the ‘apocalyptic genre’, derived from this archetype
imperative, a recognisable mode for modern audiences, and therefore a valid
vehicle to utilise in my writings. This is evident when you cite the biggest
Science Fiction /action film releases of 2007/08 as examples, all being
apocalyptic narratives. (Specifically, Right
at Your Door, Chris Gorak; I am
Legend, Francis Laurence; Resident
Evil: Extinction, Russell Mulcahy; Sunshine,
Danny Boyle; Children of Men, Alfonso
Cuaron and Cloverfield, Matt Reeves).
In Writing of Fallout I examine issues
relating to ‘time’ in the screenplay I discuss the problems addressed and
compare it to other similar cinematic examples, whilst in examining character development, I examine my
characters growth with discussion on how to further enhance such characters.
I will discuss
issues of visual style in respect to conveying narrative, as related to the
numerous worlds’ encounters by Robert in Fallout. This I do by examining other films that have
distinct planes, using visual style to differentiate the numerous worlds of the
narrative.
Finally, I
consider areas of improvement and future developments for possible production
of the screenplay. Looking at the specific limitations of the genre,
particularly in Australia as well as perceived target audiences. I conclude
with my concerns for bringing authenticity to the screenplay in resolving the
issues of Science Fiction and apocalyptic narrative, within aspects of plot,
character, artifice and the ‘science fact’ versus ‘Science Fiction’.
CONTEXT: BACKGROUND TO FALLOUT
A Childhood of Cold War Influences
“As an
undercurrent of Western imagination, apocalypticism is always with us. Consider
its part in such sudden surges of intellectual and artistic life in our century
as modernism, and, in particular, expressionism, communism and fascism, the
most powerful apocalyptic political currents of our time; the unwelcome
beginnings of the nuclear era and the cold war…” [7]
Fallout is essentially an archetypal myth, based on the tenet of
the cold war.
Being a child of the late 60’s,
little or none of the early cold war years had an impact on me, but by the
1980’s when Ronald Reagan rose to power, I was an impressionable 13 years old.
I remember a sabre-rattling Reagan calling the USSR an ‘evil empire,’[8]
I learnt quickly of the threat of nuclear war and this almost certainly
established my preoccupation with the apocalypse.
My first
literary introduction to this subject was Robert C. O’Brien’s, Z for Zachariah,[9]
(1975). This lead me to John Wyndham’s Day
of the Triffid[10],
(1951) and subsequently to his other apocalyptic novel, The Chrysalids[11]
(1955), which I count amongst one of my favourite books.
Many films I
saw at this age centred on apocalyptic events. Some that had a prominent impact
included: Logan’s Run, Michael
Anderson (1977) Blade Runner, Ridley
Scott (1982), WestWorld, Michael
Crichton (1976), War Games, (1983) and Short
Circuit, both by John Badham
(1986)[12].
Two films that
terrified me were The Day After,
Nicholas Meyer and Testament, Lynne
Littman, both produced in 1983. These films were released at the height of
Reagan’s cold war attempting a realistic portrayal of life in the aftermath of
a nuclear strike, but now I find they too were victims of the triumphant representation
of cinema as promulgated by American propaganda. But now I was fixated on
surviving a possible nuclear future. I had adopted the ‘American Fear,’ that
is, America’s pre-occupation with the nuclear bomb, which I will further
discuss.
What was the Cold War?
The cold war began after World
War II between the then allies, America and the Soviet Union. The name given to
the cold war is exactly that, a ‘Cold War’ of speeches and threats, as opposed
to a ‘Hot War’ of bombs and bullets. The cold war did not dictate American
culture, however, it could be said that it certainly shaped it and continues to
influence it today. [13]
America accepted the mantle of
apocalyptic thinking through the advent of American exceptionalism as a
religious phenomenon, so it’s hardly surprising that America is the home of
apocalyptic thinking and where the apocalyptic film is most prolific.
“From the time the first colonist
from England landed to the time when the country gained its independence
America saw itself through the lens of religion. Both the post-millennial
thinking that looked forward to a world transformed in part by human action and
more chiliastic pre-millennial beliefs that anticipated cataclysmic conflicts
shaped the way Americans interpreted their history and viewed the future. Each
gave America a unique role in history, and the result was the Americanisation
of an apocalyptic myth. The belief in Manifest Destiny that was formulated in
the mid-nineteenth century was part of the process. The idea of a messianic saviour,
which was at the core of early Christianity, became the idea of a Redeemer
nation – the belief in America as the land of a ‘chosen people.”[14]
From one
perspective, the cornerstones of America apocalyptic pre-existing thinking had
been firmly laid with its colonisation, from the other, cold war propaganda
built upon these foundations of religious beliefs to structure the ‘American
Fear’ of the apocalypse.
So how
did this ‘American Fear’ grip the rest of the world?
The
Americanisation of the World
In 1933,
Franklin Roosevelt famously said, “Americans had nothing to fear but fear
itself.” Later he listed ‘Freedom from
fear’[15]
as one of the basic tenet of American values. Ironically fear now bored into
the American psyche with its own actions on August 6, 1945, by dropping of the
first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Immediately
following the attack, radio commentators started speculating on America’s own
vulnerability to this kind of device. Newspapers started to feed the states
anxiety with articles about the effects of the atomic bombs used upon the
Japanese. Thereafter, the nuclear theme was never absent from culture.[16]
This event monopolised the Armageddon world end myth into popular culture more
than any other single incident.
“When they reported the
news of the first atomic bomb, newspapers all over the country speculated that
the unprecedented power of this made-in-America weapon might some day be turned
against its own homeland. That’s when the United States began turning into a
national security state.”[17]
November 1945, Life Magazine scared the hell out of
America with an article entitled The
Thirty Six Hour War, showing a terrifying pictorial representation of New
York after an atomic bomb had theoretically destroyed it. [18]
Thus began the transformation of
America into a paranoid nation with the introduction of new government agencies
(such as the Central Intelligence Bureau) their mandate solely aimed at
homeland security.
“The cold war
ideology of containment blinded us to the ways we endanger ourselves. It taught
us to live in fear of a danger that always comes from a foreign threat “out
there” beyond our boarders. That’s an unquestioned principal of homeland
INsecurity state.”[19]
The
images of a dead planet were now ever present in the minds of Americans the
1950s. In accordance with their self-assessed concept of being the ‘chosen
people’ they had already determined it was preferable to have a dead planet,
than be an island floating in a red sea.[20]
The
American Fear
Many American historians will
count this ‘American Fear’ as intrinsic to their country. I argue that due to
the proliferation of this fear through the American cultural invasion and
highly successful American Foreign policy, meant that America no longer held a
monopoly on their fear of the nuclear bomb, because it had been transmogrified
into a ‘Global Fear.’ “This obsessive preoccupation with security, I shall
argue, influenced American culture no less than it did US foreign relations.”[21]
This was achieved initially
through numerous arts activities sponsored by the C.I.A and through an
international cultural invasion by American television and films[22].
These programmes promulgated propaganda and rhetoric through a period of
Science Fiction narratives, issues such as alien invasion, (symbolising the
communists invading) or nuclear horrors (i.e. giant, man eating ants in the
1954 classic Them), all symbolising
the end of civilisation.[23]
Felicia Feaster writes: “The Apocalyptic Cinema origins can be found in the
fallout of the Cold War with its moral extremes of a world divided into good
(democracy) and evil (communism).[24]
The Apocalypse and Religion
The success of
apocalyptic narratives is based on the religious foundations of the Armageddon
myth. During the cold war the narrative cast off its religious cloak assuming a
new layer of meaning with the introduction of the nuclear bomb. This had a
lasting impact on the genre, and is when it became part of the common vernicle
to call it the ‘apocalypse.’ The Christians introduced this concept to the
western world as a vehicle into utopia (or heaven).
Apokalypisis[25]
is the Greek word for ‘revelation’; because of the Christian connation to the
Book of Revelation, it seems a natural progression for the two, ‘Armageddon;’
and ‘apocalypse’ to become conflated.
“Some rapture Christians go further and
actually yearn for nuclear war because they interpret it as the ‘Armageddon’
which, according to their bizarre but disturbingly popular interpretation of
the book of Revelation, will hasten the Second Coming.”[26]
Half of the present day American
population believes this scenario as part of the cultural religious dogma.[27]
As such, Christian faith energises the ‘world end’ myth into the apocalyptic
cinema form, and its prevalence today continues in both fact and fiction.
Christopher Sharrett states: “Apocalyptic mythology usually embodying in a
terminal nuclear metaphor, has seeped into the very zeitgeist of contemporary
cinema.”[28]
The Christian myth of man-made ‘utopias’ and of the
apocalypse also introduced a new concept of faith-based violence[29].
This interpretation of Christian doctrine became responsible for some of the
most violent ethnic cleansings as recorded in humanities long bloody history.
WRITING WITHIN THE APOCALYPTIC GENRE
Archetypes
In this chapter I will examine
the concept of ‘Utopia’ and discuss the precepts of ‘dystopia’ and their equal
relationship within apocalyptic cinema, as I will discuss in the next chapter.
‘[George Miller says] Those of use who did Mad Max I were the
unwitting servants of the collective unconscious, we definitely were, and for
someone who was fairly mechanistic in his approach to life, for whom everything
conformed to the laws of physics and chemistry, it is quite comforting for me
to be suddenly made aware of the workings of mythology and I’m in wonder of it.’[30]
What is an
archetype and why does it work? According to Edinger, there are two aspects of
archetypes mechanics. Firstly, from a Jungian psychological perspective, an
archetype is a pattern that we collectively recognise. The other aspect is that
an archetype is a dynamic agency; a
living psychic organism that inhabits ‘our’ collective psyche. [31]
‘…Archetypes live themselves out in whatever psychic stuff they can
appropriate; they are like devouring mouths – finding little egos they can
consume, and then living out those egos.’ [32]
Utilising a
familiar ‘archetype’, such as the Armageddon myth for Fallout is extremely helpful to an audience, where they recognise a
particular story shape or hero (pattern), crossing cultural divides. It means
the story has already been told in multiple variations, and disposes of the
need for any exposition. As Edinger proposes ‘…So, one does not even have to be
consciously “religious” to be possessed by the sacred power of archetypal reality.”
[33]
As was the case
of Writer/Director/Producer, George Lucas and his phenomenally successful Star Wars franchise, and Dr George
Miller of Mad Max trilogy, who both
utilised Joseph Campbell’s archetype manual, Hero with a Thousand Faces.[34]
Science, Science Fiction, Hollywood and the problems with Science Fiction Cinema
‘The notion of ‘apocalypse’ has been
bastardised and appropriated across many field in contemporary Western thought,
especially in popular culture during the latter half of this century. It is a
term used indiscriminately to connote and conflate, amongst others, notions of
‘anarchy,’ ‘chaos,’ ‘entropy,’ ‘nihilism,’ catastrophe,’ and ‘doomsday,’ yet by
removal from it original mytho-religious association it assumes a randomly
clichéd definition.”[35]
Science Fiction
is one of the most popular genres in cinema, after drama, but it is presented
in American cinema in an altered form from its original genesis. It is no
longer about technological advances but rather, more about the visual effects.
“Devoid of any direct mythological
hermeneutic, contemporary secular fears of impending global disaster are based
on technological/ecological estimates and projections with metaphors dredged
out of pre-existing popular culture in order to grant expression to the imagery
of the unthinkable.” [36]
In definition,
“…The label science fiction suggests a hybrid form, not quite ordinary fiction,
not quite science, yet partaking of both…Yet its startlements are normally
based either on possible scientific advance, or on a natural or social change,
or on a suspicion that the world is not as it is commonly represented.”[37]
‘The ability of science fiction to
re-envision the world is based on several of its intrinsic qualities. Foremost
of these qualities is that science fiction is self-understood as dealing with
new things’ [38]
Current Science
Fiction cinema now seems to present a visual representation of the world, that
is awe-inspiring and yet empty. Technological developments in cinema mean that
the genre has lost its ‘edge’ and is inherently more about entertainment than
Science Fiction, appending to reinforce nationalism and the so-called dead
rhetoric of the cold war. For example, contrast the films, 1980s Blade Runner with the late 1990s Independence Day or Starship Trooper[39]
As critics of
this genre, as Kathy Maio for Fantasy and
Science Fiction magazine reflected as far back as 1995; “when did Science
Fiction films and action films become interchangeable?”[40]
The genre has
also become more suspicious and circumspect, seeking the darker avenues of
science, articulating genuine apprehensions, specifically in the scientific
development of weapons, genetics and nuclear arsenals.[41]
“The apocalypse
addressed in the contemporary cinema shares all the features of our own lives.
In many ways our Science Fiction has caught up
to us and we are living the nightmare previous generations imagined dwelled in
some safely distant future. No longer reassured by fantastic conventions and
safe distance of sci-fi dystopias like Brazil
and Blade Runner, many of these films
have the bitter realism of a recognisable, contemporary world.”[42]
Science Fiction
Cinema seems mostly devoid of any of its original intentions, rather than
introduce any new human ideals or concepts of the future. Indeed the problem
with a lot of films, following the canonized Star Wars franchise as a formulae for success in Hollywood, has
meant that subsequent filmmakers in attempt to emulate its success, keep
regurgitating the old rather than creating a new mythology.[43]
“Armageddon, Deep Impact, Independence Day. These banal artistically
inconsequential Hollywood action films exhibit the fixations of their age, as
did the Communist invasion –paranoia films of the ‘50s and the Dirty
Harry/Charles Bronson vengeance films of the 1970s”[44]
My aim for Fallout is to reinvigorate to the precepts of Science Fiction
Cinema rather than a CGI exquisite corpse.
Utopian/Dystopian Concepts at
Play in Fallout
In writing Fallout, I have used utopian/dystopian ideals as the basis for the
script, as do a substantiate amount of other Science Fiction films. The
perpetrators in Fallout, are the
North Koreans who attack an un-named Western Civilisation.
I selected North Korea because;
at the time of research their country was moving towards becoming a more aggressive
nuclear power. I did not want to use the Soviet Union, the end of the cold war
and the collapse of the Soviet dominion in international politics makes this
premise is unrealistic.
All background specifics in the
screenplay, such as news reports are factual events taken from news
organisations (in this case CNN[45])
that I have used to enhance the credibility of the screenplay.
So do filmmakers utilise the
medium of dystopia so much more than utopian ideals? Sobchack (1993) reminds us
that utopian narrative was appropriate until the dropping of the atom bomb in
1945 proved the destructive capacity of science, thus increasing the popularity
of Science Fiction cinema. Sobchack indicates that this was a way for audiences
to confront their collective fears of this new terrifying science.[46]
“Nightmarish
visions of future or alternative worlds might also appeal to viewers as a way
of making their own worlds, however troubled, seem comparatively benign… Most
mainstream science fiction cinema has the best of both worlds, and films often
go some way towards reconciling the difference between utopian and dystopian
visions.” [47]
Fallout utilises both utopian and dystopian worlds, the interplay
between each realm conjures up the precariousness to characters in their move
from one world to the other. This instability is what interests me as a writer
and is what I think will make the script appeal to audiences in light of 9/11.
I discuss this further in Reinvigoration
of the Apocalyptic Genre.
Writing with Authenticity in Fallout
“In the minutes after the detonation, the
day grew dark, as heavy clouds of dust and smoke filled the air. A whole city
had fallen in a moment, and in and under its ruins were its people.”[48]
Many authors
use the facts from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings to write their
apocalyptic narratives, because there is little in the way of empirical
evidence to base speculative apocalyptic narrative upon.
In my attempt
to bring a sense of authenticity to my script, I researched a wide range of
technical and philosophical text in relation to the hazards of a perceived
nuclear war, so that the science would not be overridden by the narrative in Fallout. In my conclusion I will discuss
I how achieved these modifications in my writings.
My approach to
the writing to Fallout has been to be
as accurate as possible with little or no extrapolation of factual biases. Did
I purposely set out to write it this way? The answer would be no, but the
encountered suggested the dissenting nature of the current apocalyptic genre
from true Science Fiction, it became apparent to me that the genre has lost
it’s edge. So I strive to return to the form, by bringing realism via integrity
to the subject.
As discussed,
the purpose of SF is to explore something inherently new, so therefore we
should define the purpose of apocalyptic cinema in order to relate it to the
sense of authenticity that I wish to portray in my screenplay, especially as
most apocalyptic cinema seems to have a contrived or ‘other’ meaning, which is
unconsciously expressed as hang over from the 1950s.
“ In specific regard to the science fiction genre
Rogin and Torry suggest that anxieties and concerns over the American
“historical narrative” are recuperated by film makers and social scientists for
the purpose of creating dramatic and provocative texts that can be read and
interpreted by audiences… For example, the threat of nuclear warfare and the
faith in institutions to solve emergent and life threatening problems are
relevant to both science fiction filmmakers and scientific accounts provide
‘narrative(s) which dramatically…provoke the reader to think, observe, and to
draw his own abstract conclusions.” [49]
Apocalyptic
cinema seems to have the power to mitigate millennial tension,[50]
though the emphasis of themes from the 1950s and the American’s fear of the
bomb may have migrated to other vehicles now, such as terrorism in the last
decade. But apocalypsism seems to be more than just an expression of fear,
whether that is cosmic fear or nuclear fear, as expressed on celluloid and
paper.
Many people saw
the excesses of society as the raison d'être for World War I and II, and so it
stands to reason that the same sentiment, unchecked would apply to apocalyptic
cinema. Retribution via a bomb, deadly virus or rogue comet will come to make
us pay for our sins.
“These films
often remind us of how caught up with ideas of divine retribution and justice
our ideas about apocalypse are. Almost all of them – whether about a spiritual
or literal apocalypse – suggest…that we deserve the destruction we are about to
receive.” [51]
This seems like
a simplistic approach, certainly a religiously propelled ideal, that whenever
society has a moral or psychological apocalypse of faith, that we can express
it through a literal metaphor of an apocalypse. And there have been many films
that address moral apocalypses, and not by blowing the world up, ie. Taxi Driver and American Beauty.
The problem with Apocalyptic Cinema
In researching
nuclear war and its effects, I found numerous materials which strongly suggest
most apocalyptic cinema is actually a false legacy inherited from the triumphal
narrative promulgated by the cold war and American Foreign Policy, and it is
this falsity that still dominates today. “The traditional American apocalypse is
the result of projection, a transpsychical crisis reflecting the imminent
vengeance of God as the American mission comes to an end and the divine
contract fails.”[52]
The problem is
in the ambiguous nature of war itself. A large proportion of apocalyptic narrative
is hinged on the basis of surviving a nuclear war. However scientific evidence
strongly suggests that this is fiction, but it is one of the driving influences
on why audiences return to this cinema, in the belief that survival is
possible.
There is no
evidence to suggest that there could be a ‘contained nuclear war.’ Jonathan
Schell writes: “Not surprisingly, predictions of the course of an attack are
subject to intellectual fashion (there being nothing in the way of experience
to guide them).”[53]
In describing a ‘contained
nuclear war’ where several cities are destroyed by a limited amount of bombs,
the characters of this fiction then fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic
landscape. Writers that use survival of a nuclear war as their recurrent theme,
hinge their narratives up on the tenuousness of information, as scientific
research indicates that high doses of radiation will cause death anywhere from
hours to days.[54]
“One cannot know in advance of the nuclear
phase of the postulated hostilities, for example, the number of weapons that
any combatant would actually use, the distribution of targets against which
those weapons would be directed, or the number of those weapons that would
reach their targets and detonate successfully.”[55]
Ultimately what
makes the concept of ‘contained nuclear war’ impossibility is one simple fact.
If America and the Soviet Union were to use a nuclear device, they wouldn’t
just use ONE bomb; they would use their entire arsenal, in an automated
response to avoid their system being disabled, and thereby losing the war. This
is the basis of the precept of Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.).
The more realistic scenario made in an attack on 1,200 U.S.
targets with almost 3,000 warheads would result in a large ratio of fallout from
many ground bursts, resulting in an estimated 13 to 34 million people deceased.
The secondary effects in the form of environmental failure to support human
activity, and the number of casualties from exposure, starvation and disease
would be far greater than these figures. The conflagration model predicts up to
56 million dead depending on its radius.[56]
This is the
realistic problem that is not portrayed within the apocalyptic genre.
“In calculating the effects of an all-out attack on
the United States including economic targets and population, and utilising
thousands of megatons would certainly be overkill and regardless of the reports
casualty model, the results would suggest that virtually the entire U.S. urban
population would be killed within the blasts and burns. The surviving rural
population would be quickly extinguished from fallout, radiation illness,
starvation, disease and the inevitable nuclear winter.” [57]
Notice the use of the words
“quickly extinguished” in the last quote. Most writers promulgate characters
that roam around for years after a nuclear war. Impossible, and something I
address in the writing of Fallout.
Additionally, I will examine other filmmakers and their approaches to
apocalyptic narratives and their mitigated attempts to issues discussed.
Other Apocalyptic films navigating ‘real’ issues
Many films fail
on the basis that they promulgate the discredited idea that life can maintain
itself after a nuclear war. One such series I examined with a context similar
to my own story is the Terminator
series (James Cameron).
As a film that
explores themes from the cold war, the original Terminator (1984) seemed to console a post-cold war generation that
the fear of the apocalypse was over. Its successor, Terminator 2, (1991) reiterated “no fate but what we make” but by Terminator 3 (2003) where, in the real
world, we are attempting to reconcile the 9/11 attacks, the narrative of this
film reinvokes the cold war nightmares, which is clearly shown in the films
conclusion, with the protagonists taking refuge inside a remnant cold war
bunker, suggestive that America’s triumphalism is rooted in vestiges of the
cold war.[58]
The way the Terminator series attempts to surmount
the issue of surviving a nuclear war is by endeavouring to re-write the history
books in an Orwellian manner, this is achieved by time travel, which shows that
the ‘incorrect’ future never occurs and solves the problem of the ‘real’. In
fact, even though all three of the Terminator
movies do manage to re-write history several times, the original time strain
that causes the world to end, keeps returning. This serves to deflate the lead
characters’ mantra, (played by Linda Hamilton), “no fate but what we make” and
contextually reminding us we are all naive in believing that the cold war would
end. Ultimately, at the conclusion of the third film, they are unable to change
the future and the world does go up in a cloud of atomic smoke, sinking again
into the ‘problem of the real.’
Some artists
avoid the problem by simply not recognising the nuclear event itself, thus
becoming a dramatic device by the withholding of the author, who is more likely
agnostic on the matter. This is the case in Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road[59]
that shows evidence of a nuclear incident, but never admonishes the
circumstance, also reflected in Michael Haneke’s film Time of the Wolf (2003).
More inventive
solutions to the problem have been redressed, such as Robert C. O’Brien’s book,
Z for Zachariah, which introduces
that a nuclear war has transpires. The main character survives in her valley
paradise because it has always been known for its unusual weather patterns.
Scientifically correct? Unlikely, believable, most definitely.
An important
filmic reference in the writing of Fallout
was a documentary about the cold war but not of the cold war. Peter Watkins
film, The WarGame (BBC, 1965) was a
startling vision of a nuclear future. It won the Academy Award for Best Feature
Documentary in 1966 and yet it was a victim of cold war style censorship.
The production
was banned from screening on television by its maker, the BBC, citing that it
was too disturbing for a television audience. But really it irritated the
British Home Office who was pouring great amounts of money into cold war
propaganda to which this film provided a counter argument.
The film is
centred around a small town in England and the effects of the bomb on its
inhabitants. It illustrates societal chaos, the inadequacy of buildings to
providing any effective shelter and the effects of the detonation on the
people, all facts that Watkins portrays with brutal realism. It tail dives into
the disintegration of society, alongside with the psychological devastation of
the survivors, all based on facts gathered from the horrific bombings of
Dresden, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I used this
documentary as a major resource in my writing, specifically on the aftermaths
of a nuclear bomb and the patients protocol treatment in nuclear triage.
Similarly, I based the ruthlessness of the army in Fallout on Watkins information,
even going so far as to replicate the execution of looters scene in my
screenplay, from The WarGame.
The Psychological Success of the Apocalyptic Genre
In researching
for writing the screenplay I found it was important to look at the psychology
behind the success of this film genre. What keeps an audience coming back to
this genus? What elements appeal to an audience so that I might utilise them in
my writing?
According to
Dodson, post-apocalyptic films brings out in the viewer, the innate sense of
the hero, or heroine. The startling technology that is able to annihilate
everyone on the planet has the opposite effect on audiences through its ability
to empathetically effect humanity in a positive sense, towards a “genuinely
humane way of life.” [60]
Zizek reflects
this fact, but echoes the difficulty in achieving Utopia in life compared to
the ease of attaining it in cinema. What fascinates him is how catastrophe
movies can abruptly unite social co-operation, even ease racial tensions, by citing
the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day
(Roland Emmerich). “The only way to imagine a Utopia of social cooperation is
to conjure a situation of absolute catastrophe. Disaster films might be all
that’s left of the Utopian genre.”[61]
The popularity
underpinning films in this genre is that they speak to us, collectively and
individually. Dodson describes how post-apocalyptic films appeal because of our
current collective social-psychological state.
The crux is that post-apocalyptic
films reveal critical tension in the world we live and that “…In a sense, we
are the real post-apocalyptic heroes whose uncertain drama still remains to
unfold.” [62]
This fact is
reinforced by actor Kurt Russell, in conversation about his disaster movie Poseidon, 2006 (Wolfgang Petersen):
“It gives you kind of a simple, primal
sense of, ‘who’s going to make it?’
Who’s not going to make it?’ And you sort of begin to associate with
certain characters. You say, ‘I’m like that person. I hope I would behave like
the person in that situation”…you pick a survivor. You want to survive.” [63]
I believe that
audiences will find this with all the characters in Fallout. Recognising aspects of themselves in Robert, Gwen and
Anya. We know that someone will most probably die by the end of the film, so we
start to align ourselves with the stronger characters, which in this case is
not protagonist, so its sets an interesting dilemma for the audience regarding
whom to choose.
Dodson
ultimately believes that our fascination with post-apocalyptic films is that we
can revel in our collective wish for world regression whilst expressing our
tendency to recoil at the world’s rapid evolution. [64]
Feaster reminds
us that with the collapse of communism, America was relieved of its ‘cherished
foe’, mudding the waters of good versus evil, with no clear distinction now.
The view she promulgates reflects a darker aspect to humanity in its
fascination of apocalyptic cinema in respect that it informs the chilling
hopelessness of the masochistic post-atomic bomb neurosis of present-day
thought. “This genre of Apocalypse Cinema is characterised by a masochistic
streak which sees final destruction as not only inevitable, but perhaps our
due.” [65]
Reinvigoration of the Apocalyptic Genre
Currently, films and literature
of an apocalyptic nature are incredibly popular again, being fuelled by real
world events. The current terrorist climate that has rekindled childhood cold
war fears, and has influenced my writing of Fallout.
“Post-apocalyptic film appeals to us in part because it speaks to our
modernity, in the face of a new, disconcerting world-tendency that we often
experience as senseless, chaotic and groundless.”[66]
Time magazine asked Mr Abrams, producer
of Cloverfield (2008) what he
believed was behind the enduring popularity of apocalyptic tales:
“Stories in which
the destruction of society occurs are explorations of social fears and issues
that filmmakers, novelists, playwrights and painters have been examining for a
long time. The theory of attack became the reality of attack seven years ago.
It’s no coincidence that so many stories are being told that grapple in
different ways with ‘us vs. them.”[67]
He was of course, referring to
the collapse of the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th
2001. This incident had a massive impact on world politics, in one of the most
‘live’ saturated media events ever; it has sparked a whole new generation of
apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic creative works. From the perspective of the
‘world end myth’ it became its new launching platform, as Grey reflects in his
book Black Mass. “The murder of
thousands of civilians on 11 September 2001 brought apocalyptic thinking to the
centre of American Politics.”[68]
Cold war rhetoric has strongly
influenced our perspective on the events of 9/11. It was only a matter of time
before American millennium beliefs, bereft since the fall of the Soviet Union
returned to a nuclear apocalyptic viewpoint.
American
Christians viewed the events of 9/11 as predicted in the bible so when
President Bush cited biblical passages in his response to 9/11 his popularity
increased.[69]
Is it any wonder then why apocalyptic cinema is so successful?
THE WRITING OF FALLOUT
Moral or Psychological Apocalypse in Cinema
In Fallout, a nuclear apocalypse is used as
a metaphor on several levels. The film, though set against a broad backdrop, is
really about the apocalypse of Robert and Gwen’s relationship, which is the
real tragedy on the personal level. On a broader canvas it is about an
apocalypse of human spirit.
Fallout has broad themes and it needs
the intimate scale of personal tragedies to resonate with the viewers. The
challenge, as a screenwriter, is how to achieve this sentiment without
resorting to the predictable or clichéd.
For the
protagonist, Robert, Fallout is an
exploration of his emotional and psychological apocalypse as well as the
apocalypse of his relationship. This is explored through his character’s arc.
In addition, the apocalyptic city within Fallout
serves as a metaphor for his illness, as we discover Robert is dying of cancer
towards the end of the screenplay.
In exploring
the characters of Fallout, I observed
other films known for exploring moral or psychological apocalypses. Feaster
writes that films of ethical, moral and psychological apocalypse are less sanguine
and rendered with simpler delineations in comparison to films such as Deep Impact and Independence Day. They reflect a cultural and spiritual malaise,
citing character examples such as: “Grand Canyon, Happiness, Clockers, Safe,
Clockwatchers, Neil Labute’s In the
Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbours, Robert
Altman’s California gothic Short Cut’s
and David Fincher’s urban nightmare Se7en,
David Cronenberg’s Crash the film
adaptation of David Rabe’s hyper-cynical stage play, Hurlyburly, and the black comedy American Beauty.”
“While the
literal apocalypse films are optimistic, and shaded with a fascist idea of
trial by fire and sheer will triumphing over seemingly insurmountable
obstacles, the moral apocalypse film offers no such remedy.”[70]
There are no
bombs in this genre, because the enemy is ourselves, and our failure is to find
solutions for everyday woes.
I have combined a moral
apocalyptic film with an Armageddon film and so the question, I must asked
myself is as a writer, from a box office perspective, how successful would an
audience find Fallout? I will discuss
this question further in my conclusion.
Character Development for the Protagonist
In the development of my
screenplay, I have 3 main characters, husband and wife, Robert and Gwen Sherrington,
and the Feral Girl, Anya.
Robert
Robert is a man in his late 30s;
his experience of the cold war was formed in the bleakest periods where Reagan
began an aggressive arms build-up, the largest ever seen in peacetime.
In forming
Robert’s character, I reviewed psychological analyses of the American
population during the cold war period, finding there was a noted psychological
impact, which I assumed for my character’s personality. Americans of the 1950’s
became known as the “silent generation.”[71]
A sociological classic by David Riesman[72]
catalogued a socially timid generation who were known as conformists in a post
war era. The psychological effect on the peoples of America became apparent
within this new security nation. “The psychiatrist, Robert Lifton introduced
the concept of ‘nuclear numbing’ to describe the means for people to continue
on in life, even though the fear was never far from the surface …”[73]
This
psychological impact stills resonates in American today, according to
philosopher, Slavoj Zizek: “Order is something that is not deep rooted [in
America]… It’s superficial and fragile. Something is liable to happen at any
moment, a small disaster might dismantle the social order.”[74]
This research on the impact of the cold war and the paranoia that it bred I utilised in forming Robert, who is essentially paranoid. Robert’s character arc is to develop into a stronger man if he is to survive in the apocalyptic world that he finds himself.
In my early writing of the short story Fallout, I wanted to develop Robert as
an anti-hero, as an avenue for exploring moral ambiguity. However, what arose
in first draft was an angry man, an unsympathetic character, and he had to have
some redeeming characteristic for an audience to find him palatable. For example,
in the popular television series, House,
we follow an unsympathetic character who, for all intents and purposes, is
downright obnoxious. But he has a redeeming quality, which from the audience
perspective is ‘he cares about solving why his patients are sick.’ My
character, Robert, did not have any likeable qualities and hence, at the end of
the script, you cared neither for him and his demise. What I was trying to do was make him
sympathetic to an audience, by presenting him as a flawed character, with whom
they could identify. I introduced the concept that Robert was dying with his
statement early in the script: “As the
parallels between my two worlds draw closer I don’t know which one I will be
lost to first?”
I hope this gives the audience more
empathy for him and is not dissimilar to the character Lester in the feature film American
Beauty, 2001 (Sam Mendes), who announces his death in the film’s prologue.
I made Robert
more flawed in subsequent drafts and also worked on the Syd Field model[75],
which was to develop 4 aspects to a character;
(1) The character has a strong and defined
dramatic need.
Robert’s need
is to escape his perceived fears at all costs, but because of his childhood
traumas, his other dramatic need is not to be alone.
(2) The character must have an individual point
of view;
Robert’s view
of the world is it’s a terrifying place.
(3) The character must personify their attitude;
Robert’s
attitude is, ‘kick me’, which is attested in early scenes with his
confrontation in the car park.
(4) The character must go through some kind of
transformation.
Robert’s
character arc commences as a terrified individual, his character has to grow
and adapt if he is to survive. Fields asks: “What is character but the
determination of incident? And what is incident but a illumination of
character?” [76]
I have spent the majority of time
writing and resolving Robert’s character, as the protagonist, as he was
problematic in the screenplay. I am still concerned about several aspects of
his character 1) being why would Gwen and Anya find him appealing if he is such
a flawed individual and; 2) that I could invest more empathy for him as the
screenplays closes. I would like the audience to experience a poignant moment
as he finally faces his demise, such as Lester
in American Beauty.
The
Wife, Gwen
As Robert’s partner, I looked at
creating a polar opposite for him. In life, when we go into relationship with
someone, it is usually with a person who is opposite in their characteristics
from oneself. So Gwen is the strong character. As Robert’s character developed,
she became more fully formed as his reverse; her character arc was going to be
the opposite of Roberts’. She needed to access the more vulnerable aspects of
her life.
One of the dramatic problems with
Gwen’s character is why would she put up with her husband’s paranoid
activities. In early drafts, Gwen happily goes with her husband into the
desert, because she loves him, and because she knows he’s dying of cancer. I
found that readers didn’t accept this mollifying behaviour, even if she did
love him deeply.
To resolve this issue it became
apparent that she should then become a hostage of her husband’s. Robert forces
his wife at gun point into the car, but something that has always troubled me
about this story decision, was that when Gwen convinces Robert to return to the
city, that she trusts him again. In human nature this kind of trust would need
to be earned again.
In another attempt to circumvent this
problem, in the 7th draft, when Robert surrenders the gun to her,
she gives him a look of distrust, but from the audience perspective this is
tenuous at best.
Another problem occurs when Gwen reads
Robert’s diary, becoming jealous of his fictional affair, which would
ultimately become her evidence of Anya and Robert’s complicit murder plans.
Readers feedback that they did not understand why Gwen would be furious from
reading about Robert and Anya’s love making, lashing out at Anya upon their
return, when Gwen adamantly refuses to accept the fictional world of his
delusions.
It became apparent that I needed to
construct a reason for the audience to accept her motivations. Gwen knows of
Robert’s childhood abuse, but it became obvious she also needs to be
unbalanced. She needed to have her own instability. This would then explain why
she would stick around for such abuse. I have made it apparent that Gwen wants
a child, but by making her a victim of childhood sexual abuse, it would mean
that she is terrified of sex, creating a double bind for her and Robert. By
wanting a child she needs to be intimate with her husband, but by her own
inhibitions she cannot. This would also explain why Robert would possibly seek
sex elsewhere.
This solves the problem of why she
would be insanely jealous of even a perceived fantasy of her husband having sex
with Anya. It also adds another layer of complexity to her character, making
the story more fraught with empathy for both players as victims of their
environment and in facing their own emotional apocalypse separately and
together.
Anya,
the Feral Girl
Anya is around
20 years of age and by describing her as feral I was attempting to make her a
polar opposite from Gwen, but in many ways she is just a much younger version
of Gwen.
The
introduction of The Feral Girl in Fallout
was influenced by Polanski’s Knife in the
Water, (1962). This film explored the sexual tension brought to a married
couples relationship after picking up a hitchhiker. As her character evolved,
she changed several times through the drafts. In the short story, she was in
both worlds, appearing in the ‘real’ world towards the end, but in early
feature drafts she was relegated to only the ‘future’ world. It was problematic
having her in both realms, but I realised by exiling her to the future the
story has lost an aspect of its ingenuity, so I re-introduced her much earlier
into the ‘real world’.
For many drafts
she was known as the Feral Girl who did not speak. This influence came from a
Korean film by Kim-duk Kim’s Bin-jip,
(English translation: “3 Iron” 2004) in which the protagonists hardly uttered a
word in the whole film. I admired its understated quality in a world full of
action with only two silent characters. Due to the scripts complexity, many
drafts later, it became apparent that to increase tension between Robert, Gwen
and Anya, the situation needed to be inflamed with more than her sexuality. I
introduced Anya being able to talk in the ‘real world’ but not the ‘future
world’. I had many challenges in solving the time issues of Anya in both
worlds, which I will discuss in the next chapter.
Issues of Time and Space in Fallout
“Time simultaneously makes the
present pass and preserves the past in itself.
There are, therefore already, two possible time-images, one grounded in
the past, the other in the present. Each is complex and is valid for time as a
whole.”[77]
As
referred to in this quote from Deleuze, one of the more difficult aspects of
the screenplay was the time and space that the characters reside in, especially
in respect to my characters residing in two different time periods, the
‘future’ and the ‘real.
In science
fiction ‘time’ is often a main characteristic and I found it important not
underestimate the audience in their regard to such literal conventions,
certainly from a realism perspective. Many films fall into narrative traps of
‘time travel’ where they ignore the principals of time, or create narrative
devices to allow them to circumvent these problems. Audiences, particularly
fans of the Science Fiction genre are not easily mollified when deceived. Star Trek television franchises have
used ‘time travel’ as a frequent device in their episodes, staying true to the
laws of time and inherent paradoxes to be avoided, to their continued success.
But this is not necessarily the case with all time driven sci-fi endeavours, as
reflected by reviewer Maio in her review of the film TimeCop. “It is clear from the weak plot and time devices used that
the film makers hold the audience’s intelligence in contempt and ‘that they
can’t even manage a simple throw-away line of rationalisation.” [78]
TimeCop which, with it’s laden name
should inspire such literal devices, and yet was lauded for its inherent
ignorance of the laws of time, where the lead character played by Claude Van
Damme, breaks these rules of time, to retrieve his dead family, a law that he
is meant to uphold. The film repeatedly cheats with its linear timeline, not
withstanding that they never tackle issues such as older Claude and his younger
self occupying the same time frame, to the point that the film finishes within
the past, dead wife and son now alive, and yet leaves the fact that the younger
version of himself is floating around, somewhere, unresolved.[79]
One of
the first problems I faced in writing Fallout
was explaining to the reader the different time periods that the characters
reside in. Initially I utilised scene transition phrases such as ‘cut to:’ although this seemed to work,
I still found some people confused about the time and spaces where my
characters resided. I resolved this situation by introducing an author’s note
that initiated the concept of Robert residing in the following worlds.
1)
real
world – which describes the NOW
2)
FUTURE VISION – which describes a possible
future only a few days ahead.
Although successful, this did not explain
periods in which Robert resides in both spaces at the same time, so I
introduced a third explanation.
3) IN-BETWEEN WORLDS – which
describes a mixture between the NOW and the FUTURE; ‘déjà vu’ like.
This
seemed to clarify the narrative. I then used these descriptors as labels for
each scene. For example:
EXT. GWEN AND ROBERT’S BACKYARD – DAY (ORDINARY
WORLD)
The
feedback was that the reader now easily identified where the characters resided
at in any given time or space throughout the script.
Another
issue needing resolution was introducing Anya believably into the ‘real world’
as well as the ‘future vision’. This was difficult to resolve from the
perspective of creating paradoxes and story holes between both time periods.
It was
similar to TimeCop issues of a
character residing 2 time periods at the same time. I had to resolve how Anya
would exist in the ‘future vision’, if she resided in the space known as the
‘real world’, because of the inherent problems of knowing the future as
revealed by our time-travelling Robert.
The
solution was, in the ‘real world’, Robert would incrementally reveal to her the
future, in a way that would build tension, as a device to control her and
convince Anya of future threat awaiting her if she returns. As Robert crosses
back and forth between both worlds he builds his knowledge of the feral girl,
then in the ‘real world’, he uses this knowledge to build his relationship with
Anya.
The
opposite was also true of Anya not revealing the past to the ‘time travelling’
Robert in the ‘future vision’. This was
resolved by having her knocked on the head during the attack, she suffers from
aphasia making her lose the power of speech.
Because
of the complexity of the layers between the 3 time periods I needed to compose
a chart to break the story down - see Figure (A). This chart solved many
inherent problems for working with the different time periods of Fallout.
VISUAL STYLE
As a
writer it is important to connote an expression of visual style for the written
piece, even though it’s film I would envisage making myself. The question of
visual style is an important consideration for Fallout, because of the disparity of worlds as identified, and for
clarification of the ‘big print’ descriptions.
The
visual difference between the ‘real world’ and the ‘future vision’ of Fallout is important so as to not
conflate the views of the two distinct hemispheres in audiences mind. There are
numerous examples in which this has been done successfully in cinema, which I
will examine now.
Wim
Wenders 1986 film Wings of Desire is
an example of two distinct visual styles, with the realm of the spirits and
angels displayed in black and white as opposed to the sensuous world of
embodied beings in colour. The effect is similar to Michael Powell’s World War
II fable A Matter of Life and Death
(1946). But unlike Wings of Desire in
which Berlin is displayed in harsh, uncertain tones of colour, the pilot in A Matter of Life and Death falls into a
beautiful coloured world of England.
In Sam Fuller’s
1963 Shock Corridor we see a cacophony
of contextual colour sequences used to differentiate the three narratives in
this film, which is an “allegory to the psychoses lying beneath the surface of
American post-war culture …There are three short colour episodes in the film
that denote different psychotic episodes.” [80]
Sergei
Eisenstien’s use of colour in conveying emotion in his unfinished trilogy of Ivan the Terrible is notable where ‘the
atmosphere of treachery, conspiracy and paranoia is etched in a thin grey light
and long black shadows.” [81]
The great feast is displayed in livid reds and gold as the guests (and Tsar’s
enemies) fall over each other in wine, song and dance. The saturated colour
conveys the excess of the event wonderfully, but as the party ends and the
crowd moves to the cathedral, the colour drains away revealing the conspirators
plot. The final scene shows him secure in his throne and crown, where colour
has returned.
A recent
example of film with striking composition in its visual style is Pleasantville (1998). This film utilises
the palette effectively as a medium to the narrative, portraying two
contemporary American teenagers who live in a technicolour urban world of
1990’s, being sucked into a 1950’s black and white melodrama. As the pair
influence the 1950’s fictionalise reality, people and items indiscriminately
start to become ‘coloured.’ The inference alluding to connotations of racism
and bigotry as a subtext of the film.
Although I
cannot envisage utilising a black and white view opposed to a coloured
perspective for Fallouts worlds, it would certainly create two
distinct hemispheres for Fallout’s
narrative. I have considered the use of colour as in
Steven Soderbergh’s film Traffic,
which has a simplistic palette of warm colours opposed to cool colours, for the
different stories in the film’s narrative. While effective, it conveys too much
awareness of the filmmaker’s contrivances, making the audience conscious of the
nature of film and photography in its production, rather than immersing
themselves in the linear narrative.
Textually I
find the visual style of A Matter of Life
and Death appealing, with the
‘real world’ being technicolour, particularly in its advantages as a treatment
of the Australian landscape, juxtaposed against a grainy cacophony of colours
in the ‘future vision’. As an
area to address in future drafts, I need to consider how to introduce this
visual style to the written descriptions of the worlds.
CONCLUSION
Areas of Development, Budget and Production within Australia for Fallout
Fallout would obviously not be the
easiest story to produce within Australia. The Australian film industry does
not have a history of success within the genre of Science Fiction that is
initiated here, as opposed to international production shot in Australia. This
seems at odds with an industry that regularly supports international
productions, as we have the crews to produce the films and award-winning visual
effects companies in Australia now, and have coped with many international
feature film productions and Science Fiction television series such as Farscape from 1999 to 2003.
Although not
considered a wise choice for writing a script for an Australian marketplace, I
wanted to work within my favourite genre. Although its a bleak vision of the
future, it does not fall within the more popular ‘funded’ category of gritty
Australian dramas, such as recent examples, Home
Song Stories, 2007 (Tony Ayres) and Romulus
my Father, 2008 (Richard Roxburgh). Traditionally, Australia has not been
known as a genre production environment for Australian content, where there
have been few examples of Science Fiction in Australia. Thirst (1979) was an early genre film made here, followed by the Mad Max Trilogy (1979, 1981 and 1985
respectively). In the wake of these franchised successes it was followed by Starship, Dead End Drive-In, Time
Guardian and Sons of Steel all to
mixed success. Alex Proyas made his low budget Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds in 1989, before moving
to the American scene for success with The
Crow, Dark City and I, Robot. Rolf
de Heer made Epsilon with Film
Finance Corporation funding in 1997 and Stuart Gordon’s Fortress, (1993) was partly funded by Village Roadshow and shot at
Movieworld in Queensland as an Australian/US co-funded production, which did
not capture audiences imagination, failing to recoup almost half of its $12
million budget in America.[82]
Unfortunately there has been little genre production in Australia that is
Australian initiated, since the late 1980s, with the exception of Zone 39 (1996), Terrain and Epsilon (1997)
and Freedom Deep in 1998. Our studios
now seem to be a beacon for mostly American productions, well cashed up and
ready to save on our lower production costs.
I believe Fallout is an appealing, psychological
drama that is accessible to a broader audience base, either in Australian and
internationally.
Changes to the script
I have
identified changes that need to be made to the film, if it was to be made in
Australia. I have also considered that these changes may be appropriate anyway
to give the film a more ‘honest’ connection to the genre of Science Fiction and
less CGI apparentness, in relation to the discussion of the ‘problem with
Science Fiction genre.’
Predominately
these changes would constitute scaling back the effects shots.
The bomb scene
near the beginning could be minimised so that expensive effects laden shots,
such as the collapsing building were removed. I think the scene could be
executed effectively by concentrating on the actor’s ability to carry the drama
without the cost of the visual effects. This would reduce the budget
drastically and minimally affect the scope of the film.
Audience
In answering
the question I posed within Character,
I discuss my combining of a moral apocalyptic film with an Armageddon film. As I
writer, do I believe that the film will be successful, from a critical and
audience perspective?
As no one can
predict audience reaction, I can only hope that the film will appeal to a
cross-section of an educated audience combined with action/adventure cinemagoers,
with a demographic constituting anywhere from 16 year olds to 50 years. With
the possible motivations of it being a visual effects vehicle and a dramatic
film could bridge the gap. I would like to achieve the same audience resonance
felt in films such as Australia’s Lantana
or American Beauty, where the
protagonist dies at its conclusion, but it was about the place he reached
before this death that gave the film its appeal. If changes were necessary to
the script it would be to achieve this resonance.
I have tried to
avoid obvious contrivances such as Chris Gorak’s film Right at Your Door, which was hung on a gimmicky ending that didn’t
work, but tried to achieve the same audience that I believe Fallout, seeks to engage.
It has been fed
back to me that this film feels very Australian. It is possibly a good thing
that this film may be made here, subject to budget restriction. But if the film
was made in America, I believe that it could transfer effectively.
In any event I
feel confident that Fallout would
work for an international audience. I will conclude with a discussion on my
solving the problem of ‘the real’ within Fallout,
whilst delivering the same dramatic premise of the ‘other’ current VFX/CGI
vehicles and staying true to Science Fiction genre.
Solving the issue of reality in the Apocalypse narrative within Fallout
Fallout was originally based on an all out cold war, M.A.D.
scenario.
In early drafts it also fell prey
to the impossibility of a ‘contained nuclear war’, as my character attempted to
escape one nuclear bomb, not many. My research has given me the knowledge to circumvent this problem, whilst adding
dramatic premise and staying true to my ideals of Science Fiction as opposed to
just CGI for Hollywood sake. So rather than having a single atomic explosion at
the beginning of the story, it changed into a more conventional bombing attack,
similar to that of 9/11 and the English tube attacks of 2005 (if there was
anything conventional about these events). This added a sense of realism and
authenticity to the story.
Similarly, I also had the image
of the big bomb repeatedly dropping, In restricting this occurrence, having it
once, as the stories ends, it gives the narrative much more impact as well as
becoming a natural conclusion, whilst solving the issue of reality versus a
cold war induced fantasy.
Re-writing Fallout as to not fall prey to the nature of problematic Science Fiction and apocalyptic genre blockbuster, I hope to imbue the story with the level of authenticity. By withholding the explosion of the nuclear bomb until the end of my script, I circumnavigate the problems of other filmmakers, who either ignore or ‘direct’ around such issues. By staying true to emergency situations as shown by my research, I have built a powerful, but realistic premise of a capital city under attack, followed by the retribution of a nuclear response at its conclusion. This is the authenticity I was seeking in my story telling. Fallout, I believe, will sit comfortably within the peripheries of this genre for all the reasons described in detail within this document.
My research has
been instrumental in shaping my writing journey. It has given me the
opportunity to miniaturise the horrific world of the apocalypse into a personal
experience so that we, as the audience, can absorb and be affected by it,
rather than be numbed by the expansiveness of such an event.
In closing, for
better or worse the apocalyptic myth is here to stay in Western Culture. In
current movies about the apocalypse, the bombs might be fancier, the technology
more blinding, and the manner of death more gruesome! But the fact remains the
same, its all hinges on the pivotal principal that some believe the world is
going to end, one day, and this fear is consistently re-invigorated by a cycle
of real events followed by fictionalise versions that only a real Armageddon
(or apocalypse) could disrupt.
David Moore
00 March 2008
Batchelor, David, Chromophobia Reaktion Books Ltd, London.
2000.
Boyer. Paul S Fear,
Security and the Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and
Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
Bradley. James Tracing
the Final Countdown .The Age
Newspaper page 14, A2 Holiday Edition, Dec 28-29, 2007,
Brooker, Will. Edited by The Blade Runner Experience: The Legacy of a
Science Fiction Classic, Wallflower Press. Great Britain. 2005.
Burns, Alex. Review of
Slaughterhouse, Richard text “The
Foresight Principal: Cultural Recovery in the 21st Century” Westport, CT:
Prager and London: Adamantine Press Ltd., 1995. Disinformation 22 October 2002 http://www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id1951/pg1/.
Campbell, Joseph Hero with a Thousand Faces Princeton
University Press, New Jersey. 1949
Carrier, George. F. PH.D. “The
Medical Implications of Nuclear War: “Nuclear Winter: The State of the Science
by Harvard University” Institute of Medicine 1986 National Academy of Sciences,
National Academy Press http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=136.
Chernus, Ira. September 11,
Katrina, and the Cold War Legacy Published
on Saturday, September 10, 2005 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0910-30.htm,
Daugherty, William. Levi,
Barbara, PH.D and Von Hippel, Frank, PH.D, Princeton University The Medical Implications of Nuclear War:
Casualties Due to the Blast, Heat and Radioactive Fallout from Various
Hypothetical Nuclear Attacks on the United States. University of London
Institute of Medicine 1986 National Academy of Sciences, National Academy
Press, Washington. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=207
Dawkins, Richard The
God Delusion, Black Swan, Great Britain, 2006
Deleuze, Gilles, The Time-Image Translated by Hugh
Tomlinson and Robert Galeta 989 - University of
Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1989, this edition 1997
Dodson, Dr. Eric Post Apocalyptic Films & The Postmodern
Apocalypse http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson-postapocalyptic.html
Doyle,
Thomas M. Competing Fictions: The Uses of
Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fiction Works http://www.mille.org/publications/winter2001/Newtwo.pdf.
Earl, Hortsman, Joey The Other Side 1997 Cengage Learning.
Gale Document Number A20818922
Edinger, Edward F. Archetype
of the Apocalypse: Divine Vengeance, Terrorism and the End of the World
Open Court Publishing Company. United State of America, first published 1999,
Paperback edition 2002.
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion: apocalypse cinema at the
end of the millennium Art Papers v 23 no6 Nov/Dec
1999. p. 20-7PY
Field, Syd. Screenplay – The Foundations of Screenwriting Dell Publishing, New
York, first pub. 1979, this edition 1984
Friedlander, Saul Visions of Apocalypse: End or Rebirth New
York Molmes and Meier, New York. 1985
Germain, David The Lure of ‘Poseidon’: Why We Love Disaster
Movies http://www.livescience.com/environment/ap_060512_poseidon.html
Ging,
Debbie The
Politics of Sound and Image: Eisenstein, Artifice and Acoustic Montage in
Contemporary Feminist Cinema Source:
Critical Studies, The Montage Principle. Edited by Jean Antoine-Dunne with
Paula Quigley. Publisher: Rodopi http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rodopi/crst/2003/00000021/00000001/art00007
Gray, John Black Mass, Apocalyptic religion and the death of Utopia Penguin
Books, London. 2007
Hejduk, John. Such Places as Memory Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.1998
www.imdb.com
Katovich, Michael A. and Kinkade
Patrick T., The Stories told in Science
Fiction and Social Science: Reading The Thing and
Other Remakes From Two Eras The Sociological Quarterly
Vol.34/no.4/1993 Texas Christian University http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1993.tb00109.x
Keegan, Rebecca Winters Cloverfield: Godzilla Goes 9/11 http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1704356,00.html
Kincaid, Paul On the origins of genre http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?=IAC-Documents=retrieve=T002=EAIM=A114521912=gale=unimelb=1.0>.
King, Geoff and Krzywinska,
Tanya Science Fiction Cinema
Wallflower Press, Great Britain. 2000
Krenn, Michael L. Fallout Shelters for the Human Spirit,
American Art and the Cold War The University of North Carolina Press,
United States. 2005
Maio, Kathi. The Wrong Way to Make Thing Right
Fantasy & Science Fiction. March 1995, Vol.88 Issue 3, page 80. 6 pages
Martin-Jones, David Deleuze, Cinema and National Identity –
Narrative Time in
National Contexts Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh. 2006
National Contexts Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh. 2006
McCarthy, Cormac The Road Picador, London. 2000
Milojevic, I., and Inayatullah,
S. Futures dreaming outside and on the
margins of the western world. (Essay). Futures 35.5 (June 2003): 493(15). Expanded
Academic ASAP. Gale. University of Melbourne Library. Accessed 30 Apr. 2008
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A100808995&source=gale&userGroupName=unimelb&version=1.0
Moran, Albert. Vieth,
Errol Film in Australia: an Introduction Cambridge
University Press, Port Melbourne, Australia. 2006.
Natural Resources Defence Council http://www.nrdc.org/
O’Brien, Robert C. Z for Zachariah Puffin Books. United Kingdom.
1975
Riesman. David The Lonely Crowd, Yale University Press,
London 2001
Rotblat, Joseph., PH.D The Medical Implications of Nuclear War:
Nuclear Winter: Acute Radiation Mortality in a Nuclear War University of
London Institute of Medicine National Academy of Sciences, National Academy
Press. Washington. 1986. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=233
Schell, Jonathan Fate of the Earth Pan Books, London 1982
Sharrett, Christopher. edited by Crisis Cinema The apocalyptic idea in post-modern narrative film Washington, D.C. : Maisonneuve Press, 1993.
Shepherdon K.J, Simpson,
Philip. Utterson, Andrew “Film Theory,
Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies” Routledge. New York. 2004
Watkins, Peter. Films of http://www.mnsi.net/~pwatkins/warGame.htm
Wyndham, John. “The Day of the Triffids” Penguin,
London. 1951
Wyndham, John. The Chrysalids 1955 Penguin, London.
1951
Yuran, Noam. Disaster movies and the last remnants of
Utopia http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=251684
Filmography
American Beauty (US/1999) Written by: Alan Ball Directed by: Sam Mendes
Armageddon (US/1998) Written by: Jonathan
Hensleigh (screenplay) and J.J. Abrams (screenplay) Robert Roy Pool (story) and
Jonathan Hensleigh (story) Tony Gilroy (adaptation) and Shane Salerno (adaptation) Directed by: Michael Bay
Beginning or the End, The (US/1947) Written by: Robert Considine (story) & Frank Wead (writer) Directed
by: Norman Taurog
Bin-jip (3 Iron) (Korea/Japan/2004) Writer/Director: Kim-duk Kim
Blade Runner, (US/Singapore 1982) Written by: Hampton Fancher and David
Webb Peoples Based on Philip K. Dick (novel Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) Directed by: Ridley Scott
Brazil (UK/1985) Written
by: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown Directed
by: Terry Gilliam
Children of Men (Japan/UK/USA2006) Written by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J.
Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and
Hawk Ostby
Based on the Novel by P.D. James (novel The Children of Men) Directed by : Alfonso Cuaron
Based on the Novel by P.D. James (novel The Children of Men) Directed by : Alfonso Cuaron
Clockers (US/1995) Written by:
Richard Price and Spike Lee Based on the book by: Richard Price Directed
by: Spike Lee
Clockwatchers (US/1997) Written by: Jill
Sprecher and Karen Sprecher Directed by: Jill Sprecher
Cloverfield (US/2008 ) Written by: Drew
Goddard Directed by : Matt Reeves
Cold War and Beyond, The (US/2003 ) A Chronicals Group Inc.
Production
Crash (Canada/UK/1996) Written by: David
Cronenberg (written by)
Based on the book by: J.G. Ballard (book) Directed by: David Cronenberg
Based on the book by: J.G. Ballard (book) Directed by: David Cronenberg
Crow, The (US/1994 ) Based on the comic
book series by James O'Barr Written by: David J. Schow and John Shirley Directed
by: Alex Proyas
Day of the Triffid (UK /1962 ) Written by:
Bernard Gordon and Philip Yordan (front for Bernard Gordon) John Wyndham’s (novel)
Directed by : Steve Sekely and Freddie Francis (uncredited)
Day After, The (US/1983
Telemovie) Written by: Edward Hume Directed by:
Nicholas Meyer (1983)
Day After Tomorrow, The (US/2004) Written
by: Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey
Nachmanoff Based on the story by Roland Emmerich Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Dead-End Drive In (Australia/1986) Writers:
Peter Carey and Peter Smalley Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Deep Impact (US/1998) Written by: Bruce
Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin Directed by: Mimi Leder
Epsilon (Australia/Italy/1997)
Writer/Director: Rolf de Heer
Freedom Deep (Australia/1997) Directed by: Aaron
Stevenson
Fortress (USA/Australia/1993) Story by: Troy
Neighbors, Steven Feinberg Written by: Troy Neighbors, Steven
Feinberg, David Venable and Terry Curtis Fox Directed by: Stuart Gordon
Grand Canyon (US/1991) Written by:
Lawrence Kasdan and Meg Kasdan Directed
by: Lawrence Kasdan
Happiness (US/1998) Writer/Director:
Todd Solondz
Himmel über Berlin, Der (Wings of
Desire) (West Germany/France/1987) Written by:
Richard Reitinger Story by: Peter Handke and Wim
Wenders
Home Song Stories (Australia/Sinagpore/2007) Writer/Director: Tony Ayres
House (US/2004/Television Series) Creator: David Shore
Hurlyburly (US/1998) Written by: David Rabe Directed by:
Anthony Drazan
I am Legend (US/2007 ) Screenplay by Mark
Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman Based on the Novel by Richard Matheson Director:
Francis Laurence
I, Robot (US/2004)
Suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov Written by:
Jeff Vintar, Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman Director: Alex Proyas
Independence Day (US/1996) Written by: Dean
Devlin and Roland Emmerich Directed by: Roland Emmerich
In the Company of Men (Canada/US/1997) Writer/Director: Neil
LaBute
Ivan Groznyy I (Ivan the Terrible) (USSR/1944) Writer/Director: Sergei Eisenstien
Lantana (Australia/2001) Based on the play by Andrew Bovell Written
by: Andrew Bovell Directed by: Ray Lawrence
Logan’s Run (US/1976)
Written by: David Zelag
Goodman Based on the Novel by: William F. Nolan Logan's Run & George Clayton Johnson novel Logan's Run Directed by: Michael
Anderson
Mad Max (Australia/1979) Based on the story by: George Miller and Byron Kennedy Written by: James McCausland and George Miller Directed by: George Miller
Matter of Life and Death, A (UK/1946) Written
by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Directed by:
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Nóz w wodzie (Knife in the Water) (Poland/1962) Story by: Jakub Goldberg & Roman Polanski Written by:
Jerzy Skolimowski Directed by: Roman Polanski
Pleasantville (US/1998) Writer/Director: Gary Ross
Poseidon (US/2006) Based on the novel by
Paul Gallico Written by: Mark
Protosevich Directed by:Wolfgang Petersen
Resident Evil: Extinction (US/2007 ) Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson Director: Russell Mulcahy
Right at Your Door (US/2006 ) Writer/Director Chris Gorak
Romulus my Father (Australia/2008) Based
on the Memoir by: Raimond Gaita Written by: Nick Drake Directed by: Richard Roxburgh
Safe (UK/US/1995) Writer/Director:
Todd Haynes
Se7en (US/1995) Written by:
Andrew Kevin Walker Directed by: David Fincher
Shock Corridor (US/1963) Writer/Director: Sam Fuller’s
Short Circuit (US/1986) Written by:
Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson Directed
by: John Badham
Short Cut’s (US/1993) Written by: Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt Based
on the writings of: Raymond Carver Directed by:
Robert Altman
Sons of Steel (Australia/1989) Writer/Director:
Gary L. Keady
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds
(Australia/1989)
Writer/Director: Alex Proyas
Starship (Australia/UK/1985) Writers: Roger Christian and Matthew
Jacobs Director: Roger Christian
Starship Trooper (US/1997) Based on the book: Robert A. Heinlein Written by:
Edward Neumeier Directed by: Paul
Verhoeven
Star Trek (US/1966 Television
Series) Producer: Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek: The Next Generations (US/1987/Televison Series) Creator:
Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek: Voyager(US/1993/Televison Series) Creator: Rick Berman, Michael Piller and
Jeri Taylor
Star Trek : Deep Space 9 (US/1995/Televison Series) Creator: Rick Berman and Michael Piller
Star Wars (US/1977) Written/Directed
by George Lucas
Sunshine (UK/US/2007 ) Written by: Alex
Garland
Director: Danny Boyle;
Taxi Driver (US/1976) Written by: Paul Schrader Directed by: Martin
Scorsese
Terrain (Australia/TV/1987) Writer/Director:Terry
Kyle
Terminator
(US/1984)
Written by:
James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd Based on Harlan Ellison’s (The Outer
Limits teleplays Soldier and Demon with a Glass Hand) originally
uncredited Directed by: James Cameron
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (US/1991) Written by: James Cameron and William Wisher Jr Directed by: James Cameron
Terminator 3: Judgement Day (US/2003) Written
by: John D. Brancato (as John
Brancato) and Michael Ferris Story by: John D. Brancato (as John
Brancato), Michael Ferris and Tedi Sarafian Based on characters by: James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd Directed
by: Jonathan Mostow
Testament, (US/1983) Written by: Carol
Amen (story) & John Sacret Young (screenplay) Directed by: Lynne
Littman
Them (US/1954) Written by: Ted Sherdeman (screenplay) Russell S.
Hughes (adaptation) (as Russell Hughes) and George Worthing Yates (story) Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Thirst (Australia/1979) Written
by: John Pinkney Directed by:Rod Hardy
TimeCop (US/Japan/1994) Written by: Mark Verheiden Story by: Mike Richardson
and Mark Verheiden Directed by: Peter Hyams
Time Guardian, The (Australia/1987) Writers: John Baxter and Brian Hannant Director:
Brian Hannant
Time of the Wolf (France/Austria/Germany/2003) Writer/Director:
Michael Haneke
Traffic (Germany/US/2000) Written by: Stephen Gaghan
and Simon Moore (miniseries: Traffik)
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
WarGames, (US/1983) Written
by: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes and Walon Green
(uncredited) Directed by: John
Badham
War Game, The (UK/BBC/1965) Writer/Director: Peter Watkins
War of the Worlds (US/2005) Based on the novel by H.G. Wells Written by: Josh Friedman and David Koepp Directed by: Steven Spielberg
WestWorld, (US/1973) Writer/Director: Michael Crichton
Wizard of Oz (US/1939) Written by: Noel
Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf Adaptation by: Noel Langley Based
on the Novel by: L. Frank Baum Directed by:
Victor Fleming and Mervyn LeRoy (uncredited)
Richard Thorpe (footage unused and completely reshot) (uncredited) King
Vidor (Kansas scenes) (uncredited)
Your Friends and Neighbours (US/1998) Writer/Director: Neil
LaBute
Zone 29 (Australia/1996)
Written by: Deborah Parsons Directed by: John Tatoulis
[1]
Hejduk, John Such Places as Memory,
Poems 1953-1996 ‘Atomic Light’, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
1998. Page 60
[2]
King. Geoff & Krzywinska, Tanya SF
Cinema Wallflower Press, 2000. Great Britain. Page 16
[3]
Doyle Thomas M. Competing Fictions: The
Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fiction Works
http://www.mille.org/publications/winter2001/Newtwo.pdf.
Page 40
[4]
Martin-Jones, David Deleuze, Cinema
and National Identity – Narrative Time in National Contexts Edinburgh
University Press Ltd, Edinburgh. 2006. Page 156
[5]
ibid
[6]
Brooker, Will.’Edited by, The Blade Runner Experience: The Legacy of a
SF Classic Wallflower Press. Great Britain. 2005. Page 38
[7]
Friedlander, Saul Visions of
Apocalypse: End or Rebirth New York Molmes and Meier, New York. 1985 Page
3-4
[8]
The Cold War and Beyond DVD A Chronicals Group Inc. Production 2003
[9]
Robert C. O’Brien “Z for Zachariah” Puffin Books, United Kingdom, 1975
[10]
Wyndham, John The Day of the
Triffids Random House, New York. 1951
[11]
Wyndham, John “The Chrysalids” Penguin, Great Britain, 1955
[12]
All film reference http://www.imdb.com
[13]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[14]
Gray, John Black Mass, Apocalyptic
religion and the death of Utopia Penguin Books, London. 2007 page 112
[15]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[16]
ibid
[17]
Chernus,
Ira. September
11, Katrina, and the Cold War Legacy Published
on Saturday, September 10, 2005 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0910-30.htm,Ira Chernus is Professor of
Religious Studies at the University of Colorado
[18]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[19]
Chernus, Ira. September 11,
Katrina, and the Cold War Legacy Published
on Saturday, September 10, 2005 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0910-30.htm, Ira Chernus is Professor of
Religious Studies at the University of Colorado
[20]
ibid
[21]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[22]
Krenn, Michael L. Fallout Shelters
for the Human Spirit, American Art and the Cold War The University of North
Carolina Press, United States. 2005. Page 58
[23]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art-Papers,
v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7:
[24]
ibid
[25]
Edinger, Edward F. Archetype of the
Apocalypse: Divine Vengeance, Terrorism and the End of the World Open Court
Publishing Company. United State of America, first published 1999, Paperback
edition 2002. Page 2
[26]
Dawkins, Richard The God Delusion,
Black Swan, Great Britain, 2006. Page 341
[27]
Dawkins, Richard The God Delusion,
Black Swan, Great Britain, 2006. Page 341 quoting Sam Harris’s “Letter to Christian”
[28] Sharrett, Christopher. Edited by Crisis Cinema The apocalyptic idea in post-modern narrative film Washington, D.C. Maisonneuve Press, 1993. Page 256
[29]
Gray, John Black Mass, Apocalyptic
religion and the death of Utopia Penguin Books, London. 2007. Page 3
[30]
Sharrett, Christopher. Edited by Crisis
Cinema The apocalyptic idea in post-modern narrative film Washington, D.C. : Maisonneuve Press, 1993. Page 251
[31]
Edinger, Edward F. Archetype of the Apocalypse: Divine
Vengeance, Terrorism and the End of the World Open Court Publishing
Company. United State of America, first published 1999, Paperback edition 2002.
Page 1-2
[32]
ibid. Page 5
[33]
ibid. Page 7
[34]
Campbell, Joseph “Hero with a Thousand Faces” Princeton University Press,
1949
[35]
Sharrett, Christopher. Edited by Crisis
Cinema The apocalyptic idea in post-modern narrative film Washington, D.C. : Maisonneuve Press, 1993. Page 252
[36]
ibid. Page 247
[37]
Paul Kincaid, On the origins of
genre <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?=IAC-Documents=retrieve=T002=EAIM=A114521912=gale=unimelb=1.0>.
[38]
Doyle Thomas M. Competing Fictions:
The Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fiction Works
http://www.mille.org/publications/winter2001/Newtwo.pdf.
Page 11
[39]
Milojevic, I., and S. Inayatullah. Futures
dreaming outside and on the margins of the western world. (Essay). Futures
35.5 (June 2003): 493(15). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. University of
Melbourne Library. Accessed 30 Apr. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A100808995&source=gale&userGroupName=unimelb&version=1.0>
[40]
Maio, Kathi. “The Wrong Way to Make Thing Right” Fantasy & SF. March
1995, Vol.88 Issue 3, page 80 6 pages
[41]
King, Geoff and Krzywinska, Tanya Science
Fiction Cinema Wallflower Press, Great Britain. 2000. Page 17
[42]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art-Papers,
v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7:
[43]
Earl, Hortsman, Joey The Other Side
Cengage Learning. Gale Document Number A20818922, 1997
[44]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art-Papers,
v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7:
[45]
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/09/16/nkorea.blast.trip/index.html
[46]
King, Geoff and Krzywinska, Tanya Science
Fiction Cinema Wallflower Press, Great Britain. 2000. Page 17
[47]
ibid
[48]
Schell, Jonathan Fate of the Earth Pan Books, London 1982. Page 37
[49]
Katovich, Michael A. and Kinkade Patrick T., The Stories told in Science Fiction and Social Science: Reading The Thing and Other Remakes From Two Eras
The Sociological Quarterly Vol.34/no.4/1993 Texas Christian University http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1993.tb00109.x
Page 620
[50]
Doyle Thomas M. “Competing Fictions:
The Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fiction Works”
http://www.mille.org/publications/winter2001/Newtwo.pdf.
Page 1
[51]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art-Papers,
v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7:
[52]
Sharrett, Christopher. edited by Crisis
Cinema The apocalyptic idea in post-modern narrative film Washington, D.C. : Maisonneuve Press, 1993. Page 222
[53]
Schell, Jonathan Fate of the Earth Pan Books, London 1982. Page 31
[54]
Rotblat, Joseph., PH.D The Medical
Implications of Nuclear War: Nuclear Winter: Acute Radiation Mortality in a
Nuclear War University of London Institute of Medicine National Academy of
Sciences, National Academy Press. Washington. 1986. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=233
Page 233.
[55]
Carrier , George., F. PH.D. “The Medical Implications of Nuclear War:
“Nuclear Winter: The State of the Science by Harvard University” Institute of
Medicine 1986 National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=136.
Page 137
[56]
Daugherty, William. Levi, Barbara, PH.D and Von Hippel, Frank, PH.D,
Princeton University The Medical
Implications of Nuclear War: Casualties Due to the Blast, Heat and Radioactive
Fallout from Various Hypothetical Nuclear Attacks on the United States.
University of London Institute of Medicine 1986 National Academy of Sciences,
National Academy Press, Washington. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=940&page=207
page 209
[57]
ibid. Page 214
[58]
Martin-Jones, David Deleuze, Cinema
and National Identity – Narrative Time in National Contexts Edinburgh
University Press Ltd, Edinburgh. 2006. Page 158, 160, 163
[59]
McCarthy, Cormac The Road Picador,
London. 2000
[60]
Dodson, Dr. Eric Post Apocalyptic
Films & The Postmodern Apocalypse http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson-postapocalyptic.html
[61]
Noam Yuran Disaster movies and the
last remnants of Utopia http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=251684
[62]
Dodson, Dr. Eric Post Apocalyptic
Films & The Postmodern Apocalypse http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson-postapocalyptic.html
[63]
Germain, David The Lure of ‘Poseidon’:
Why We Love Disaster Movies http://www.livescience.com/environment/ap_060512_poseidon.html
[64]
Dodson, Dr. Eric Post Apocalyptic
Films & The Postmodern Apocalypse http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson-postapocalyptic.html
[65]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art
Papers v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7PY
[66]
Dodson, Dr. Eric Post Apocalyptic Films
& The Postmodern Apocalypse http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson-postapocalyptic.html
[67]
Keegan, Rebecca Winters Cloverfield: Godzilla Goes 9/11 http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1704356,00.html
[68]
Gray, John Black Mass, Apocalyptic
religion and the death of Utopia Penguin Books, London. 2007. Page 107
[69]
Gray, John Black Mass, Apocalyptic
religion and the death of Utopia Penguin Books, London. 2007. Page 119
[70]
Feaster, Felicia Living in oblivion:
apocalypse cinema at the end of the millennium Art
Papers v 23 no6 Nov/Dec 1999. p. 20-7PY
[71]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[72]
Riesman. David The Lonely Crowd,
Yale University Press, London 2001
[73]
Boyer. Paul S Fear, Security and the
Apocalyptic World View: The Cold War’s Cultural Impact and Legacy http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/bop01/
[74]
Yuran, Noam. Disaster movies and the
last remnants of Utopia http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=251684
[75]
Field, Syd. Screenplay – The
Foundations of Screenwriting Dell Publishing, New York, first pub. 1979,
this edition 1984.Page 63
[76]
ibid. Page 43
[77]
Deleuze, Gilles, The Time-Image
Translated by Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta 989 -
University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1989, this edition 1997.
Page 98
[78]
Maio, Kathi. The Wrong Way to Make
Thing Right Fantasy & Science Fiction. March 1995, Vol.88 Issue 3, page
80. 6 pages
[79]
ibid
[80]
Batchelor, David, Chromophobia Reaktion
Books Ltd, London. 2000. Page 27
[81]
ibid. Page 39
[82]
Moran, Albert. Vieth, Errol Film in
Australia: an Introduction Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne,
Australia. 2006. Pages 134-135
