1. NARRATIVE THEORY IN THE CRAZIES
(2010)

2. DOES THE CRAZIES FOLLOW THE CHN? WHY
OR WHY NOT?
Classic Hollywood Narrative or CHN is the thought that all movies have a beginning
situation, a problem in the middle and then a new situation. The hero is identified at the start
of the movie, and then the goal. An obstacle is then introduced, finishing the movie with the
hero getting past said obstacle and achieving the goal. This also goes along the same lines
as Tzvetan Todorov‟s theory that a movie starts with an „equilibrium‟, followed by a disruption
to the „equilibrium‟ and then ending with a „new equilibrium‟.

3. DOES THE CRAZIES FOLLOW THE CHN? WHY
OR WHY NOT?
The Crazies does not follow this entirely. The movie starts with about 40 seconds of shots of
a town on fire. This is not an „equilibrium‟ or normal. After this, the words “two days earlier”
appear on screen. It is then cut to a town, presumably the same town, looking normal and
happy. The disruption then does happen with people catching the virus, „trixie‟ and then the
army coming in the „help‟ get rid of it. The two main characters Judy and David manage to
escape the town before it is set alight. They head for a new town that appears to be normal.
This would be considered the „new equilibrium‟. As the movie ends, a news broadcast comes
up from the new town. The news broadcast is then interupted by an infected man, causing
further disruption, therefore the movie does not end with the „new equilibrium‟.

4. DOES THE CRAZIES FOLLOW THE CHN? WHY
OR WHY NOT?
The movie starts with the town on fire..

5. DOES THE CRAZIES FOLLOW THE CHN? WHY
OR WHY NOT?
…and then with the town looking normal.

6. DOES THE CRAZIES FOLLOW THE CHN? WHY
OR WHY NOT?
The movie disrupts the „new equilbrium‟ with another issue.

7. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES
CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Propp‟s character types are the „villian‟, the „dispatcher‟, the „helper‟, the „princess/prize‟, her
„father‟, the „donor‟, the „hero‟ and the „false hero‟.

8. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES
CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The character type that I can identify in The Crazies is firstly the „hero‟. This is quickly
identified as David, the sheriff, after he shoots and kills Rory, a supposedly drunk man with a
gun who has interrupted a local baseball game. His „helper‟ is then seen to be Russell, the
deputy sheriff, who warns David about Rory‟s presence, and then walks behind David as he
approaches Rory.

9. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
David, the „hero‟ tries to persuade Rory to put the gun down. He stood is stood in front of
Russell, meaning he has more power over people then Russell does.

10. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
David (right) looks stronger than Russell. He is also the sheriff and Russell is the deputy
sheriff, meaning he is probably better at the job.

11. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
David takes charge and stands in the front. This makes him the bravest one here. Russell
stands slightly behind as he is the deputy.

12. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Another „helper‟ is Judy, David‟s wife, who goes with David and Russell to escape the virus. It
can also be argued that Judy is a „hero‟ because she makes it to the end of the movie and is
seen as more important than Russell.

13. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Judy shows more emotion than David, making her a more feminine character. David feels he
has to protect her because she might not be as strong as him.

14. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Judy is prepared to shoot the infected humans, her emotions have disappeared and this
makes her more of a hero who will fight back.

15. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
•
Judy fought back against the infect people in the car wash and managed to escape
them, unlike Becca, the other female character in the car wash. This means she is
stronger than Becca is.

16. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES
CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Another „helper‟ is Becca, Judy‟s hospital assistant. She tries to help but isn‟t that good as
she gets killed in a car wash by an infected person.

17. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Becca is the weaker female. She stands near the back so that she can have other peoples
protection because she is not strong enough to fight for herself.

18. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Becca is killed in the carwash because she couldn‟t fight back against the infected humans.

19. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The „villains‟ are the people infected by the virus, „trixie‟, because the virus turns them into
murderous people who will try to kill anyone that they come across.

20. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The are identified by their look. Their appearance gets worse the longer that their time with
trixie goes on.

21. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
They will try to murder anyone that they come across.

22. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Trixie suffers attacking David. They happen to be the family of Rory, who David shot at the
start of the movie.

23. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
They sneak up behind people. They are usually quite calm until they start attacking.

24. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The people who could also be considered „villains‟ are the government, who ordered soldiers
to come in to try to rid the town of the virus. They end up taking anyone who is sick, which
means innocent people, like Judy, who has a temperature because she is pregnant, is taken
and put into quarantine. These soldiers end up shooting anyone.

25. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The army took in anyone that was ill, and strapped them to gurneys.

26. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Judy strapped down.

27. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
The army.

28. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Later on in the movie, the „donor‟ is shown to be Russell as he realizes that he has been
infected, he tells David and Judy that he will give his life by distracting the soldiers so that
they can get past and on route to their „prize‟ – a new town, to live their lives in peace.

29. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
Russell catches the army‟s attention so that Judy and David can sneak past. They shoot him.

30. HOW MANY OF PROPP‟S CHARACTER TYPES CAN
BE IDENTIFIED IN THE FILM?
David and Judy sneak past the high school where the army are being distracted by Russell.

31. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Known vs. unknown is the first binary opposition I see in the movie. What is known and
unknown during the movie does change.
At the beginning of the movie, it is known that this is quite an ordinary town. What is unknown
is why some people are acting bizarrely and being unresponsive and murderous.
As the movie goes one, people know that there is something wrong when the army has to
intervene to try to stop a virus going around.

32. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
It isnt known why Rory is acting strange. David presumes that he was drunk, but later
realizes that he had caught trixie.

33. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
The army comes in the help get rid of the virus.

34. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Government vs. the people could be another binary opposition. The government calls in the
army to rid the town of the virus, „trixie‟. This allows them to just kills anyone. Innocent
people are taken in, suspected of catching the virus. No one is allowed to escape the
town, being killed if they are caught doing so.
In the end the blow up the entire town.

35. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
The army shoots Scotty‟s (Becca‟s boyfriend) mum as she runs out to him after he has been
shot himself.

36. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY
OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM AND EXPLAIN
THEM BRIEFLY.
Judy and David watch as their town is blown up.

37. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Human vs. alien could be applied here. The humans would be the „normal‟, uninfected people
and the aliens being the people who have been transformed by the virus that they have
caught.

38. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
The virus caused humans to turn into murderous aliens.

39. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
He has set fire to his house that is containing his family. He is showing no human emotion
towards this unlike David and Judy.

40. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE FILM
AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Strong vs. weak can be applied to David, Judy, Russell and Becca. There is a fight for
survival between the four, but Becca loses this battle a lot faster than everyone else. This is
because she can‟t fight off the infected in the carwash as quickly as everyone else.

41. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN
THE FILM AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Becca can‟t fight back as well as the others and ends up getting hanged.

42. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN
THE FILM AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Becca finds protection behind everyone else.

43. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN
THE FILM AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Civilized vs. uncivilized could be applied to how the humans work as a civilized community
with doctors and sheriffs and baseball matches and lack or murder. When some humans
become infected with the virus they become uncivilized murdering every civilized human in
their path.

44. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN
THE FILM AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
Judy and Becca work at the medical centre. They have civilized jobs where they help the
community.

45. LIST FIVE EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN
THE FILM AND EXPLAIN THEM BRIEFLY.
A civilized person would have helped the people who were strapped to the gurneys to get out.
This infected person instead walks around the room stabbing them with a garden fork.

46. IDENTIFY THE THREE „DURATIONS‟ AND GIVE AN
ESTIMATE OF THE TIME EACH DURATION COVERS.
The three „durations‟ are story duration, screen duration and plot duration.

47. IDENTIFY THE THREE „DURATIONS‟ AND GIVE AN
ESTIMATE OF THE TIME EACH DURATION COVERS.
Plot duration is the amount of time that has passed in the story of the film. We know that it is
three days in The Crazies because whilst David, Judy and Russell are talking to the
government agent Judy asks how long the incubation period is. He answers with 48 hours to
which David replies that it is day three and the story starts on the first day, therefore it is three
days.

48. IDENTIFY THE THREE „DURATIONS‟ AND GIVE AN
ESTIMATE OF THE TIME EACH DURATION COVERS.
Screen duration is the length on time that the film is literally. The Crazies is 101 minutes long.
This is how long it takes to watch it.

49. IDENTIFY THE THREE „DURATIONS‟ AND GIVE AN
ESTIMATE OF THE TIME EACH DURATION COVERS.
Story duration is like plot duration but also includes events that we are told about like the
plane containing the virus landing in the crashed plane and the creating of said virus. This
could be any length, depending on how long it took to create the virus. We are told that the
virus is headed towards an incinerator in Texas, meaning that it has probably only just been
created.
It could have taken a couple of years to create the virus. We are told that it was to be used to
destabilize a population, meaning that it was probably tested and researched for a long time
before it could be used or it could have not taken that long because they hadn't realized that it
could severely damage people.
This period could last anything from 10 years or even about to about half a year or a year. We
aren‟t given much information about how long the virus took to create.

50. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF EVENTS THAT CAUSE LATER EVENTS IN
THE FILM BUT WHICH OCCUR BEFORE THE FILM „STARTS‟.
The main thing that obviously happened before the film starts is the sending of the „trixie‟ virus
to Ogden Marsh. At the start of the film everyone (including the audience and characters) is
completely unaware of the virus. When the sheriff shoots Rory, he just assumes that he had
been drinking. It is during the film that they are told how to virus got there. David tries to turn
the water off because this is how he thinks people are catching the virus but it doesn‟t work.
We do see them being told by a government agent that the virus „trixie‟ had been on a crashed
plane that was earlier found by David.
This is the virus that causes all of these people to turn into murderous monsters.

51. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF EVENTS THAT CAUSE LATER EVENTS IN
THE FILM BUT WHICH OCCUR BEFORE THE FILM „STARTS‟.
David and Russell find the plane that they assume was carrying whatever is infecting the
people who use the water.

52. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF EVENTS THAT CAUSE LATER EVENTS IN
THE FILM BUT WHICH OCCUR BEFORE THE FILM „STARTS‟.
David asking a government agent what was on the plane. He tells him that it is the
virus, „trixie‟

53. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF EVENTS THAT CAUSE LATER EVENTS IN
THE FILM BUT WHICH OCCUR BEFORE THE FILM „STARTS‟.
Before the film starts, Judy got pregnant. David and Judy have got a room for the baby in
their house and it is decorated with everything. They didn‟t plan on the town getting infected.
The fact that Judy is pregnant, means that when she is taken into the high school to be tested
for illnesses, she is confirmed positive and taken away from David. She only has a
temperature that has been caused by the pregnancy.

54. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF EVENTS THAT CAUSE LATER EVENTS IN
THE FILM BUT WHICH OCCUR BEFORE THE FILM „STARTS‟.
Judy looking at what is supposed to be her baby‟s bedroom.

55. LIST TWO EVENTS FROM THE 92 MINUTE FILM THAT HAPPEN IN A
DIFFERENT TIME AND SPACE TO THE ONE WE ARE SHOWN.
Everyone that catches the virus does so in a different time and space to what we are shown.
We never see the people catching it so we don‟t know how it happens. We see some of the
characters as normal and then they catch the virus and their faces turn different and they act
differently.

56. LIST TWO EVENTS FROM THE 92 MINUTE FILM THAT HAPPEN IN A
DIFFERENT TIME AND SPACE TO THE ONE WE ARE SHOWN.
Peggy and Curt before
and after they got
infected. We don‟t
see the middle part
where they actually
catch the virus.

57. LIST TWO EVENTS FROM THE 92 MINUTE FILM THAT HAPPEN IN A
DIFFERENT TIME AND SPACE TO THE ONE WE ARE SHOWN.
We also don‟t see the infected humans making their way to the next town. We know that this
happened because we see them in one town and then whilst the news bulletin from the next
door town is seen, a trixie infect person appears on screen. We don‟t see this because it
would be a bit boring and would also ruin the ending. We also don‟t realise that they have
moved on to the next town until this part right at the end. We assume that Judy and David
have succeeded in moving to a safe town, but the viewer is then surprised that they still aren't
safe.

58. LIST TWO EVENTS FROM THE 92 MINUTE FILM THAT HAPPEN IN A
DIFFERENT TIME AND SPACE TO THE ONE WE ARE SHOWN.
We see a brief image at the end that shows that the virus might have gotten to the new town.
It is not shown how, but it defiantly happens during the same time as the movie.