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April 08, 2020 - Image 5

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The Michigan Daily

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Movies are projections. Yes, literally, in the

sense of filmstock and screens and projectors

and bulbs. But movies can also be projections of

ourselves — a momentary snapshot of the internal,

the introspective, the metaphysical. Given the

circumstances, we as the film beat are seeing less

literal projections in movie theaters and doing

more projecting ourselves. So what are we thinking

about? Among them are “Wicked,” Dcoms (Disney

comedies, for uncultured readers) and of course,

apocalyptic cinema. This series will traverse the

cinematic doomsday in its eclectic iterations. After

all, why grapple with an uncomfortable reality

when you can watch movies that hyperbolize it

completely?

— Anish Tamhaney, Daily Film Editor

I don’t like apocalypse movies, or zombie

movies, or any horror movies really. I’ve never

gotten much joy out of the suspense before a

grisly murder or the stress of watching the world

end. Yet, for some odd reason, I really like “Shaun

of the Dead.” Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver”)

and Simon Pegg’s (“Star Trek Beyond”) zombie

apocalypse movie is filled with stress and gore,

but is also laced with humor and emotion that

feels very true to life. In the time of coronavirus,

it’s fascinating to see how a manufactured and

somewhat comedic apocalypse can parallel a real

one.

The titular Shaun (Pegg) is a loser, a creature

of habit who doesn’t fully put in effort for his

loved ones. His contentious relationship with his

stepdad Philip (Bill Nighy, “Love Actually”) has

caused rifts between him and his mother Barbara

(Penelope Wilton, “Downton Abbey”). His

flatmate Peter (Peter Serafinowicz, “The Tick”)

is sick of Shaun’s excuses for his sloppy friend

and roommate Ed (Nick Frost, “Hot Fuzz”). His

girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield, “This Little Life”)

is tired of his empty promises and his inability

to put effort into their relationship. Liz’s friends

Dianne (Lucy Davis, “The Chilling Adventures

of Sabrina”) and David (Dylan Moran, “Black

Books”) don’t know how to feel about Shaun and

watch uncomfortably as his and Liz’s relationship

splinters. This all changes, though, when he is

thrust into the zombie apocalypse, pushed outside

of his sphere of safe comfort and forced to fight.

The onset of the apocalypse is subtle: a woman

falling at a bus station, clips on the news, tanks

rolling past the electronics store where Shaun

works and the chronic sound of sirens in the

background. It’s so subtle that Shaun and Ed don’t

even seem to notice, still ignoring the signs of

apocalypse even as the audience knows exactly

what’s going on. On the street, Shaun and Ed

comment lightheartedly on a pair of people who

appear to be making out, but the man’s head falls

off as soon as they turn their back. Shaun walks

bleary-eyed past bloody handprints and dead

bodies, oblivious to the clear explanations of

what’s happening on the news. Ed starts taking

pictures of what he thinks is Shaun fending

off a romantic advance from what is clearly a

zombie. All of the puzzle pieces are there, so it’s

maddening to the audience to watch them take so

long to understand the kind of danger they’re in.

By the time they figure out what’s going

on, they’re immediately propelled into action.

Watching Shaun thrust into a survival situation

is fascinating. The change between his boring

(albeit safe) life one day to the zombie apocalypse

the next is staggering — though he looks like

the classic pasty-faced loser protagonist, he’s

surprisingly good at taking down zombies with a

cricket bat. A team is quickly formed in the throes

of survival, an odd collection that includes Shaun,

Ed, Liz, Barbara, Dianne and David, forced

together in a time of trial.

As we’ve seen in the crisis today, the apocalypse

brings out the best and the worst in us. In “Shaun

of the Dead,” Shaun’s best is drawn into focus,

as he becomes level-headed and confident in his

decisions, as well as being a pretty good fighter.

However, it brings out the worst in David, who is

so worked up about his negative feelings toward

Shaun that he starts working against the group.

With coronavirus, we see this same dichotomy,

seeing the best in the healthcare workers who

work tirelessly to take care of patients, and the

worst in the people ignoring CDC guidelines to

party or the people stocking up on essentials to

sell them for profit. The fight-or-flight response

becomes commonplace during a crisis, and the

characters in “Shaun” have to decide between

helping others and saving themselves on multiple

occasions.

“Shaun of the Dead” is the first film in the

“Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy by Wright and

Pegg, consisting of “Shaun,” “Hot Fuzz” and “The

World’s End” (an alien apocalypse movie), and

is consistent with the quirky, fast-paced humor

that the writing duo is associated with. It’s, for

lack of a better term, very British, with quick

cuts, quick humor and an exorbitant amount of

cussing. The threat of zombies is ever-present,

but so is the humor, and sometimes they coincide:

A particularly comical scene occurs when Shaun,

Ed and Liz fight a zombie while accompanied by

Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” hitting the zombie

with pool cues in time to the music while Dianne

and Barbara watch and bob their heads to the

song. Throughout the movie, bickering between

characters over personal struggles that seem

insignificant in the face of the crisis is ridiculous,

but also deeply human.

The parallels between the apocalypse in

“Shaun of the Dead” and that of our current age

are staggering, so much so that Pegg and Frost

made a parody PSA of one of the scenes (and a

sly apology for a joke that didn’t age as well). The

slow realization of danger and the quick spread

are similar, as well as the advice given by the

authorities to isolate anyone who’s been bitten

and to avoid physical contact, even with loved

ones. The core characters’ main goals are to get

somewhere safe where they can hole out until the

apocalypse ends. Sound familiar? This is how it

feels these days, like we’re all just sitting around

waiting for something to happen, with no idea

when this will be over. Watching the characters in

“Shaun of the Dead” holing up in a bar and talking

about nothing while everything rages outside

feels right.

On paper, “Shaun of the Dead” is a zombie

movie, but in reality it is more than that. If you

can get past the gore, you arrive at a movie about

love and self-sacrifice, about weathering through

the end of the world with the people you love.

One of the wildest parts of the movie comes at

the end, when a news montage explains what

has happened one year after the apocalypse with

the title of “Remembering Z-Day.” Everything

seems to have gone essentially back to normal.

This part was craziest to me because it was a wild

reminder that, as hard as it may be to believe, this

will all be over too. One day, we’ll look back on this

crisis as a horrible period of time that happened

but, thankfully, passed. There will probably be

a catchy nickname that lasts for decades, and

one day history books will talk about the global

pandemic that took thousands of lives. But it will

pass, eventually, and everything will seem to go

back to normal, even as the scars of the ordeal

remain.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 — 5A
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

TM & UNIVERSAL PICTURES

KARI ANDERSON

Daily Arts Writer

Scenes from an Apocalypse: Revisiting ‘Shaun of the Dead’

FILM NOTEBOOK

The social distancing rules put into effect in

response to the COVID-19 crisis have affected

everyone greatly, but those who are in creative

and artistic professions — whose livelihoods

depend on public engagements — have been

hit extremely hard by these changes. In the

University of Michigan community, important

student
and
faculty
projects
have
been

postponed or canceled altogether, many of which

were milestones in students’ artistic careers, like

senior recitals and theses.

School of Music, Theatre & Dance senior

Ayana Terauchi, a flute performance major

from Midland, Mich., is one of those artists.

Terauchi has won top awards in numerous

national competitions, including second prize

in the National Flute Association Young Artist

Competition, first prize in the MTNA Senior

Woodwind National Competition and first

prize and award for best performance of a

newly commissioned work in the National Flute

Association High School Soloist Competition.

She has been featured on the NPR radio show

From the Top during their national tour in

Kentucky, as well as the prestigious music

program, YoungArts, held every year in Florida.

Terauchi chose to attend SMTD to study with

Professor Amy Porter, her flute teacher and

mentor since high school.

“There was so much I was able to still learn

from her, and I admired her so much as a

musician, being so knowledgeable about not

only the technical but emotional and general

life aspects to her teaching,” Terauchi said.

“Professor Porter really strives to constantly be

innovative with her pedagogy.”

Throughout her four years here at SMTD,

Terauchi has had many memorable performance

experiences, but one performance stood out the

most. On Oct. 10, 2019, Terauchi was a featured

soloist with the University Symphony Orchestra

at Hill Auditorium, where she played the

Liebermann “Concerto for Flute and Orchestra,

Op. 39” as a winner of the 2019 Undergraduate

Concerto Competition. Performing at Hill

Auditorium is an honor for any performer, but it’s

especially notable for students at the University.

“It was amazing to be able to play as a soloist in

Hill, knowing all the historical figures who have

been on that same stage,” Terauchi said.

Terauchi
not
only
reminisced
on
the

performance itself, but also the camaraderie she

felt from her peers and professors leading up to

the performance at Hill.

“I’m really grateful for the support I got from

everyone throughout the process, like the people

in my studio class who held mock performances

and auditions for me and all the support from my

peers before and after rehearsals,” Terauchi said.

“It really made me appreciate the people around

me a lot more than I already did.”

Teruachi was supposed to give her senior

recital on Mar. 26. Senior recitals culminate the

past four years of intensive study on students’

respective instruments. In SMTD, friends and

relatives far and wide flock to the Earl V. Moore

Building to support their beloved graduating

seniors in concert, from that odd cousin twice

removed you didn’t really know existed to both

sets of grandparents. The recitals showcase

every individual student, and are usually around

an hour to an hour-and-a-half of formidable

solo repertoire featuring virtuosic and artistic

prowess. They are free and open to the public

with a substantial reception to follow. The senior

recital is a necessary degree requirement to

receive a bachelor’s degree in music from any

institution. However, at SMTD and other leading

music schools, they have been canceled for safety

reasons due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I had around an hour(’s) worth of music

prepared that was mostly aligned with what I

had prepared for graduate school auditions,”

Terauchi said. “I had repertoire from all different

eras, like the Bach flute sonata in B minor, the

Gaubert Fantasy and the Franck violin sonata

transcribed for flute.”

Terauchi loves rhythm-heavy romantic music,

especially by German and Russian composers.

However, she decided to program music from a

range of musical styles and eras that have been

pedagogically important to her playing.

“There are some pieces that are just so famous

that you have to play them, like the Franck

sonata, that are really challenging to learn, but

fulfilling once you can finally play it. Once you

learn to really play something, you learn to love

it,” Terauchi said.

That process of really being able to play any

piece is tough, according to Terauchi.

“Playing solo concerts is difficult because you

have to work on so many pieces, you can’t hide

behind a big ensemble or other musicians in a

group, and they require so much stamina. It’s

so emotionally charged because you’re there to

show off what you’ve accomplished over four

years in front of all your peers and colleagues,”

Terauchi said.

Terauchi’s method of preparation is exemplary

in its attention to detail and artistry.

“A few days before the performance, I lock

myself in my room for a couple of days to really

dive into the music and be completely immersed

in it,” Terauchi said. “What that looks like, for

me, is not only studying my own music to bring

out the best interpretations, but also listening to

many other pieces by the composers whose work

I’m playing to get an even deeper understanding

of the composers’ style and intentions. There’s a

lot of important practice that can be done without

actually playing your instrument.”

COMMUNITY CULTURE STUDENT PROFILE SERIES
Creative Spotlight: SMTD senior, flautist Ayana Terauchi

ELLEN SIROWER

For The Daily

Read more online at

michigandaily.com

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