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