The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)

1. Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?
The Crazies plot quite clearly follows the CHN, which was theorised by Todorov. The film has an 'equilibrium' at the beginning which is the setting of a calm small town in which the characters live out there happy lives, followed by the 'disruption' being the 'Trixie' virus spreading through the town's water supply (resulting in Rory going crazy). A series of  action driven events then play out in which various characters lose there lives and the protagonist escapes with his wife, this is the lead up to the resolution in which the town is bombed and David and Judy escape to safety. The 'new equilibrium' is their escape to the new town where the virus also has spread (this is only inferred and not shown on screen). However the actual order of the events in the film is misplaced with the first shot of the town on fire, which is purposely done to foreshadow the coming events. This unrestricted narration builds the audiences' suspense, because they are informed that something bad is going to happen to the town.

2. How many of Propp's character types can be identified in the film?
All together I believe that six character types are present in the narrative of The Crazies. The first would be David, the 'hero', who is the main subject of most shots, and he is often shown to have a level head and more power over his acquaintances. He also has a clear goal near the beginning, which is to save Judy, the 'princess' from the epidemic. Judy, however, shows her ability to fight back and aid with her medical knowledge so she could be considered to be the 'helper'. Russell, who is clearly the 'helper' at the start of the film, changes when he catches the virus and becomes a 'false hero'. Fortunately for the 'hero' David, Russell again reverts back into the 'helper' after he comes slightly back to his senses and sacrifices himself for the sake of their escape. It's clear that the 'villains' are the government research facility who created the virus that 'turns others into villains', as well as the military that support them (although they are shown to be victimised by their superiors' orders). The pilot of the cargo plane, Rory, and the man that David talked to at the military camp, could all be considered 'dispatchers' that triggered his journey through this story.

3. List five examples of binary opposites in the film and explain them briefly.
1) Sane Vs. Insane - the once sane characters are forced to fight against the insanity of the virus.
2) Authority Vs. Inferiority - authority over others is a common theme e.g. the military over civilians, government over military, David over Russell, etc.
3) Order Vs. Chaos - the two shots at the beginning of the film juxtapose each other, the first set in a chaotic town, the second in a calm countryside.
4) Life Vs. Death - Judy's child that she is pregnant with represents life, while all along they are fighting against the common themes of death and destruction around them.
5) Knowledge Vs. Naivety - The military figures hold superior knowledge on the epidemic when compared to the civilians, and David is trying to uncover this knowledge throughout the film.

4. Identify three 'durations' and give an estimate of the time that each duration covers.
Runtime: 104 minutes
Plot: David mentions that it has been three days since they left the town when he is told that the incubation period for the virus is 48 hours. The narrative then proceeds to carry on for one more night until the next day when we see David and Judy walking to the next town over. That means that the plot is a total of about 4 days long.
Narrative: This could arguably be anything from about six months to ten years (or longer), because the virus would have taken a minimum of six months to develop (based on average minimum time to develop vaccines) and it's suggested at the end of the film that the next town over is also part of the epidemic. It also depends on what you consider to be the beginning and end of this narrative. It could be that it starts and ends with the virus, or with David and Judy.

5. Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but occur before the film 'starts'.
One example would be when the plane crashed into the lake that runs into the town's water supply. we only see the aftermath of the crash which led to the virus outbreak. Another example would be when Judy becomes pregnant, which later causes her to be separated from David due to her fever.

6. List two events from the film that happen in a different space and time to the one that we are shown.
We are never shown how David makes it back to the police station after he is taken by the military, but we assume that escapes through the barrier that was broken, as was shown on the TV broadcast that Judy watches. There is also another TV broadcast that suggests the virus broke out in the next town over, which is confirmed by the satellite shot with the imposed text 'initiate containment protocol'.