An important character and relationship in Warm Bodies
R and Julie
R takes Julie home
Techniques and examples
Light and colour
Low key, grey light in R’s home
How they show character or relationship
Reveals the lack of life and love in R’s world. Creates a depressing
atmosphere – makes us understand Julie’s fear, as even though the
viewers have heard R’s voice through his voice over narration and know
that he wants to connect with people, Julie at this stage does not know
this and sees only the zombie.
Zoom in through R’s chest shows
his grey heart beat red
The heart is symbolically seen as the source of human feeling and is
biologically linked to life. When R’s heart regains colour and beats, it
shows his feelings for Julie are bringing him back to life and will wake up
more of his emotions.
Diegetic sound
Julie’s sobbing and nervous
breathing
Shows Julie is concerned/afraid of R and what will happen to her.
After putting a blanket on Julie and
then giving her space, R puts on
the song “Patience” by the band
Guns and Roses
Camera shots
Low angle P.O.V shots of R, taken
from Julie’s perspective
Reveals R is willing to take the time to get to know Julie and have her
get to know him.
After R puts on “Patience” and
goes to sit in the aisle across from
Julie, alternating shots zoom in on
their faces as they each watch
each other. R then closes his eyes
and sways to the song. Julie
watches him and asks “what are
you?”
The zoom focuses viewer’s eyes on the fascination on Julie’s face as
she watches R watching her. She realises he is different than the other
zombies she has encountered and is puzzled by the fact that he is so
interested in her. Her curiosity is starting to overcome her fear. When R
sways the music we realise he is behaving like a human, more than an
animal – he isn’t concerned with instinct but emotion.
P.O.V shot from R’s perspective as
watches Julie while reclining in the
airplane seat
This is an unusual tilted angle – the first one of its kind in the film, where
every other shot has been level. It reveals how Julie has come into R’s
world and is shifting the way he is looking at things, particularly human.
Rather than seeing her as food – which is what he was in search of
when he originally found her – he views her as an individual and
someone he wants to get to know – as the lyrics of “Patience” say at this
moment, “Girl, I think about you everyday now”.
Julie is wary of R – keeping an eye on him, watching his movements to
figure out if he is a threat to her. This angle makes him look threatening.
In contrast, she is shown from high angle P.O.V shots, carefully
watching him. This shows that R is fascinated by her, but also shows us
her fear and that she feels threatened (in these shots her body language
also shows her fear – she has her arms around her, her legs up on the
chair to make herself seem as small as possible).
Getting Julie food
Light
When Julie wakes up inside the
plane the lighting is higher key. It
is brighter, white light – there is a
flare of white light behind R’s head
Dialogue
Julie: “Please? I’d be very grateful
for some food.”
Represents how Julie has mostly overcome her fear of R – the
environment she’s in doesn’t feel as depressing as last night. She even
talks more comfortably to him in this scene.
Julie has realised R might be reasoned with – she uses manners and
actually asks him to help her get some food. She is treating him like he
is reasonable and human, not like a mindless zombie. She is also trying
to use his emotion or fascination for her to her advantage; she is trying
to manipulate him so he can leave the plane and she can try to escape.
She is tricking him as if he is a human, not a zombie. He responds very
quickly – it as if he likes the fact that she has asked him as if he were a
proper human being.
R: “Come, safe.”
Julie: “Thank-you.”
When R saves her life at the airport, Julie says “thank-you” again but
here she means it.
Julie: “You have a name? What is
your name?”
Names signify independence and human identity – R is the only zombie
to have a name in the film (we only know of his friend’s name because of
the credits).
Julie: “Are there others like you?...I
mean, I’ve never ever heard a
Corpse talk before.”
Camera shots
Close ups of Julie’s face reveal she
isn’t afraid as much as annoyed at
being kept here by R.
Music
There is little music apart from
when Julie tries to escape and
encounters other zombies. Here,
the music is high-pitched and
almost sounds like an alarm has
been set off. Under this sound,
trumpets and trombones play one
loud, low note.
Julie is becoming fascinated by R.
When R puts his hand on her
shoulder and Julie turns around in
fright, there is an abrupt piano
chord which quickly reverberates to
nothing
Voice over
When R can’t remember his full
name he thinks “This date is not
going well. I want to die all over
again.”
The immediate sound of the piano marks Julie’s surprise and thoughts
that the hand on her shoulder might belong to one of the zombies that is
after her. That the sound quickly fades out when she sees it is R reveals
her relief at seeing him – he has come to represent a bit of safety to her.
This marks on of the first shifts in their relationship – rather than seeing
herself as a victim of a mindless zombie, Julie is annoyed at R.
This music sounds menacing – the high pitch synthesised sound
reminds viewers of a scream or moan, while the low sound underneath
gets slightly louder and seems to be building to some sort of climax
when Julie spots the zombies who aren’t R. This is the only time in their
two scenes at the airport that the music has been menacing, and it is the
only time R hasn’t been with Julie.
Reveals R’s romantic side in a humorous way (as he considers giving a
girl a beer and telling her his name a “date”), as well as his selfdeprecation.
Bonding with Julie (Note: this scene includes a montage. A montage is a collection of connected shots, often set
with music over the top of them. Montages are used to show the passage of time over a rather short period, or to
show development – ie. sports training montages.)
Music
“Shell Suite” by Chad Valley
Mellow, alternative electro music.
Bright repetitive ascending three
note pattern is noticeable over the
top of the song.
Dialogue:
Julie: “What’s with all the vinyl?”
R: “Better sound, more alive.”
R and Julie are “hanging out” and the mellow music and bright notes
show this – there is no hint of danger in this scene as they drive a sports
car around the airport tarmac.
R collects and plays records because they sound more authentic, more
real. They probably make him feel more alive.
R: “I collect things.”
Collecting things simply to have them around you and for the purpose of
recalling or making memories is a very human characteristic.
Julie (talking about Perry to R): “A
lot of things happened to him. But I
guess there just came a point
where he couldn’t absorb any
more.”
Julie is reminding the viewers that you don’t have to become a zombie to
stop feeling things – Perry had become hardened and numb to the
world; he wouldn’t let himself (or couldn’t) feel anything.
When R tries to comfort Julie on
Perry’s death, she asks again:
“What are you?”
This time, Julie asks with more wonder than fascination. She is touched
by his compassion and empathy for her.
R: “I wish I could dream.”
Diegetic sound:
Julie puts on “Hungry Heart” by
Bruce Springsteen (note: this then
turns into non-diegetic sound as it
becomes the music which sits on
top of the bonding montage which
follows)
Dreams allow people to escape and experience fantasies and go
beyond their normal world. They are fuelled by emotions and allow us to
feel richer, more intense emotions.
The lyrics of this song go “Everybody’s got a hungry heart, everybody
needs a place to rest, everybody wants to have a home…ain’t nobody
like to be alone.” It shows that both R and Julie want companionship,
but it especially helps viewers reflect on how R’s grey heart is starved for
affection.
When Julie tells R about how she
misses Perry but had been
preparing herself for the loss
(because he had been shutting
down from her and becoming
increasingly “dead” to the world
anyway), R puts on “Shelter from
the Storm” by Bob Dylan.
Montage
- Julie and R looking at
pictures of couples in love
through an old-fashioned
viewfinder
- Both of them trying on
various pairs of sunglasses
- Julie putting a picture of a
zombie from a movie
beside R and comparing
them
- Watching a novelty
drinking bird toy rocking
back and forth
- Playing a game of slaphands
- Doing a two person
Mexican wave
- Close ups of R’s and
Julie’s faces as he watches
her sleep
Camera shots
Close up of R’s hand going from
his chest to a mid shot when he
touches Julie’s heart.
R is telling her that he will look after her, he will be her “Shelter from the
storm”. However, the lyrics are also suggesting that R is the “creature
void of form” and that comfort and affection from another person – the
“shelter” of the lyrics – will give his life meaning and form/shape.
Close ups of R’s face as he
watches himself attack Perry in
Perry’s memories. He looks
disgusted and revolted by what he
is experiencing.
For the first time, we see R’s face as he is experiencing the memories,
not after he has been in them. This shows us that he is not getting lost
in them, or swept away by them as he did previously, but that this time
he is developing empathy for one of his victims and can truly see the
most horrible side of himself through the victim’s eyes. It is obvious he
is strongly affected by what he has seen.
Note: the last photo they see is of a couple kissing on a fountain –
FORESHADOWING!
R still can’t communicate very well verbally, but this physical action
shows Julie that he feels in his heart for the pain she feels in hers.
Taking Julie home
Music
This starts with low, depressing
strings and horns playing one long
note when Julie and R see the
zombies standing between them
and their getaway car. When Julie
takes R’s hand, the pitch of the
strings and horns soars upwards
and a solo guitar plucks a soft tune
over the top.
The low sound reflects Julie’s fear and the lack of humanity the zombies
have. When it shifts up, it reflects the hope that a relationship like R’s
and Julie’s creates and shows that the zombies are starting to realise
that there may be some sort of hope for them.
Camera shots
When R stands up to the zombies
who want to eat Julie, the camera
tracks down their bodies and we
see her take his hand. Several
close up two shots of the zombies
faces show them looking in wonder
at the joined hands.
The joined hands represent affection and compassion, as well as
support. They show connection – that one person is telling another, “it’s
ok, we’re in this together”. The close ups on the zombie’s faces show
their wonder at this and possibly their own yearning to be able to reach
out and connect with someone.
Close up tracking shot showing R’s
face as he realises Julie has left
him. The camera then zooms out
to a long shot.
Light
While there is low key lighting in
the airport carpark as R and Julie
escape the Bonies, when the
couple find a place to stay for the
night, Julie lights a lamp and gold
light fills the house where they are
staying.
Dialogue:
Julie: “You could sleep in there, on
the floor. These houses creep me
out.”
Reveals there is no one around him, and how isolated he his. This in
turn reminds us of how much more human and “together” R felt when
Julie was with him.
Julie: “He would have killed you.”
She is realising how much she would miss R if he was to die, and that it
is almost inevitable with the conflict between humans and zombies that
this is what will eventually happen to him.
Julie: “You didn’t eat me, you
rescued me.”
Julie is pointing out that R went against his very nature in saving, rather
than killing her.
Julie: “It must be hard, being stuck
in there. You know I can see you
trying. That’s what people do, you
know, we try to be better.
Sometimes we kind of suck at it,
but I look at you and you try so
much harder than any person in my
city. You’re a good person, R.”
Julie is explaining that part of being human is trying to be more than you
are, more than you’ve been told you can be. She tells R that by trying,
he is actually being more human, more of a “person” than the people
she usually sees everyday.
R: “It was me…Julie, I’m so sorry.”
R is experiencing remorse and guilt for killing Perry and is upset that he
has hurt Julie. Human emotions. By apologising, he is trying to reach
out to her and make things a little better.
Julie: “I think someday somebody’s
gonna figure out this whole thing
and exhume the whole
world…exhume means to revive.”
R’s dream of Julie and her friends talking exposes Julie’s hope – it is
what keeps her going. While Perry explains exhume means to “dig up”,
in a way, both of them are correct. R’s love for Julie is reviving him, but
in a way it is also “digging up” the humanity that has always lain within
him. This is also forshadowing as R and Julie’s love will dig up/revive
everyone’s humanity – the zombies and normal people – as it leads to
them working together.
R: “I don’t even know what I am.”
R’s uncertainty of who he is is similar to the way many teenagers feel.
Julie: “You can be whatever you
want.”
Music:
“Yamaha” by Delta Spirit
Lyrics: “So cold I know you can’t
believe it.” Plays when Julie has
left R.
Julie is telling viewers that we can’t let expectations and self-doubt limit
who we are capable of being.
The evolution of light from low key to high key gold lighting reflects how
their relationship has improved. It has gone from being cold (when R
seems to imprison her at the beginning) to warm and friendly.
Julie is now actively seeking to spend more time with R. This is very
different from their first scene in the airplane where she tries to make
herself as physically small as possible to stay as far away from him as
she can.
Shows how lonely and hopeless R feels without Julie.
Without Julie
Voice over
So much for dreaming. You can’t
be whatever you want. All I’ll ever
be is a slow, pale, hunched-over,
dead-eyed zombie…it’s hopeless.
This is what I get for wanting more.
I should just be happy with what I
had. Things don’t change, I need
to accept that. It’s easier not to
feel. Then I wouldn’t have to feel
like this.
Camera shots
Aerial shot shows R walking
aimlessly, all alone in a vast area.
R believes that in having lost Julie he has proven to himself that he can’t
be more than he is. He exposes to viewers our own fears: to connect
with people and invest in them is to risk getting hurt and that sometimes
it seems safer to harden our hearts than have them broken.
Emphasises how alone and hopeless he feels without Julie. How
disconnected he feels at this moment.
Reuniting with Julie and becoming human
Camera shots
High angle shots of R looking up at
Julie on the balcony
We see the adoration on his face – how much he cares for her.
Close ups on their faces as they
embrace.
They are each smiling, shows affection for one another.
Extreme close up of R’s eye after
he and Julie have survived the
Boneys. We see his pupil enlarge
to normal size and his ultra blue
zombified irises return to a more
natural state of blue.
Dialogue
Julie: “If they see you, they’ll kill
you. Do you understand that?”
R: “Yes.”
Tells viewers that R has regained his humanity. His very blue eyes were
a clear indication that he was not human, so this tells us his humanity
has full returned through his final expressions of love for Julie –
sacrificing himself by protecting her from their fall from the top of a
building and their kiss.
Julie: “It’s funny, you feel warmer
than I remember.”
R is becoming more human, gaining the human warmth/emotional
warmth.
Nora: “He doesn’t smell rotten.”
A further sign that R’s love for Julie has changed his soul so much that it
is actually changing his body as well.
R wants to show the humans that
“we can change”.
He has hope that the lives of the humans and zombies can improve.
R: “No matter what, we stay
together. We’re changing
everything.”
R’s command of language is improving, he now mostly speaks without
stuttering. Reveals how important Julie is to him and how their affection
for each other can show others that love can overcome a lot of
obstacles.
Reveals Julie’s concern for his life, and R’s love overcoming his sense of
self-preservation; the need to see and save Julie is more important that
his own life.
Julie to her father (about R): I
triggered something in him and it
must have sparked something in all
of them.”
Julie: “Corpses don’t bleed…You’re
alive!”
R: “It felt good to bleed, to feel
pain, to feel love.”
Music
Gentle guitar plays over swelling
strings
Music is rather romantic, the strings are playing a major chord – positive,
rather than negative sounding. They are both happy to see each other.
Soft piano tune plays as Julie lets
him in.
Costume/make up:
The black veins that ran up R’s
neck from the beginning of the film
have receded and are no longer
noticeable. His make-up is not as
pale, and there is now a pinkish
tone to his skin.
Lighting
Natural, high key lighting in the
final confrontation with the Boneys
and when they fall into the fountain.
Final shot of them together has
them in full sunlight. All gold with a
clear sky in the background.
His love for Julie is “de-zombifying” R.
Shows how much Julie has illuminated R’s life. Represents hope.