The day after PDF

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Running head: THE DAY AFTER

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The Day After Name: Institutional Affiliation:

THE DAY AFTER

2 The Day After

The Day After was an aspiring and brave film that attempted to make everyone who watched it believe that nuclear power is the final answer. In as much as it is true, some people are somewhat daft to believe it. The film depicts the build-up, the outcome, and the aftermath of a made-up nuclear attack on Kansas City. Towards the beginning of the fictional film, some of the Kansas residents are introduced when going on with their daily lives, unaware of what will occur to them. Television and radio broadcasts accompany the setting in the background (Kirby, 2014). For instance, among the people shown include a doctor preparing to lecture students at the University of Kansas Hospital, a daughter of a farmer preparing for her wedding the next Day and Steven, a medical student focusing on getting home. The bomb goes off forty minutes into the two-hour long movie (Kirby, 2014). For a movie made in the 80s, I think that the special effects used are unsurprisingly modest. The footage of the nuclear explosion was mixed with entirely unconvincing shots of fake mushroom clouds that had been developed by injecting colored oil plumes into tank water. Additionally, there were shots of people with flashy e-ray effects covered to make it look like the radiation was showing their skeletons (Kirby, 2014). I would assume that nuclear bombs would turn people to dust before showing their skeletons. However, the aftermath is the most convincing part. The filmmakers worked with the city of Lawrence to be able to have a perfect setting (Overpeck, 2012). The streets were decorated, windows smashed and cars burnt for some time. The outcome was an appropriate environment that depicted a post-apocalyptic scene. The scene, however, was depressing but still understated since, at the end of the movie, there is a message stating that the real devastation would be

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worse. Despite this, the make-up effects are undoubtedly disturbing. For instance, the display of charred flesh and hair loss on screen is quite terrifying. The Day After also toys with social commentary. For instance, the campus hospital starts having fewer staff members and supplies. As a drastic measure, it considers using the immoral stance of locking out any more patients who show up at the hospital. When help finally comes, only the starving people are sorted, and the staff tells it off by saying they ought to move to the other towns to assist more people (Kirby, 2014). A worse scene is when some of the public members are executed without undergoing a trial. This is total misery, and it is unnecessary since it is there to keep the film exciting. The real story is the frustration caused by the nuclear bomb and how it affects people at the beginning of the film, animals, and the surrounding. The importance of The Day After to the present and the future generations is the intention of showing the consequences of a nuclear war. This is among the reasons why the film intentionally used the locals. As observed at the end of the movie, almost all the main characters are dying if not dead already. In conclusion, The Day After is a film whereby the nuclear bomb is the enemy. The only victim is the human race despite being American or Russian. For this reason, I find the film relevant and useful.

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4 References

Kirby, D. A. (2014). Science and technology in film: themes and representations. In Routledge handbook of public communication of science and technology (pp. 113-128). Routledge. Overpeck, D. (2012). ‘Remember! it's Only a Movie!’Expectations and Receptions of The Day After (1983). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 32(2), 267-292....