The Sperig Brothers Use the Vampires of Daybreakers to Explain That Rebellion Can be Positive

    Among the many works of literature, film and art about vampires, there is one common element: fantasy. These creatures of the night are stronger than their human counterparts, can hypnotize beautiful women, can live forever, and represent what humans desire and fantasize about most. The Sperig brothers' Daybreakers, however, breaks this trend by distinguishing them only by yellow eyes, immortality and the inability to be in the sunlight. Combine this human like portrayal with deep messages that provide social commentary on today’s society, and the result is a blockbuster science fiction that leaves its audience with a lasting message. One of the themes from the movie is best exemplified in the scene where subsiders are executed. In this scene, the Sperig Brothers use the soundtrack, mise en scene, symbols, and lighting to create a feeling of regret among the audience, which allows them to believe that rebellion is sometimes necessary.

    This scene occurs immediately after the humans escape from the vampires and leaves the audience in an emotionally unprepared state. It is clear that subsiders have become a problem in this society, but it is shocking that the military is going to these lengths to deal with the problem. Frankie Dalton, played by Michael Doman, has turned human Alison Bromel, played by Isabel Lucas, into a vampire. She is the daughter of Charles Bromel, who is played by actor Sam Neil.  Alison does not want to be a vampire; therefore, she starves herself until she becomes a subsider and has to be executed. When Frankie is carrying out the execution orders, he sees Alison who has turned from a beautiful young woman into a hideous creature. The entire subsider situation now becomes a very real and haunting image. The storyline itself is already charged with emotion at this point in the film and the directors use each film element to build upon this.

At the beginning of the scene, the director shows three different close ups. The first frame at 1:08:20 is a chain being hooked onto a tank. At 1:08:24, it switches to a massive tank tire that begins to roll and then flashes to the third a length of chain at 1:08:27 that comes into the frame as it is being tightened. In each of these frames, the mise en scene stands out because the objects are all that is shown to the audience. This forces them to focus on each of the elements individually and wonder what exactly is going to happen. These objects do not provide the answer, but rather the idea that whatever is coming next is going to be brutal and merciless. This idea creates a sympathetic feeling towards the party that must endure being pulled by a massive tank while attached to a rusty chain. This sympathy, however, is quickly contrasted by the appearance of the actual party suffering under the brutality. The subsiders were presented as animals that deserved to die but now that the directors highlighted each part used in their execution, it is unclear whether or not they deserve this gruesome execution. The question arises of how could the vampires let society come to this and with that comes regret for the lost humanity of these subsiders.

    The scene progresses to show the subsiders and their executioners. With this progression, the lighting becomes a crucial element in conveying the theme. In a typical execution scene the audience expects a clear cut difference between good and evil but the lighting in this scene obscures the difference. The subsiders are being executed so the audience presumes that they should be drenched in shadows and darkness, designating them as the evil that needs to be exterminated. During frames such as the one at 1:08:36, the audience can clearly see the face of the subsider as she tries to escape her chain but the soldier beating her with the gun is encased in shadows that obscure his face. This gives the impression that the soldier, rather than the subsider, is the one that can not be trusted. Throughout the entire scene, this pattern continues with the soldiers and subsiders and creates a perverse feeling among the audience. They are subconsciously being told that the soldiers are not the typical heroic figures they can trust but rather puppets following corrupt orders. This allows the Spering brothers to plant the idea that people need to do what is right instead of following orders.

    After being bombarded with gruesome special effects and hideous images of subsiders, the scene moves to show the audience a very important symbol that creates a sense of compunction. At 1:09:12, the frame suddenly changes from Alison Bromely as a subsider, to an old black and white photograph of Alison as a human. The black and white nature of the photograph creates a sentimental and rueful feeling and symbolizes not only the humanity and youthful innocence that Alison lost when she became a subsider, but this same loss for all of the subsiders. This symbol becomes clearer to the audience at 1:09:15. They see that it is Charles Bromley holding the picture. As the head of the pharmaceutical company Bromley Marks, he literally holds the humanity of the vampires in his hands. He can save them from this terrible fate but he chooses to let them suffer. With this symbol, the audience is given the message that Bromley and his corporation have become evil and that his desire for power is stronger than the guilt he feels for indirectly killing his daughter. This disturbing idea created by the directors once again demonstrates that authority should not always be obeyed.

The audience is then presented with a frame where mise en scene again takes over as the focal point. At 1:10:18, Frankie is silhouetted within the door frame as the tank pulls away. Since there is very little in this scene, all of the focus falls on Frankie who is seen from behind. This placement of Frankie, alone and away from the other soldiers, displays the effects of the emotional transformation he has just made. He is alone in the vampire world now because he feels guilty for the death of Alison Bromel. The audience realizes that he is right in his remorse and finds it troubling that there is no one else who will stand with him. This allows the Sperig brothers to bring to light the clear problem with mindlessly obeying orders and illustrate that rebelling against authority can be a good thing.

    When one examines Frankie Dalton throughout the scene as a whole, it becomes evident that the directors used lighting to represent the emotional transformation he undergoes. In the frame at 1:08:59, when Frankie is still blindly following orders, the audience sees his face in dark shadows like the other soldiers. At 1:10:18, however, the lighting is used much differently, and silhouettes Frankie allowing the symbolic meaning that the mise en scene has created to become more effective. The lighting though also has its own symbolic meaning because it represents the new viewpoint Frankie has adopted. His back is to the darkness, symbolizing how he is beginning to turn away from the ignorance and inhumanity that the other soldiers standing in the shadows still possess. He is staring into the bright sunlight, which is a symbol of humanity throughout the movie, and now a symbol of his new found realization that blindly following orders is wrong and that he needs to look into his own humanity before he acts.

Another film element that the Sperig brothers’ use to create a feeling of unease and regret, is the soundtrack and noises heard throughout the entire scene. The music playing in the background starts off very dramatically with slow drum hits and as the scene progresses, takes over as one of the main focal points. The music leaves the audience feeling uneasy because the tone of the music juxtaposes what is happening in the scene. At the beginning of the scene, the audience hears nothing but the music and is unsure of what is going to happen. The music suggests a stereotypical scene in which something tragic has happened such as the death of the protagonist because this is generally where this type of track would be used. However, the audience soon realizes that it is being played overtop of a very gruesome execution of evil, bloodthirsty vampires. They are now forced to look at this scene in a very different light because it is not what they were expecting. They no longer view the subsiders as mindless creatures who deserve to die, but as humans who had life brutally stripped away from them. This new feeling leads the audience to empathize with Frankie Dalton and feel the same regret at his actions.

There are many different film elements that the Sperig brothers used to communicate their message to the audience, but there are several that are crucial in the effectiveness of this particular scene. The mise en scene is important at two different points but works in the same way both times. The soundtrack creates an uneasy feeling as it juxtaposes what is actually happening in the scene. Lighting and the use of an important symbol also help to create the message of the scene. All of these factors combined with a human-like portrayal of vampires, instills in the viewer a sense of regret and the idea that rebellion is often necessary to fix the issues facing humanity. At the end of this movie, the audience is not left with a lingering jealousy for these creatures of the night and their typical super powers. Instead, they are forced to examine their own society and morals and wonder if they too are becoming puppets of a corrupt world.