Film opening analysis By Kain Stones

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/zombieland/

• Typically in a zombie film we would have a cool and charismatic protagonist who Is professional when it comes to killing zombies. This film however challenges some conventions of zombie films by having a main character who is slightly dorky yet experienced.

• we can tell this through his voice in the opening narration as he sounds very young to be the kind of person in zombie flicks.

• Unlike “Shaun of the Dead” where the zombies are represented in quite a comedic way the zombie element of “Zombieland” is very serious but combined with the humour from the narrator it still comes across as a funny.

• The ‘rules’ are there to set the narrative of the scene and are textured and lighted to fit in the surroundings of where they’re set.

The ‘rules’ about surviving in zombieland are explained by the protagonist in a comedic way which helps set the tone for the film

• Another example of how these scenes show the adrenaline of the situation is the upbeat music.

• The costume worn by the zombies varies as there is no type of people than become them, anybody can.

• The most obvious use of make up is the torn flesh and blood.

Lighting: the lighting in each of the scenes are as natural as they would be where they are set. This gives a feel of realism to the situationCamera: handheld shots are used to give a sense of panic. The slow motion shots are supposed to be funny yet scary so it shows off the genre as a comedy horror.Music: the director chose ‘whom the bell tolls’ by metallica because it was his vision but the lyrics describe someone's time being short.Editing: the editing is fast paced to give a sense of rush in the situation the actors are in.

• The narrative given by the protagonist is calm and comedic which shows that he is used to the world he is living in and tries to make light of it. This sets the comedic tone of the film.

• There is a lot of blood and gore in this opening scene which shows the audience the extreme conditions of the situation and to set the horror tone of the film. Combined with the comedy it shows off the film as a horror comedy.

• How did the world get like this?• Who is narrating this?

ENIGMA