RH - Analysis of the Opening Sequence of Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)

Genre:
Zombieland belongs towards to different genres, it is mainly a comedy horror film but doubles as a zombie horror. The film is conventional for a horror in several ways for example the characters are seen to be constantly under threat from zombies in a baron wasteland that is shown to be America. We are also positioned straight away with the main character who is conventional in the fact that it is a young man but he is unconventional in the way he thinks and acts, for example we are shown in the opening scenes that  Columbus isn't a hero in the typical nature and actually has rules in order to escape and run away from the zombies instead of staying and fighting compared to conventional protagonist 'heroes'.

Form & Style:

The opening scene of Zombieland consists of mainly animated typography which fits in with the action happening on screen for example people seem to be able to move the text that is on screen by running into it or hitting it. The opening scene also consists of the protagonist narrating the fact that America is now overrun by zombies, however during this we don't get to see the protagonist until after the credits have been shown where we then see him at a abandoned petrol station.

Film Language:

Mise-en-scene:
The Mise-en-scene during the opening scene introduces us to the overall setting of the film which is a abandoned America which the protagonist describes as 'The United states of Zombieland'. during the opening scene we are also shown several zombies with each one given a specific identity which portrayed what they did in their previous life or just in casual clothes for example during the opening scene there is a convict zombie and a stripper zombie, this conforms with the fact that this is a comedic horror.

 Camera:
The shots in the opening scene of Zombieland consist of mainly MLS shots of zombies chasing people these are also shot in slow-motion during the title sequence. However during the opening scene where Columbus is narrating and saying about Zombieland we are shown the destruction in the surrounding area of the white house from the position of a handy camera held by a man who is unrelated to the story and therefore is the first victim to a zombie that we see and to make this shot conform with the comical nature of the film the shot ends just as the zombie is picking human flesh out of his teeth with a slight grin on his face.

Sound:

The diagetic sound within the opening scene of Zombieland consists of mainly zombie groans but also includes things smashing as well as panting of people running, another diagetic sound includes the squelching of guts when the zombie is eating but these are turned up to add to the horror. The non-diagetic sound is the primary source of sound since this provides the narrative as well as the music during the credits.

Editing:

The most dominant editing in the opening scene of Zombieland consists of the floating text crediting the people involved, this is the reason I chose to look at this clip since I liked the idea of using something similar to this in our final piece since I personally believe that it looks very professional if someone can make the text fit in well with the environment in the video and make it react accordingly. The other significant piece of editing is the CGI used to make the world that looks desolate and completely destroyed. 







Narrative:
The narrative in the opening scene of Zombieland consist of the protagonist narrating different scenes an due to this we can tell that he is an unconventional protagonist since he is telling us about his rules he has made up to stay safe and usually run away from the zombies for example the first rule was cardio.

Representation & Ideology:
The opening scene of zombieland shows a regressive view of our protagonist since he is not considered to be conventional since he is younger and doesn't show the usual attractiveness of a male lead.However we are not shown enough of the character to go into enough detail on other ideological traits.

Media Audience:
The main target audience for Zombieland would most likely be young adults consisting of Ages 16-26., however this film can appeal to most age groups above this due to its style and humor. 




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