C.E.S.M Analysis of opening of Zombieland

I think that analysing this film would be very useful because it fits in well with the genre and the subgenre that our film is going to be.

Here is a list of what stands out in each category in the C.E.S.M

After the list there is a short conclusion.

Camera:

Canted Angle – Delusional effect to the audience

Zooming Out of flag

Handheld camera – So it looks like a person’s point of view

Low angle – Looks like camera has just been left on the floor (Emergency)

Side tracking while Chasing – To make it look smooth.

Mid-Long shot

High Angle –Toilet

Limited use of zooming but some to show the blood of the zombies

Panning when filming a car pass by

Crane shot to set the scene from high angle to medium

Plan view to show top down

Most of the camera angles included within the opening of the movie is used to create a sense of danger to the audience and to make the audience feel in the film especially when using a handheld camera because the audience sees the footage from the victim’s point of view. Also the camera tends to zoom in on the extra creepy/bloody parts of a person to emphasise the look of the zombies. The cants also create a delusional effect to the audience because the picture isn’t straight and doesn’t look right.

Editing:

Blurry at start, then clear – It could show that someone has just woken up from injury.

Analogue fuzzy lines while being attacked by zombie to show that something is going wrong.

Text added to show rules and emphasise them

Slow motion to add effect and detail

Multiple camera angles to show shots from a different point of view.

In the opening, there are a lot of slow motion shots which emphasise the pain of the attacks and makes it seem more painful to the viewer. At the very beginning, they have started it a bit blurry to show that maybe a person has just woken up because they were injured. There is quite a lot of editing in the opening scenes of the film.

Sound:

U.S.A Anthem, Rock version maybe to suit target audience, very slow tempo (Non-diegetic).

Narration throughout clip (from main character).

S.F.X of damaging car when zombie runs on top of it. (Diegetic)

Wind noise when travelling through space.

Very quite action/adventure music when characters chase and narrator narrates (Non-diegetic).

S.F.X of gunshot to make it loud and sudden and to make audience jump.

Creepy/tension high pitched music being played during toilet shot, to make the film seem scarier.

Rock music for the intro (Non-diegetic) – Adventurous setting – Makes the film seem manlier

In the opening scenes, there is quite a lot of non-diegetic music which is supposed to set the scene of the film to the audience. The adventurous music adds to the effect of the chase. In the toilet scene, they have made an attempt to make the audience jump where they suddenly see the zombie from underneath the door of the cubicle and you suddenly hear an outburst of roar from the zombie which is very loud and sudden.

Mise en Scène

Everyday outfits – To show that this disaster happened to normal people at a normal time.

Flag of the U.S.A to emphasise that it is no longer U.S.A, it is Zombieland.

Angry Facial expressions (Zombies), Petrified expression (People)

Overcast day, not a lot of lighting – creates a dark, dangerous setting (Pathetic fallacy)

Dark rooms

Blood on nearly all of the zombie’s faces to add extra scary effect.

Set in a moderately busy town/city

The dark and overcast day sets the scene for the entire film and the audience can tell what the film is going to be like using pathetic fallacy because dark clouds usually connote a miserable day, just by the weather of the town and the lighting in the rooms. The costumes in the opening are everyday to show that these tragic events are happening to everyday people. The zombies had lots of blood on them to make them look extra scary to the audience.

Overall, I believe that this film is quite scary but has a comical feel to it especially with the narration. I believe that the effects in this film are realistic and effective. The film that we plan to make links in well with this because we are both going to include zombies in our film and a chase scene. We plan to make the film more dramatic and less comical to make the audience feel more insecure and scared. The opening scenes of this film doesn’t make the scene look very scary but we aim to make our first few scenes look more adventurous.

I also contributed to a general Repotoire of Elements for the horror genre on the group blog page.