Analysis of the Opening Sequence from 'Zombieland'

Analysis of “Zombieland” Opening Sequence

In this essay I am going to create and analysis of the opening sequence of “Zombieland” and explain the elements that they used and establish how they are used to set up character, narrative and genre.

Sound:

There is a non-diegetic sounding of an electric guitar being played creating the mood to be uneasy and jumpy. This tells us the genre of the film allowing us to know if it’s something that we want to watch. Then there is a voice over of a boy that sounds like he’s in his teens because his voice isn’t deep enough. This implies to the audience that it could be a hybrid genre and it could be a comedy-horror because a boy is introducing the film rather than a man. You hear sounds of explosions, screaming and people grunting as if there bears, representing them as animals and something like a virus has been introduced to humans creating them to become ‘zombies’. You hear a zombie eat another man and then you hear them burp and this is another example of the movie being a part of a comedy genre because it shows the funny side of someone being eaten rather than someone that has just died.

There is a lot of diegetic sounding in the opening sequence creating a realistic effect and that people could relate to what is happening from the screaming or even if they were attacked by someone. This instantly makes you empathise with the characters because you act as if you’ve been through it too and then you sympathise with the characters when they have become ‘food.’

The voice over then tells the audience how to avoid the zombies and what to do if you were in that situation. He also asks a rhetorical question, “How am I alive when everyone else has turned to meat?” and this also creates the audience to be friends or want to be with him to be able to survive. This is also another sense of realism because a normal boy of America has out-smarted the zombies because he is still alive and he knows what he is doing allowing the audience to instantly want to be with him and they listen to him.

Mise-en-Scéne:
Mise-en-scéne plays a huge part in the opening sequence because this is the main way that introduces you to the character. As soon as the film starts, you are placed in the middle of a road under a car that has crashed with zombies running around. The camera shows the zombies and they are wearing clothes that normal people would wear such as suits, top and jeans and an officer’s outfit. This again shows the reality of the movie because they are everyday things that people encounter allowing them to relate with the characters even more.

The background is in New York so it shows the extent that the problem has gone to, and the audience think how the virus is going to go so they are drawn into watching it to find out the outcome of the problem.

Furthermore, the incapability of the characters not being able to get away or defeat the zombies show the average American and how weak they are when it comes to something as serious as this. In addition, the over-crowding in the streets show how big the problem is and how many people have become a victim of the virus. 

Editing:
The first camera shot we see is someone picking the hand-held camera up and showing us a zombie attacking him. This represents that it was real because the majority of people have cameras and capture everything that is serious. As the opening sequence carries on, it zooms out of the city and shows a shot of the whole world and how disastrous it has become because the bottom half is on fire and you can see cracks in the world, insisting it is going to be the end of the world. As the voice over describes how to out-do the zombies, in the background you see writing and it tells you the name of the rule for example “RULE#2 – DOUBLE TAP” and this shows that it is something you need to be able to beat the zombies. It then shows a long shot of an over-weight man running away from a zombie and then being eaten by it. This gives an example to the audience so they know what to do rather than just be told and they feel as if it is true so they have to listen to these ‘rules’ that are being set.
The camera slows down to emphasise the attacks and it also shows the extent of what happens when they are caught because it shows the zombies ripping out the human guts. 





Camera:

There are a lot of camera angles in the opening sequence to show the madness of what’s happening. It contains point of view shots from drivers when running over zombies to show the chaos that is being caused and it has bird eye view shows to show how many zombies there are and how many humans there are trying to get away from them. Also, it shows the city and how much it has been destroyed because of the virus that has spread.

Conclusion:

Overall, the opening sequence contains so much that the audience would enjoy and it suggests to the audience that it is something you have to watch because it is factual and will help you if it happened in real-life. Even though it shows what’s happened because of the virus however it doesn’t show you how it spread and they don’t care as long as everyone knows this everyone will be ok. It also includes elements of comedy which also intrigue the audience to watch and find out more of what’s going to happen.