Zombie Land

The Zombie land title sequence opens with a low camera angle, it creates a view as if the audience is a part of the action looking up towards the falling man. The shot contains a fence and barbwire which gives a sense of violence and could represent how it has been used to block something or someone. The bright coloured orange costume of the zombie catches the audience’s eyes and even though there is a character falling towards me I am automatically drawn to the zombie in the background – this is because the colour stands out among its darker surroundings. The orange could also foreshadow fire as it is seen as a connotation for the colour. 

The text is red which could symbolise blood and becomes a part of the action as the character falls through it – I feel this involvement of the font creates another character.

The sound opens with similarities to a church bell which reminds me of a graveyard which could foreshadow an end, it then quickly changes to a guitar and drum which is easy to identify as heavy metal in which we relate to being loud and sometimes mental; this may be an insight to the characteristics through the film.

 The shot then changes to be a very gory scene of a man spitting out blood, the slow motion ensures that the audience sees every droplet; setting the genre as horror. The background consists of a blurred road of cars, this shows how the setting is in a normal town and probably not what the audience was expecting e.g. dark, foggy location. The out of focus background puts the main focus on the character but also gives an eerie feeling to the surroundings with the blurred cars giving a sense of mystery.

The shot then dissolves into another gory action, with the slow motion emphasising the fear in the character’s face. The bright pink outfit harmonises with her drink and the crème plant pots, this gives a sense of peace but with the juxtaposition of the blood covered zombie behind the woman, the feeling is of panic and chaos which continues the theme of horror. The next shot is located on a street and even though it involves some sights of blood it seems merely calmer than the previous shots… until we read “THE END IS NEAR” on a bit of cardboard the man is wearing. The long shot is used to show several people; as the audience you are able to see the main action is on the three zombies closing in on the man - this is seen to be slightly humrous when comparing the action to the sign, but on the left in the background we are able to see people running which continues the theme of fear although it also hints there may be conflict between citizens as they are saving themselves.
The use of another dissolve shows the passage through time and location as the long shot involves a car on fire, the huge black cloud of smoke could resemble death of that character. The man in the suit is also dressed in orange to show that the fiery violence isn’t over. We can also see a brief case flying through the air, it looks as if it contains notes of money showing how everyone of all classes are effected by the zombies and no matter how much money you have it is worthless under the destruction of zombies.

It then continues to yet another gory scene, but this time it appears no running is involved, instead it shows police shields blocking the zombies – this is the first shot we see citizens trying to fight back instead of running. The slow motion continues to emphasis the blood travelling everywhere; this could signify the zombie’s destruction spreading through the town.

An unusual setting is then shown, it is of a wedding said to be the happiest day of your life, seen to be in chaos. The flowers in the foreground and a man capturing a photo in the background emphasises the beauty of the day and could be a symbol that the situation will get back to normal. The bride dressed in white appears to have blotches of red on her , the connotations of the colour white suggests purity and heaven but the collision and conflict of red represents anger and hell of the opposing intruder – the zombies. The woman on the left has a shocked expression showing that the actions were unexpected.

The typography/ font continues to be a character throughout the opening title sequence as the shot at 0.43 focuses mainly upon it – it represents the title of the film in capital letters, the shot then creates a sense of 3Dimension as the character smashes through the font and the screen. The shattering effect is unexpected and involves the audience more; I feel it resembles the citizens breaking free from the zombie filled world.

A shot is then shown involving a background of piles of wood which could indicate how the world is falling apart and the zombies are winning. Both characters are wearing blue which shows how they seem so different however they are more similar than they think.

Then another shot involving fire is shown, although this time there is a zombie running in flames, this is an important shot because it shows how the zombies are undefeatable, unstoppable and unbreakable, it also presents the question to the audience; will anything defeat these destructible monsters?
A man presented in a white suit appears to have no blood on him and calm facial expressions is holding a gun – this gives an insight to the hero/ protagonist and the audience hope that everything will be fine.

The last shot shown is of a zombie falling from a high level, this is very similar to the first shot but this time shows how the zombies are the vulnerable characters. The sound ends with another bell sound which could, unlike the first bell symbolise how it is over. When listening to the bell several time it reminded me of a boxing match and how there is a bell at the beginning and end - this is very similar to the title sequence.