Zombieland pp
- 1. Z O M B I E L A N D O P E N I N G
- 2. This opening is good because it shocks the audience with gore and violence, but at the same time the voice over (Jesse Eisenberg who plays Columbus) is relaxed, and makes jokey/ sarcastic comments. This sums up the mood and genre of the film as although there is a lot of gore and violence, it is also a comedy film which doesn’t take the gore that seriously. This introduction anticipates the audience for a very violent and jumpy film, when infact it isn’t that bad after the opening. Having anticipated the audience in this way, it keeps them on edge throughout the whole film.
- 3. The very first shot is a POV shot, making the audience seem part of the action straight away. Another POV shot is used from the zombie when he attacks the man in the toilet. The backing track is the American anthem played slowly with electric guitars and this shows the film is filmed in America, but obviously things are not normal. Special effects are used when they zoom out to show the whole world disrupted, using CGI to make the world look overtaken. Also the “tips” used to survive are edited onto the shot using graphics, and the text is treated like it’s actually in the shot (when the zombie gets shot by a gun, shooting marks are left on the text). Slow motion is used at times, like when the women flies out of the car, and when the opening titles are playing, a lot of slow motion shots are played of zombie attacks, so the audience see the gore and facial expressions in detail. A lot of the mis-en-scene shows busy American streets of few normal people being attacked by a lot of zombies, this indicates the disastrous effects of zombie land and makes the audience question how Columbus will survive.
- 4. It has introduced the plot by showing that the world has been overtaken by zombies (showing a shot from space of the disrupted world and all the zombies in the street) and the audience already want Columbus to survive (because it is his voice over and his point of view, making the audience on his side). And this is the main idea of the whole plot. The theme has been introduced well, with help of the rock music and the comedy/gore shows that although violent, it is not taken seriously and it doesn’t show a lot of sympathy for the victims and more pokes fun at them.
- 5. The opening doesn’t film any characters, just the public and zombies who do not feature again throughout the film. The voice over is Columbus which shows the film is shown from his point of view and also shows that he is the main character. Although not a lot is revealed; the fact that Columbus has made up rules to survive hints that he is prepared, intelligent and probably will survive throughout the rest of the film.
- 6. By showing the problem (zombies) and introducing the main character who wants to survive (Columbus) this hooks the audience as they want to find out how/if he survives and what happens along the way. Also the dramatic music and entertaining the audience with comedy and gore, this makes it more interesting and not boring, meaning people will enjoy watching the rest of the film. The end line of the introduction is “it’s gonna be a bumpy ride” – this anticipates the audience for an exciting film which also hooks them as they would want to watch the rest.