Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004) Opening Sequence:
Genre:
-The film belongs to the Zombie sub-genre of Horror, evident in the opening through the use of narrative and techniques that are conventional of the genre, this means that the opening appeals to fans of the genre too as they can recognise some of the features from other Zombie films
-One example of the conventional narrative in the opening is the breakdown of society that is frequently used in Zombie films, for example the moments where the protagonist is driving through a town while several people are killed by zombies behind her
Film language (Camera)
-Close up of a photo of the protagonist and her boyfriend connotes the normality of the protagonists life and allows the audience to relate to the protagonist. This also creates a contrast between this normality and the protagonists life after the breakdown in society and establishes the relationship between the protagonist and her boyfriend quickly
-POV/ handi-cam shot approaching the bedroom door creates suspense and connotes danger for the protagonist. This form of shot is also very conventional of the Zombie genre and the horror genre as a whole as it shows the danger effectively sneaking up on the characters while they are unaware
-Extreme long shot/ Establishing shot shows the town that the protagonist is in and the city in the distance as the protagonist drives away from the town she escaped from. This shot is used to denote the widespread destruction caused by the zombies as several fires and explosions can be seen in the distance
Film language (Editing)
-Cutting rate increases as the action and violence in the film increases. At the beginning when the Zombie girl first steps into the room the cutting rate remains fairly slow, reflecting the fact that the protagonist are unaware of the danger they are in as they just believe the girl is hurt. After the girl bites the protagonists boyfriend the cutting rate drastically increases and stays fairly high for the remainder of the scene. However it does reduce slightly once again after the protagonist gets in the car and drives out of the town, creating a calm after the storm effect connoting the fact that the protagonist believes she has escaped from the danger
-Continuous editing is used throughout the clip to connote continuous action. This creates a sense of verisimilitude and makes the scene more realistic. Examples of continuous editing include the cut between the protagonist climbing out of the bathroom window and the next cut of her outside falling onto the floor from the window above
Film language (Mise-en-scene)
-Prosthetics are used throughout the clip in order to create the gore on the zombies. One example is the Zombie girls face in the opening stages of the scene. This is very conventional of the Zombie
sub-genre as gore/prosthetics is important to the scare factor of horror films and is a technique that appeals to the genres target audience
-Props are used in the clip for a variety of reason. An example of props being used is the gun that the protagonists neighbour is threatening her with, this is also conventional of the genre as guns and other weapons are often used to create the gore, it also connotes the violent events that conventionally occur in the sub-genre
-The setting for the majority of the clip is a suburban town. This location creates a sense of verisimilitude as the audience can relate to the location as they may live in a similar area. The setting in the opening of the clip is inside of a house, this is effective for the same reason
Film language (sound)
-The diegetic sound of people screaming anchors the violence used throughout the opening sequence, conventional of the sub-genre
-There is an orchestral score that starts when the Zombie girl bites the protagonists boyfriend doing the early stages of the scene. This orchestral score connotes the action and anchors the violence/gore.
Narrative
-The intro is used to establish the main protagonist and set the scene/tone for the remainder of the film. The film shows how the Zombie apocalypse started and gives some details about the protagonists background, for example her boyfriend and the town that she lived in
-Enigma code is used at the end of the introduction when the protagonist crashes her car into a tree as it makes the audience wonder what will happen to her next as it cuts to the titles scene
Representation and Ideology
-The women in the clip is represented as fairly vulnerable, a stereotypical representation of women. Examples of this include her screams as she is attacked inside of her car
-The little girl is represented as dangerous and strong when she attacks the protagonists boyfriend, an anti-stereotype, however the fact that she is a Zombie makes it stereotypical too as Zombies are often represented in this way
Media Audiences
-The target audience for the film is males aged 16-25 as the picture contains scenes of violence that are generally well received by this target audience. The sub-genre of Zombie is generally aimed at this audience due to the conventional themes and events that take place in these films
Institutional Context
-'Dawn of the Dead' was produced by Strike entertainment
-Distributed by Universal Pictures
-Grossed $102 million worldwide
-Budget $26 million
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