Thursday 11 December 2014

Dawn of the Dead (2004) analysis- Opening credits reporter



This scene takes place during the opening credit montage where the audience see the zombies first take over. The opening credits is edited to be a slow paced montage with shots of an interview with the President of America, Muslims praying and body horror being mixed in with intertitles. At this point the parallel music, Johnny Cash’s “When the Man Comes Around” starts to play and the montage becomes quick paced, with shots of riots, medical procedures, blood, live satellite feeds and death. This quick paced montage builds up excitement and panic in the audience and make them scared of what they’re about to watch.

A wide shot is used here so you can see the background of a Middle Eastern city setting with mosque composed on the left hand side of the frame, if we use the rule of thirds. This composition gives it connotations of being evil and bad, as it looms over the reporter. This also links with the historical context of the time where America was still recovering from the 9/11 terrorist attacks and had a fear of terrorism spreading like a disease, which is represented through the use of zombies in the film and how they overrun America.

Using Todorov’s theory of narrative on this scene we can see it takes place at the disruption scene near the beginning of the Classical Hollywood Narrative. Continuing on from Ana's attack in the previous scene, here we are clearly told the zombie virus has broken out and is starting to infect the world. The world and Ana's equilibrium has been broken so the protagonist Ana must try to seek safety and a new equilibrium in the rest of the narrative.

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