The opening sequence of Zombieland does very little for the scare
factor of your traditional horror film. As a "Zom-Com", Zombieland
provides comic relief by laughing at something that in reality would be
absolutely terrible.
Form and Style
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| This scene doesn't fail to get the audiences' hearts racing, but also guarantees humour when Columbus drops his keys |
Although the opening has no real "scare-factor",
it does create a certain sense unease and panic. The scene opens to what
appears to be a POV shot, showing an overturned government vehicle and the
burning capital building in Washington D.C. This gives the audience an idea of
the setting. The desolate and ruined landscape of the usually well represented
capital is a clear sign of riot or unrest, enhanced by the distorted "Star
Spangled Banner" National Anthem playing in the background as non-diegetic
sound. This is further confirmed by a zombie leaping over the overturned
vehicle and chasing after the helpless civilian who's point of view we are
observing, before "chowing down" on his intestines. This whole scene
is narrated by the main character, Columbus, who is played by Jessie
Eisenberg. This tells the audience that we are looking at events from his point
of view, enhancing the theory that Zombie Horror is more about the nature
of the characters rather than the zombies themselves. As the scene progresses, we see how Columbus, a seemingly
unusual character to have survived such an ordeal, has come to do so. It is
because of his rules. It is as he is listing them, the audience becomes aware
that the movie is formatted like a diary, with Columbus as it's author. Unlike
other Zombie films such as "28 Days Later" (Danny Boyle, 2002), the
audience is not entirely immersed in this world, due to the comedy that helps
distance them from it, reassuring them it isn't real, but never failing to
provide the occasional jump or scare
Film Language
Unlike most conventional horror films, no colour wash
is used in Zombieland. This is perhaps a decision by the director to make the
whole films seem less scary and more comical. More a comedy film with zombies
in, rather than a zombie film with comedy. However, Mise-en scene is used in
other ways to create a bleak feeling, such as overturned cars, rubbish strewn
across streets and dead people walking about.
But Mise-en scene really comes into play when the titles
roll. Here, zombies are seen to be crashing into the text, further enhancing
the feeling of devastation and destruction throughout the world. The slow
motion effect which uses a higher frame rate also shows a lot of detail to the
zombies, something that is very rarely done in horror films (perhaps besides Supernatural
horror) as fast-paced scenes are better for providing tension and scares
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| The opening titles of the film |
Representation and Ideology
The opening sequence only focuses around the main character
Columbus, who is represented as nervous, smart and as having a serious case of
OCD (hence the rules) The audience can infer that Columbus is a white,
middle-class male as he refers to his "college dorm", suggesting that
he is at university. He also refers to himself as a "shut in",
suggesting he has little to no social life, a trait which is often common among
gamers or hackers; nerds. A fact which he later confirms when describing his
first experience with a zombie
Audience Readings
- A dominant reading of this would be that the audience understands the world has been overrun by zombies and that only as few have survived
- A negotiated reading would be that the audience believes this is a documentary, but understands that the world was overrun by zombies
- A negotiated reading would be that the audience believes this is a documentary, but understands that the world was overrun by zombies
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