Dawn of the Dead title sequence analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TuqA7I7LLk

I feel this is a very well made horror title sequence. The first thing we see is red font on a black background, a very striking colour combination and one with dark connotations. This font then turns to blood and trickles off the side of the screen.
This is a very interesting effect and fits the tone of the film as it suggests it will be gory and also has almost comedic connotations. Also the way the blood runs off the side of the screen would make the audience feel uneasy as it is a very unnatural movement.

There is an effective mix of diagetic and non-diagetic sound. These two sound types seem to be juxtaposed. This is evidenced by the disturbing screeches which are played suddenly when the very fast shots of zombies appear. These would make the audience jump and they would then be in suspense for when the next one will appear. However, the non-diegetic sound, in the form of a Johnny Cash song is very up-beat and almost playful, a direct contradiction with the scenes of carnage being shown. Also, certain sounds throughout the clip switch from Non-Diegetic to Diegetic. One example of this is the conference at the begginning where the disease is being discussed, none of the speakers are shown until the very end of that section.
This switch of sound types could represent the change in reality occurring in the film.

The editing in the titles is very quick, with fast cuts and various subliminal flashes of disturbing imagery. This is an influence on our piece as this is something we have tried to incorporate with very quick shots of a disfigured doll.

The mise-en-scene of the sequence is very grim; the whole way through with many shots of death, destruction and fire. The sequence cleverly creates a sense of verisimilitude by incorporating images of the zombies attacking throughout scenes of real life disasters, making them seem real. This creates a sense of fear in the viewer.

The colour pallette and lighting constantly changes as the titles are made up of
scenes of real life, filmed destruction. I believe this inconsistency in tone would create a sense of unease in the viewer as they would not know what to expect next and this would keep them on edge. We have therefore included a few changes in the colour pallete throughout our titles as hopefully it will create the same effect that is achieved here.

There are not really any performances in the sequence as it is made of real clips. However all the clips show people scared and in distress. This very real fear adds to the verisimiltude and also succeeds in disturbing the viewer.

The shots of zombies attacking are filmed from very inconsistent angles, some from above, some from below and some from straight on. This inconsistency suggests that the zombies are unpredictable and are taking over everywhere, shown by the multitude of viewpoints.
Most of the shots contain some kind of distortion such as static or a grainy picture. I believe this adds to the grm mise-en-scene and also contributes more to the verisimiltude.

Cursed | Upload Music

Our Credits

Taking the research we have done into account we fromulated this order of Credits for our film:
Prince Studios presents
A Vallis Williams Production
Sophie Thomas in...
The Cursed
Philip Moore, Michael Jarvis, Jane Gledhill
Casting by Penelope Hurst
Music Composed by John vallis
Cinematographer Stacy Williams
Edited by Liam Greenfield
Production designer Juan Gonzales
Executive Producers David Braun and Joshua Grohl
Produced by Jane Matthews
Screen Play by Michael Gregory
Directed by Simon Snow

Structure Of A Title Sequence

We watched various title sequences on Youtube in order to try and find the standard order in which credits appear. The clips we watched included 'Catch me if you can' and 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. In both these clips the structure was as follows:
The Name of The Film Studio
The Name of the Production Company
Who Makes the Film e.g A steven Speilberg film
Main Actors
Name of Film
More Actors
Casting
Music Composer
Costume Designer
Cinematographer
Editor
Production Designer
Executive Producer
Producer
Screen Play Author
Director

Analysis of The Music

The music John has composed for the piece is very atmospheric and ambient. I think this fits the ghostly and disturbing images of our film. The texture of the piece is very thin and sparse, this is good as it creates a feeling of loneliness and isolation in the audience. The sound is also panned which adds depth to the stereo field, this would give the audience a feel of an overwhelming desolate landscape.
The piece is also full of repetetive motifs which also gives the audience an uncomfortable and droning sense of impending doom. The use of repetition is heavily influenced by Steve Reich's minimalist compositions. The steve Reich influence can also be hard in the use of odd time signatures and dissonance. Both these things make the piece uncomfortable to listen to and therefore make the piece perfect for a psychological horror film. This is because odd time signatures dont sound natural and are hard to follow and latch onto. I believe this lack of a determinable structure and inability to latch onto the piece would keep listeners on edge throughout the piece.
The use of dissonance also sounds disturbing and can create a subtle inferrence of a human scream. I believe this is more effective than just including a human scream as it is usually used in horror films during intense points in the action such as a murder and as such i feel it would be innapropriate to include one during our title sequence. I also think subtle inferrence is more effective as sometimes the audience wont even realize what they are hearing until sudden realization dawns on them. This should slowly cause a sense of fear and discomfort to wash over the audience.

Third Day of Filming

On the third day of filming we filmed all our shots of the melting doll. The intention of these shots is to represent the degregation of innocence in the film. To melt the doll we used a heat gun in a well ventilated area. We decided to tape up the dolls hands and mouth as this represents a sense of helplesness and imprisonment, this would infer a recurring theme throughout the film.
We also burnt and melted a rose. I feel that a burning rose is a very strong image and has very strong oxymoronic connotataions with the juxtaposition of the beauty and life of the flower with the harshness and destructive properties of fire. This would suggest a theme of lost beauty and this is metaphorical for how the characters once ideal life quickly descends into chaos.
We also melted the rose as we thought we could show images of the rose becoming gradually more disfigured as the titles progress. I believe this would be a good feature as it would give the audience a measured visual guide to the characters sanity at certain points in the film.

Logged Shots from Day 2

Here are the shots we have logged from day 2:
3.35-3.45: PAN 1 YES
3.45-4.03: PAN 2 YES
4.03-4.09: PYLON SHOT NO
4.09-4.51: WALKING TO CAMERA YES
4.51-5.01: BACKWARDS WALKING YES
5.01-5.11: EMPTY SWING YES
5.11-5.35: SOPHIE SWING YES
5.35-5.47: SOPHIE TREE YES

Second day of filming

Second Day of Filming

On the second day of filming we shot exterior shots on a playing field and a childrens park. This was representative of the character regressing to her childhood memories.
We started with a long panning shot, starting on some skeletal trees and ending on Sophie, looking creepy. One problem we encountered was getting the pan smooth as the start of the shot usually jumped as the camera started moving. However, this can be fixed during the editing process. We attempted this shot three times until we were happy with the results.
The next shot we filmed was Sophie walking backwards, as though she is possessed. This is inspired by 'The Exorcist'. We feel this could be a succesful reference as it is one of the most succesful horror films of all time.
The next shot we filmed was an empty swing in a childs playpark. We filmed this shot from a high angle. This is effective as the angle would give the audience a sense of comfort and security, feeling they have dominance over the shot. However the swing still swings right at the camera which would shock the audience and hopefully break their comfort zone.
After this we filmed Sophie on the swing. I feel this is an effective shot as it once again shows how Sophie is trying to regress to childhood memories, and this in turn infers that their is something wrong with her current life. This would intrigue the viewer and hopefully make them feel uneasy, as they know that something is wrong but dont know what.

Logged shots from day one

Here is the logged shots from the first day of filming:


1.24-1.59: OTS MIRROR SHOT YES
2.00-2.12: OTS MIRROR SHOT LIPSTICK YES
2.12-2.20: OTS MIRROR SHOT YES
2.22-2.32: CU MIRROR SHOT YES
2.32-2.44: CU MIRROR SHOT YES
2.44-2.51: MIRROR SHOT NO
2.51-3.16: MIRROR SHOT YES
3.16:3.20: MIRROR SHOT MAYBE
3.20-3.25 HAND MIRROR SHOT NO
3.25-3.35: HAND MIRROR SHOT YES
3.35-3.49: CU OF EYE YES
3.49-4.06: BED SHOT MAYBE
4.06-4.19: SIDE OF BED NO
4.19-4.34: BED POLE YES
4.34-4.47: KNEELING SHOT NO
4.47-5.03: CU OF EYES YES
5.03-5.21: CU OF FACE YES
5.21- 5.50: CU OF FACE YES

first day of filming

We began filming footage for our horror film early January 2010. On the first day of filming we filmed the shots of Sophie putting on make up in the mirror. We decided to film in a dark environment and used the nightshot mode on the camera as this gave a grainy effect which creates a feeling of suspense. One challenge we encountered was positioning the camera to get a good shot but also not be visible in the mirror. We decided to use an OTS shot as this off center positioning allowed us to see all the action but also prevented the camera from being visible. We decided that Sophie should be wearing a nice dress as the juxtoposition of a stylish outfit with the dark foreboding connotations of the action would create an unsettled feeling in the viewer.