Night of the Living Dead (1990)
I chose to look at the classic Zombie Horror film Night of the Living Dead by George Romero, since this is one of the most highly rated and classic zombie films of all time.
7 seconds of darkness before the first title begins
Columbia Pictures – 10 seconds, spaceship type sound introduced
Fade 2 seconds darkness
Quiet violin sound begins - tension
Title sequence begins, first with company name
Includes ‘and’ – this is rare in recent films
4 seconds
Sun continues to rise – eerie strange sun, dark, looks a bit unnatural since it is sped up
Director’s name is shown
‘Presents’ – again rare in recent films
Violin music carries on, sun continues to rise
A drum beat sounds when movie title appears- this has been seen in a lot of films
Uses the same font, all in bold. Appears to the left of the moon and is larger, previously the titles appeared on top of the moon in the center. Approximately 4 seconds again. The scene then slowly fades away with the eerie drum beat and violin music.
The same shot is used for exactly 1 minute, introducing the company title, directors and writers name before ending with the film name. The font is all the same, with important names of a larger size. The music creates an eerie atmosphere, whilst the sun rising creates a supernatural type scary setting.
We then hear a mocking voice, which is actually quite effective “we are coming to get you, Barbra”. The scene is completely black and we cannot see where the voice is coming from, this is effectively unnerving. This lasts 5 seconds before we cut to a long shot, with a car driving into view.
The conversation continues with the man mocking. We can still not see the actual people speaking, however since the car comes into view the audience will assume this is where it is coming from. By not revealing the characters yet they manage to retain a spooky feel.
6 names in the same font appear across the bottom of the screen.
The conversation continues and we learn about the relationships between the unseen characters.
Non diegetic, creepy music is played through out the scenes with the car, which we follow to the mansion.
Names are continually displayed across the bottom of the screen as we track the car to the mansion.
An ariel view shows the car entering the mansion.
‘Associate producer’ and ‘Line Producer’ ‘Costume Designer’ are shown across the bottom
Since we are about to enter the mansion which is an important setting of the film more important names appear.
Zombieland is an apocalyptic horror film including dark humour and comedy.
Zombieland opens with a bell ringing over a black screen for approximately two seconds. The opening sequence then ends with this same bell ringing.
The man jumping off of the building jumps into the opening title credits. The man is seen jumping away from a zombie, who can be identified with his bloody face and zombie-like movements.
The credits are coloured red and in bold, with the company name in a larger font next to 'presents'.
In this long shot the camera is angled upwards, meaning the man is jumping into the screen, at the audience.
The letters are bashed out of the way as the man falls into them. The title is included in the scene, and goes across the building.
Heavy non diegetic music is played on top of the clip, with no diegetic music present. This music carries on through out the opening title sequence.
The transition to the next clip is a fade.
The man falling and zombie are placed in the center of the frame, as is the title.
This clip lasts approximately 8 seconds.
The man is in focus with travelling cars in the background. A lot of the scenes are placed in normal every day situations.
The man is covered in blood but otherwise is in normal clothes.
The titles are of the same font and colour, 'in association with' is in a lower font with 'relativity media' in a larger font below.
In slow motion again, the titles are placed underneath the man's chin, where the spewing blood knocks out the titles, before fading to the next scene.
This clip lasts less than 8 seconds.
Some similar conventions are included which have been shown in the previous few scenes; Slow motion, zombies, every day situations, titles being 'pushed' out of the way, and titles of the same font and colour, fade to next scene
'Pariah' is also larger than 'a production', similarly to the previous scenes
The camera is angled slightly upwards, with the woman running into the center of the frame
This scene is only 5 seconds long
This scene is again 5 seconds long.
The zombies are bloody and noticeable by their bloody clothes and zombie like movements.
This time the title is 'pushed' out of the way by a zombie. We are now onto names instead of companies, and the whole name is in the same font, colour and is bold.
slow motion, zombies, every day situations, titles being 'pushed' out of the way, and titles of the same font and colour, fade to next scene
In this long shot the scene is 7 seconds long, and includes two names. The second appears as the first is pushed out of the way. The exploding car and men are at the center of the frame, with the titles either side. The zombie is behind them, noticeable again by the zombie like running movements and blood.
slow motion, zombies, every day situations, titles being 'pushed' out of the way, and titles of the same font and colour, fade to next scene
Another two scenes are shown with the same conventions of:
slow motion, zombies, every day situations, titles being 'pushed' out of the way, and titles of the same font and colour, fade to next scene.
The first is a close up of riot police batting away a zombie, both lasting five seconds.
The second a zombie woman getting married tries to attack her husband. The second scene has no titles over the top, as it is the preceding the movie title.
The man smashes through the Zombieland title as though it were glass. The scene lasts 5 seconds. The same conventions are used; slow motion, zombies, every day situations, titles being 'pushed' out of the way, and titles of the same font and colour, fade to next scene.
The zombie is out of focus in the background, but there is always a zombie present.
Dawn of the Dead Analysis
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