SHAUN OF THE DEAD : Opening scene


the film starts in the middle of a conversation with shaun’s vacant non blinking expression start to camera which is ironically like a zombie - the audience is jumped into the action ; links the zombie theme to him ; zoom out shot establishes his character with his actions (smoking n drinking) 

its then cut abruptly with liz’s voice ‘are u listening?’ - pulls himn us out of the trance and this fourth wall break is … broken. establishes her character : grounding, in the moment / film ; his girlfriend (the genre of rom com is introduced)

the music is this qind instrumental thats a mix of both zom creepy n slightly cheerry?


jumps from each character to express the conversation going from each person like a tennis match ; why is liz upset? < their barrier to their relationship is the Ed, who the camera then pans to:

this slob of a man  playing the pin ball machine : do you have a life? his clothes his disregard for the state of them and his actions (playing the pinball game) suggests he has no goals in life ; no motivation and is later verbally confirmed 

shauns relationship with ed is holding him back in every other relationship n overbearing him in every way 

the film does well to make the pub look realistic : fts background noises and extras like the bartender n exiting noise as well as realisticpans over the entirety of the pub which is later the vital point of the film (i assume) it also provides clarity when talking about a charcater by cutting to said person to place face to name 

cut to title sequence 

features random people in a town with gormless ; zombie-like actions relating back to the zombie theme which foreshadows n sets up what the film is 

theres a then shot into shaun and ed’s partment where he seems j as unkept suggesting his (home) life is fairly dull n foreshadowing tells us this is subject to change ; his personal development is about to begin 

theres an idea of mundanity being compared to zombie-ness… but also there are repeated everyday synchronised actions also playing a role in this implying that the everyday tedious nature of humans is similr to a common zombie 

the film has a bright blue wash , complete contrast to traditional zombie films to show that it Isnt a traditional zombie film

with untraditional places for a zom film

the same same mid pan shot is repeated again and again sort of like a conformity to the traditional

we Then go to shaun n eds apartment where we get a pan of just his legs, a usually creepy shot to portray a villain or creep but is used unorthodox for innocent shaun 

he then shouts like in zombie movies taking another jab at them, but also is suggestive that maybe he is the villain of the film and the causation of what is about to happen?


Working class                                       Middle class

Pub                                                           Restaurant                                                                                                      Pint                                                        Glass of wine                                                                               


 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buster Keaton 'One week' and 'The scarecrow' analysis

One week meaning is created in the frame itself, rather than through editing or cuts editing is extremely minimal, as invisible as possible, only present when completely necessary editing used is all for functional purposes rather than to create meaning; for example the opening shot cuts briefly to a close up of a new character before cutting to another long take of them getting in the car. so used to advance the plot rather than have an effect on how the audience view the events. the framing fits the size of the joke, mostly wide shots to show all the action happening, closest shot is the medium shot towards the end majority of, if not all Keaton's emotions and expressions are expressed through exaggerated body language and movement  size contrast is as a comedic effect - Keatons small stature is used to an advantage vs tall fatty man Keaton uses several silent comedy conventions - stuns, falls, special effects, chase sequences, set design, using mis en scene for jokes breaks 4th...
Read more

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: questions to consider

Do you find the ending of the film to be satisfying resolution ?  Why ? it was not a satisfying resolution at all - the audience does not see any conflicts resolved between Llewelyn and Anton How were you expecting the film to end ?   I was expecting there to be an ending fight scene in which either one of them dies and maybe Sheriff Ed Tom Bell gets involved in some way. Also for there to be a triumph on either sides it was quite ambiguous throughout the film as to who would get the money to succeed. Why do you feel the Coen Brothers decided to have their main protagonist killed offscreen , and then avoid a final climax between Sheriff Bell and Chigurh ?  Consider the effect on the audience in terms of expectations of genre and narrative,  and the  themes of  law and order v criminality , good v evil , heroism etc. I think that the reason the Coen Brothers decided to end the film in this way is because they wanted to demonstrate the idea that as peopl...
Read more