World War Z has an incredibly thought provoking and diverse opening, one which brings across a heightened sense of curiosity, but at the same time, builds up an awfully real, yet disturbing image of the world within the narrative of the film. With this, comes a great mass of enigma, as it really doesn't make much sense until you begin to analyse the imagery just a tad bit further.
However, before any of this comes into play, let's take a brief look at the stony, bottom-line details before going too in-depth:
Production Companies: Paramount Pictures & Skydance Media
Distribution Company: Paramount Pictures (UK)
Release Date: 21st June 2013 (UK)
Age Certificate: 15
Type of Sequence: Stylised/Discrete hybrid. You can tell that this sequence is stylised, due to the ways in which it has been edited. It's unique and original to the film itself, developed in such a way that it carries the story with more individuality, and therefore, works in an incredibly effective way, leaving an great imprint for the rest of the film to come.
With the brief overview in mind, I'm going to move on to explain the institutional context of which appears within the sequence. And straight off the bat, we are greeted with the production companies. These are nothing special; though this isn't to say they aren't effective. We have text over a blank, black screen, the text standing out in pure white, aligned to the center most section of the grid; in terms of the rule of thirds. The text in question is in a sharp, angular and bold font. This in itself connotes that the primary target audience is specifically male, as fonts such as the one I have described, are typically aimed towards a male audience. I'll expand on this point a little later.
As for the films distributor, Paramount Pictures; they were mentioned at the very beginning of the sequence, as the main production company. Therefore, have not been mentioned again. There is no need to do so, as during development, they would have wanted to hook the audience, and this would have made the opening sequence unnecessarily long.
Between each of the credits appearances, there is a simple black screen straight cutting between each title. Simple as this is, it helps the sequence along leaps and bounds. Simplicity is sometimes the very key to success, and this is something I'll try to replicate in my own sequence when it comes around to the editing processes.
Onto narrative, and we have an incredibly interesting subject to discuss. I feel that, though that film itself may be entirely different, the sequence brings about a somewhat multi-stranded narrative on the first inspection, with bits and bobs not really seeming to fit together in describing the narrative itself. However, this is where things begin to get a little more interesting, and lean into a more linear concept.
With shots of people and things worldwide, animals, nature, so on and so forth; the sequence begins to build on the idea that the events within the narrative are in fact, effecting the world on a global sale. And as the sequence goes on, combined with sound, an eerie, dark and disturbing feeling is built upon, enough to send a chill down the spine of the audience.
Within 2 minutes an awfully surprising amount of narrative exists, though, at the same time, barely anything is established, aside for the fact that whatever is happening in the narrative is serious, and effects the world on some relatively large scale. With that said, the whole sequence is one big enigma, and this itself is effective; due to the fact that the audience will be both hooked, and intrigued. It gives away so little, yet enough for the audience to want to stick around and see more. Here, a little imagery from the sequence, to show in a clearer sense what I meant by my explanation; just to show how, at first glance, the sequences is a jumble of randomness:
It is hard to point out exactly what sorts of people, groups, and places are represented throughout the opening I have chosen to analyse today. This is due to the fact that, as previously mentioned, nothing quite makes sense; and if you were to take only the sequence into mind, and not the rest of the movie, is it awfully artsy and discrete.
Let’s start with the simple things. Between mainstream and niche, World War Z leans more into a mainstream type of audience. This is due to the fact that is it of course, a Hollywood movie, but also, the general premise of the film. Sequence aside for just a moment, it is about a dystopian event; involving a little thing known as zombies. Looking at a general theme, and the idea of zombies, and apocalyptic events; films with these connotations, are marketed towards a general, mainstream audience.
Having a look at the demographic side of the deal, and it’s a little simpler. Though either gender would view this movie, with the bold fonts used, as mentioned before, this film is primarily target towards the males; females being the secondary audience. Now, with a star vehicle such as Brad Pitt, you have the males, who look up to him and aspire to be like him. Then of course, the females will also be in the audience, since he would be seen as attractive to these woman. Being a movie full of action and violence, the males again, slip into the primary audience, and that’s all there is to it.
We have a D-E grade with the income bracket for the primary audience. This is because, especially with the E grade, you have students, and casual workers. People in this bracket generally tend to have more time on their hands, and more money to splash out on going to the cinema. They are generally younger, aging between 15-25 in this case. So, the primary audience for this film:
Aged between 15-25
D-E Grade
Male
Now, with this in mind, we see that the secondary audience would be anyone outside of this bracket. Not so much under 15, but very well above 25, female/other, or and grade above D. I realize that with film concepts I have in mind, this is around about the same representations I’d like to use myself. Very similar, and I’ll keep this in mind.
I want to quickly add on the fact, that though the film is set in America, the problem has spread worldwide, in narrative, and therefore, primarily American’s are represented, though really the film represents people on a global scale.
Finally, there is an elephant in the room, and this would be the psychographics for the movie. In a sense, these are practically bringing up the groups of people represented. The main group in this bracket of which seem to be represented the best, would be the explorers. They are interested in both personal growth and social change. However, I feel that social climbers wound just about fit into the bracket too; especially if the film is in the mainstream market of movies.
I had to add a little later on, that throughout the sequence, at around 0:25 and onwards, we see pictures of suburban houses in seemingly an American neighbourhood. Not only do these represent an audience, but also, potential characters. They seem like houses of either an C1-C2 grade family, potentially. Therefore, these groups are partially represented, if only within the secondary audience.
Thankfully, the genre within this movie is relatively simple, and easy to pick out in the title sequence. In a way, this is incredibly excellent, due to the fact genre is typically incredibly important. The genre at hand is a action/adventure, and as more of a sub-genre, horror. The sequence itself heavily connotes these genres, and is full of related conventions to portray this. It is fairly fast moving, yet at the same time, simple and dramatic enough to build a disturbing and unsettling vibe. While this may not seem important, it is. This sinister vibe builds up the heavily imposed horror genre. As for action and adventure, the star vehicle, Brad Pitt brings this into play. When you see his name, silly as it sounds, it becomes a convention of the action genre itself, especially. He is a typical action actor.
Cinematography. A big playing puzzle piece to any sequence of film. To make a visually appealing, non-boring and original, the variation of shot types, angles and camera movements is vital as ever.
The very first shot with an image we see, is a shot of the ocean. This is a very slight high angle, long shot, and a still; and 6 seconds. The next shot is the clouds on seemingly the same beach, although, these are time-lapsed. This time we have a low angle, looking up at the sky. Making reference to the fact that these beginning shots are very simple, and mundane. Thought the sequence, you’ll see the disturbing content slowly working its way in, steadily rising in an effective manner.
Now, I don't want to ramble on quite so much, so what I'm going to do it link screenshots of a similar nature together, sorting them into categories, if you will.
With the imagery of birds flying in flocks, a suggestion that they may be migrating for their own safety, of perhaps flying off upon being startled, a running theme begins to emerge. Each of these shots are filmed in similar ways; somewhere between eye level and a low angle. Two of them are still, whilst the first is a tracking shot. However, they all follow the same simplistic premise of birds flocking, and travelling. Again, a running theme here seems to be the idea of animals sensing when great danger is emerging. I'll expand on this in a few moments. All of these shots are long shots.
The next category of shots involve people, more precisely, a mix of women, men and children in seemingly overpopulated cities. Now, I had to point out the idea that this film is on a worldwide scale, due to the fact that the cities shown are in different countries. It isn't that this should be important, but I feel that the fact they are showing what seem to be overpopulated areas, I'd say it is an important little detail the developers of the film wanted to show during production.
Following on from what I said about the migrating birds, and what I'll mention later about the animals sensing danger and such, I feel that they are trying to highlight the fact that in this apocalyptic storyline, there is an epidemic fast approaching. Not only this, but the way this feels like it is a news report of sorts; or the news in general, I've come to understand that this was all purposeful imagery, random as it seems. It's there to make you think, and with the voices of reporters in the background, this becomes clear as the light of day.
Back to the above shots, and we see mainly high angles, looking down upon the people in the shots to try and show the highlights of the issue. Again, this could also be showing the vulnerability of humans as a species. That, although we believe we are invincible, in the end, we are just as prone to extinction as every other creature around us. Many of the shots are still, although a few add pans and zooms to add just a little more diversity than without the effects. However, the camera stays relatively still throughout the sequence in its entirety. This alone, makes it feel very much like a news channel report.
Though some of the shots are shown in the form of medium shots, and medium long shots, the majority are shown in long shots. Again, I feel this is to try and portray the extent of the problem.
Here, the cinematography is used to highlight where the movie is going to be set. We see places such as Las Vegas, Little Rock, Las Angeles, Miami, etc. These are all flights to places around America, which reveals where the movie is going to be set, or at least, for the most part. This shot is still, viewed from a low angle looking up slightly, and tilted a wee bit. To partner this shot, we have a passenger plane taking off, again, from a low angle, looking up. I've noticed that this films title sequence, especially enjoys the use of camera angles. Of course, this is a good attribute, as it keeps the audience from becoming bored, and keeps everything as visually appealing as possible. Here, we have a medium shot of the flight board, an extreme long shot of the plane, and the final board it more of a medium close up/close up.
I find the next collection of shots incredibly important to the idea of an epidemic. Even if, in today's real society, the extinction of bees is an incredibly drastic and looming issue. It's awfully pressing, and its only natural for the film makers to have made this decision. Though it is not really linked to the film itself in any form or way, it connotes the idea of an epidemic so well, I can see why they didn't pass up the idea. It's a small spark of genius, used to provoke the thought of worldwide problems within the minds of the audience. Since these shots are indeed of bugs, we see them from an array of high angles and birds eye views, in what appear to be close-ups, showing every small, squeamish detail of each individual insect. This of course, adds to the horror aspects too, as it makes you uncomfortable, and is something many wouldn't want to be so close to.
Once more, we have another issue that is a worldwide problem in the current period of time, and in the recent few years, it's been big as ever across the news. Not only the pollution, and the over-fishing of our oceans, but also the idea that dolphins and other such sea creatures have begun beaching themselves, and washing up dead across beaches. And wouldn't you know, it's another worldwide issue.
This is very thought provoking too, as it brings real life issues into play within the confines of a narrative world, making it more realistic than most. In the form of news images, we have the image of dead dolphins, and what looks to be a dead whale in another, both shown in high angle shots. This, as with the human beings, makes them seem vulnerable and helpless to the effects of nature. Something this film has a habit of doing. These two shots, as well as the high angle and low angle of the ocean, are portrayed in medium - medium long shots. Aside for the shots of the mass of fish, which his an eye level shot, and somewhat close up.
What's come to mind through the entirety of this sequence, is the fact that, though it may be stylised, it is also a hybrid of discrete, as it shows many different shots, many close up in nature, and it is very fast paced. Not only this, but the sequence is very multi-stranded in narrative, leaving it, as said, very discrete and full of enigma.
And finally, the concept of news reporters, but also reality TV shows come into play. We see plenty of spokespeople, dictator, government officials and reporters speaking, as well as what appears to be a conspiracist. All of whom are shown in medium close ups and medium shots. Now, these shots along with the sound are what truly begin to pull everything together, and build up more links within the sequence than ever. However, I'll bring up the sound a little later. It should be noted that these do seem to link however, to keep the diegetic-sounds for these shots in mind.
And last, but not least; predators. This imagery portrays predatory animals, some of which are going for the kill, others enraged. Now, this connotes the violence within the sequence. Also, this could very well link the zombies into the sequence, on a subconscious level. However, these shots seem to put the viewer on edge, very much like the imagery that has been shown of the bees previously. All of these shots are medium to medium longs, and are again high angle shots.
As mentioned throughout the cinematography segment of this analysis, sound is wove in intricately to add to the story itself, and create links between each and every piece of imagery shown through the sequence. It makes things far easier when everything has been sorted into categories, as it really shows why everything links through all of my explanations and discoveries on each.
But, right now, let's go back to the sound aspects. The non-diegetic music throughout the sequence slowly builds in extremity and tension through the sequence, slowly but surely getting more fast-paced, dramatic, and loud. This in itself builds the tension, and along with what is on screen, really manages to send a shiver up your spine. Along with building on suspense, and intensity, as well as adding to the horror conventions throughout, it builds almost, a sad, vulnerable and inevitable vibe, really hooking the viewer into the film. It builds an professional finish.
As great as the music is, what seems to be that bit more interesting, would be the diegetic dialogue included. Just as I mentioned with the shots of news reporters and so on. Words such as:
"doomsday"
"...another group of dolphins have been stranded..."
"CO2 emissions have dramatically increased"
"police say they've seen similar cases recently"
"The UN health agency is not likely to recommend official travel restrictions"
This combined with the non-diegetic music quickly begins to grow unbearable, and the voices throughout most of the sequence are hard to pick out from one another. I feel the overlapping voices within this sequence were done on purpose, so that they are hard to bear and understand. Meanwhile, the spoken, diegetic speech that can be understood, has also been left that way to make it stand out. These are important snippets of information to begin explaining the story line of the actual film. As shown above, the pieces of information I was able to make out, are in fact conforming just what I suspected, with the imagery provoking the idea of an epidemic of sorts.
In terms of editing, there isn't much at all to speak about. Continuity editing, in terms of 180 degree rule, match on action and such aren't really present in the slightest. Although, there is definitely continuity in terms of how the sequence carries the same type of editing throught, not straying away from the stylised typing that it has picked up. As mentioned before, everything links in someway or another, therefore, there is some continuity with this concept being carried through- The idea of an epidemic. Now what is interesting, is the way that, despite the sequence only uses straight cuts in terms of transitions, it looks as if transitions have actually been used in other ways, to create effects by layering the same clips atop one another in Premiere Pro, and using transitions to create and interesting distorted effect. I'll add some screenshots:
Of course, this isn't the only stylised editing in the sequence, as there is a video effects tool in the Premiere Pro software, by the name of Corner Pin, which seems to have been used in this sequence too, to create the angular edged some of the clips are seen to have, Again, more screenshots to explain my findings:
Here is where something interesting comes into play in terms of the editing. At the very end of the sequence, the screen zooms out to reveal the words 'World War', and within the lettering, are the little clips we've been seeing all along, throughout the rest of the sequence. This is especially effective, as it draws the sequence together into one linear, narrative line, whilst at the same time, keeping the multi-stranded feel that has been there all along.
I'm going to be brief on the mise-en-scene, as I feel I've already described this enough throughout the cinematography explanation. Though the narrative works on a global scale, the actual setting of the movie is somewhere in America, as shown below. This is due to the fact that all the places listed, happen to be in the USA. And this information would not have been relevant in the slightest, had it not been the main setting of the movie.
Character-wise, little is revealed. However, with imagery of a suburban neighbourhood, and fairly common American family homes, we learn that they are a family, considering the size of the house, and are middle-classed.
In terms of the narrative, the things brought up and discussed have shown the mise-en-scene and what it means.
What is however, and important aspect to this, is how many locations have been used within the two minutes of sequence, there are a heavy amount. I'd say at least 25+, considering the fact that near enough every single last little clip has been shot in a different location. Like I said before, I feel this is simply due to the fact that they wanted to put the narratives epidemic on a worldwide scale, and a way to portray and connote this concept, was to have it all shown in different countries and locations, globally.
Of course, since I am analysing the title sequence of this film, what would it be without a talk about the titles and the credits shown.
I want to quickly go over the fonts and the likes, since I have only mentioned it once, back in the institutional category. The fonts remain the same all the way throughout the sequence, building up a simple, yet effective vibe. In short we have:
Pure white in colour
Big and bold
Connote a male primary audience
Simple, but effective
News report-like
Relatively, but still stand out
Centred somewhere within the rule of thirds
All straight cuts
Now that this has been re-explained, I'm going to list the order in which job titles appear, and which there are:
Excellent research - detailed and thorough
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