Research Dawn of the Dead Opening Sequence



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The opening title sequence of Dawn of the Dead uses sounds both diegetic and non-diegetic, in the form of an interview with a state politician (?) and folk-y music in the latter half (though it also starts with deep tones, sort of like a siren). Overall, it keeps to both the theme of the movie, and sets it up rather well – the interview and clips relate to the terror felt throughout the film by the characters (and hopefully the audience) towards the infected, as well as the lack of knowledge everyone has about the virus. The music contrasts the gore-filled scenes, which emphasizes the horror in said scenes to the audience, making them more shocked when seeing them.

The majority, if not all, of the shots used within the opening are close ups and mid-shots, keeping the audience in the action of the clips, as well as in the perspective of the onlookers, such as in the case of the interview where the camera is clearly from the perspective of a camera man in the audience, and the shots angled down at a man in a hospital bed who’s clearly infected, coming from possibly the perspective of whoever’s treating them. The shots are mostly from camera’s of some sort that are in the fictional world of the movie – news cameras, handheld cameras, etcetera – keeping the audience immersed with it as it feels like watching various clips that the people themselves have made of the outbreak. The transitioning between the shots is also keep fast paced, mainly to mirror the pace of the scenes themselves and emphasize the terror felt by the onlookers as the infected attack.

The credits are, as usual, shown in non-distinct areas of the sequence, on black screens where nothing but the credits are shown in between the clips of interest. The credits themselves are also kept to theme of the clips, as they’re coloured red and made to look like blood as they’re wiped off of the screen (notably rather fast, keeping to the pace of the clips themselves).