1. For my Media coursework I need to produce an
opening title for a movie, the genre that my group
decided to film was horror. In order for us to have a
good effective title sequence we needed to do some
research on other films. I will be analysing the film
“Dawn of the dead.” I chose to analyse this title
sequence to see what techniques are effective and to
see how the five key elements in Mise-en-scene are
used to create a good horror title sequence.

2. The first shot in the title sequence is of a flock of birds flying away, the natural
environment creates a sense of peace and silence, however when the birds flee
from the area the audience instinctively know that something bad is going to
happen, this is used to give us a small amount of narrative context.
The first shot lasts for a very short period of time and the first
credit is shown, the text is red and written in blood on a black background. The
text suggests that the movie is a horror/action movie and the black suggests that
the movie is going to be dark and involve death. After this we see a large
number of people praying which tells us they may be scared and hoping for a
saviour.

3. The title of the film is shown in blood and “dawn of the dead” tells us the film is about
zombies. The different parts of the title sequences are separated through the credits,
each clip is very short and leaves the audience wanting to know what is happening and
make them want to see the film. In the title sequences we are shown an interview which
takes place, this is used also as a narrative to the title sequences and tells the audience
that the movie is about undead zombies.

4. At 48 seconds a mutation of a cell is shown which gives us some context and
tells us this is possibly caused by an infection. The title sequence goes into
further narrative context and the use of news broadcasting tells the audience
that the problem has affected a large area, possibly worldwide. The use of
fire and smashed glass suggests chaos and disorder.

5. The use of handheld cameras provide
unstable footage and the audience are
given a shown the panic and confusion
that the undead are causing. This gives the
audience a sense of how the characters
must be feeling.

6. A group of soldiers shoot down a group of media and news
reporters at 1:50 which gives even further narrative context
into how people are dealing with the situation, it tells us
that people are not coping well and are killing each other
through fear.

7. Throughout the montage of clips, non-diagetic music is played and it is the
opposite of what people would associate with a horror action movie. This
song is also different to the fast paced editing, I think this is to show that
at the end of the title sequence everything will be calmer and we will see
the aftermath of the beginning.
In the title sequence there is no main character introduced to us, which
could suggest the events that take place in the movie is in the future.