Stylistic Analysis of Zombieland

“Zombieland” is a film where a lot of stylistic choices were made. Especially the opening scene says a lot about the film and the characters. Mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound shape the film’s effect on the viewer.
The film begins in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The first shot is unbalanced to prime our expectation that something will change position. The shot is of the American flag, which is focused while the background is unfocused which means it indicates that the flag is of importance. From the close-up of the American flag we get a handheld panning shot of a car crash, this shows us a deeper meaning: America has fallen. While the actor stands up with his body-mounted camera it creates an illusion of a point of view shot, tracking what the eyes see. This illusion is emphasized after a zombie is attacking the character. The point of view shot transitions into a close up of the zombie breaking the fourth wall by looking right into the camera. The entire opening scene has titles in them that change every few seconds as the previous actor has destroys them. The filmmakers used bold red font for the titles. Red is used because it symbolizes blood and death, which represents the gore within the film. The titles are the actors/actress, production and filmmaker’s names. Another artistic choice is the use of ramping; the entire sequence is slowed down to slow motion. This gives the sequence a dramatic effect and it increases the intensity of the moment created subsequently the picture fade away. When it fades back; the first scene of the movie is shown. The exposure during the whole movie is half a stop darker than a usual exposure. The color of the film is natural, which gives the movie a more realistic tone. It shows the world as it is.
What also becomes visible in this film is the unrestricted narration. Meaning that we are only confined to what the character sees and since it takes place in the time of a zombie apocalypse, it gives the