Film CREDITS analysis- Opening of World War Z

The credits begin with a piano rendition of 'isolated system' being played, with black backing screens contrasting with the bold titles. This contrast reinforces the boldness and importance of the titles, especially when the likes of Paramount pictures are being flaunted as in the film industry this is a huge and responsible name- already telling us that this film is going to be of a high standard and quality. The way that a well known alternative rock band song has been invented into a almost heavenly toned piano song is already a hint that this movie is atypical to the world now- and that this movie is set in the future, a dystopia. The first glimpse of actual imagery we receive is a establishing shot of a beach scene, the gentle piano rendition fits perfectly with the still shot of a peaceful beach, however with the type of dystiopian action film this is meant to be and quickening of the soundtrack pace we know this is not sustainable. we can hear the diegetic sound of the waves over the soundtrack making the scene seem prominent in comparison with forthcoming scenes where we are only given a visual. The cloud time lapse just after this camera shot is effective in showing what is below and what is above, giving the audience a sense of location with the effective usage of levels. Also, the fast moving clouds could foreshadow the typical action conventions of non stop cyclic happenings. Clouds are connoted with heaven, being at a high, prominent standard and lightness and freedom however this may just be a technique film makers have used to almost delude their audience into thinking this is set in a pleasant state. The next shot diverts from the light, tender beach colors and lighting and there is an establishing,although silhouetted shot of a cityscape- once again using these high up levels to reinforce power and what is above society. The sun, central of the screen here is possibly showing hope as light is typically a symbolic representation of positivity. Having a scene of a shanty town straight after this cityscape is effective and inventive because it has a heavy context basis around favelas and slums, often found just outside main cities and this looks very similar to the shanty town just outside Sao Paulo, Brazil. The image is blurred, however as a transition allows part of the image to be revealed almost through a prism it is as if the audience is uncovering key information. The next clip has the same shaped transition of the prior so the scene graphology matches, and we see a flock of birds fleeting away- which typically connotes something is coming- a change, whether it be an approaching danger or the weather. The actual shape of the Parallelogram that is a sharpened form of the film is almost like a hurricane or tornado shape- reinforcing how something bad could be approaching. This constant focus on the weather could have an ongoing link to pathetic fallacy where the weather is used unlike actual characters to represent emotion or feeling.

from 0;29 onward, we begin to see people- or more importantly- life. This is important because we firstly see people doing normal activities, walking, talking, embarking trains, cycling.....which completely contrasts with how we see later on in the movie introduction how there is a infection causing zombie like behavior. As we see life, we also hear the non diegetic narrative from TV news programmes, overlapped in a montage of different spoken news headlines, this suggests urgency and the formal received pronunciation accent makes it easy for the audience to straight away understand some of the key issues affecting this dystopia. After the human orientated clips, from 0:44 there begins to be a focus on animals, and through different editing techniques- entire establishing shots such as the bird ridden sky contrast with extreme close ups and less revealing, disclosed shots like the ant colony. All of these animals are shown in groups, reinforcing togetherness- and fighting an antagonistic force together. It also represents nature and how natural intentions and reflexes cause dependency upon others.

At 0;53 there is a short clip in the montage from the 'Oprah' integrating the theme of social media and the power of technology and celebrity over the public. this links into the way animals and humans have been portrayed in groups because celebrities like Oprah have huge influence and status- with large groups following her and a large amount of power. this almost foreshadows how only somebody with a status and power can be followed...and that people have to independently fight things (like the zombie/rabies disease in the film). The way that the camera shot almost seems like a re-used clip from Oprah's show suggests how there is global involvement, it also makes this montage at the start of the film seem more informative as we are receiving information from a key TV personality. the quality of the filming is almost 'grainy' as if we are not seeing the full quality or picture however the mid shot used to frame Oprah is purposeful to ensure we notice who she is. 

0;56 is one of the most prominent inclusions in the montage because it is the first time the sound becomes diegetic and matches the narrative with the imagery- almost as if it is a full clip extracted from a news broadcasting company,infact in this case-HLN news. We hear a urgent voice inform the audience about stranded dolphins, which reinforces ideas of purpose being to inform because informing is the key convention of news channels. The banners and graphology techniques displayed on screen almost make the clip seem interactive, as if we the audience can do something about it- or more, act as a warning for our future. Alongside the narrative, the clip of stranded dolphins is upsetting and is a long shot showing the beach location as well as the animals. After the beach scenes we had seen previously in this pre-film montage...it is evident there is a clear contrast in how we feel about the beach as an audience and the inclusion of both contrasting clips could be a representation of how things are so easily subjective to change- as we know our environment is currently with huge issues of global warming etc. The usage of natural daylight in this shot reinforces how nothing is hidden or in the shadows and typically a slaughter of humans would be seen as a dark shady crime, however the death of these animals seems almost casual, obvious and prominent. There is a close up shot used to frame Piers Morgan on a fully black screen whilst he is in the left hand third of the screen talking about CO2 emissions. once again, having a character of fame, intellect and reputation reinforces the severity of this film, almost making the audience feel as if it is real and the 'magic' of the film stay alive. The narrative of Piers Morgan alone would be recognizable, however we see him represented in a suit on screen- once again showing the serious nature of the concerning issues about our environment. It can be rather ambiguous to base a film on the state our world could get into because there are cliche views concerning dystopian ideas continually based on for movie making, however this particular film creates a link with a modern audience and modern audience views and ideas...and uses this link to create an enigma about what could have got the world into that state.

one of the editing techniques that inspired me regarding the creation of my own movie was at 1;10 where a transition overlaps four shots captured from four different angles so that it exaggerates the situation of traffic to be worse than it is. The traffic jam these clips of film are showing is going in one way (much like the movement of the shots) but the cars are almost displaced and look stuck ( like the angles the shots are taken from and the almost warped presentation of them on screen). In my own movie i could incorporate this manner of editing, by over lapping 4 shots from different distances or angled to create a warped, uneasy feel in a scene. I researched this technique in the world war Z opening montage and trialed this technique using the 'how to' video below.

the directors have in some places used irrelevant film footage almost to create a casual or more authentic appeal. for example at 1;10 there is a clip of socks and heels and a woman remarks as a digeteic narrative 'your socks are so cute'. this video seemed hand held and was most probably a representation of a home video, something too that the audience can relate to. At 1;23 we begin to see more of the human effect that this futuristic world has caused, and people in masks and large expanses of people filmed from high angled shots in queues and crows belittle them. About ten seconds later, The soundtrack of Muse's 'isolated system' picks up in both volume and pace, and begins to sound less like a piano rendition but more synthetic and futuristic, showing the change in time periods this montage has taken us through- almost like the ellipsis editing technique. We also see parallel cuts in the editing where there is film of two completely different situations that keep cutting in at different points- for example we see a wolf growling, then a man warning about Domesday, then this same wolf devouring another animal, and then an extreme close up of our previous man. This is also considered as relational editing because both subjects link- the wolf is showing no mercy to its play- whilst the world and coming 'Domesday' shows no mercy to its people. After this, there is following clips of food chain activities and cannibals eating their prey...this could be creating a foreshadowing animistic link to the films plot with humans preying on other humans. the footage seems as if it is taken from a documentary, and will lead viewers to feel scared and disturbed emotions so they can relate more easier with the forthcoming characters in the film. 

finally, as the montage comes to an end- it is evident that all of the warped editing and limited shots showing only sections of imagery was actually different scenes embedded inside letters of the words 'WORLD WAR' and entire screen pans out to reveal this title as the soundtrack reaches its climax and then begins to fade out.