1. Dawn Of The Dead Textual Analysis <br />The first image we see is text of the distribution company ‘universal pictures’ in red placed on top of a black background. The colour red connotates a lot of things but most importantly signifies danger especially as it’s placed on top of a black background which exemplifies it. This warns the audience that there are going to be some frightening images throughout the film. The text suddenly becomes distorted and drips as well as blows away like blood this is the first image that gives us a clue about the themes of film the fact the image gradually blows away indicates that there is going to be a lot of bloodshed. We hear the intro to a soundtrack which sets the tone for the opening. As the sound ascends and gets louder it builds up tension but then suddenly ends which a teeth grinding effect. The titles and sound both work simultaneously together. The effects of the blood like text and sharp soundtrack regarding the audience expectations are the startling and unpredictable moments. <br />The next shots are shown with a prehistoric effect maybe indicating that whatever the problem is started a while back this keeps the audience engaged as they would want to find out the cause of all this Mayhem. The first shot is a wide shot of a group of people who seem to be praying, we hear the non diegetic sound of this also. The wide shot is used as an establishing shot to show a large crowd of people. The praying is symbolic as the situation reaches crisis point people are looking for a way out and for an answer they result to praying. This informs the audience that the situation has reached its climax but also highlights another theme of the movie which is religion. We then see a disfigured statue of what looks like Jesus in a medium shot this once again introduces the theme religion into the story. The screen goes blank then suddenly there’s an extreme close up of a man’s face. This man’s face is pale and discoloured; he has blood gushing from his mouth and his face looks horrific. We see another extreme close up of a mouth; the extreme close up is used as the first image they see of the actual dilemma. The use of the sudden moments tells the audience there are going to be al lot of sudden unforeseen moments in the movie.<br />The title of the film then appears and abruptly explodes all over the screen this indicates that there is some sort of outbreak or huge epidemic .The explosion represents the spreading of a plague, disease or mutation the way it spreads out and explodes suggest it could possibly be air born meaning even more people are at risk. This shot is also accompanied by a significant amount of screams this also suggest the huge scale of this catastrophe. We see men wearing protective uniform on their bodies and around their mouths this once again indicates some sort of virus or plague has been formed. They have weapons which again suggest that things have got out of hand. We then hear a voice over of people possibly the press asking a series of questions to a man about the situation, the man repetitively answers “we don’t know” which again will engage the audience as they will want to find out the answer to these questions.<br />We see flashes of people who have been affected by this virus along with the blood like titles ‘blowing away’ we also hear the wildtrack sound of an s-pulse heart monitor which measures the electronic signals passing through your body that result from the beating of the heart. When the heart stops it plays a long ascending high to indicate death. This sound is played the minute the woman says ‘dead’ this is used to suggest to the audience that the victims of this virus/plague are no longer alive. We see these ‘dead’ beings causing mayhem but also a lot in hospital this also tells the audience there is going to be a lot of hospitals in this movie. We see the man who is being questioned and then see an extreme close up of his facial expressions showing that he is bewildered. A soundtrack is played, the soundtrack is in its own way chaotic, we have a man singing in a relaxed manner but he exaggerates with the tone of his voice and the emphasis he puts on the way he says his words. It’s in contrast to non diegetic sound of screams in the background this also informs the audience that people are losing their minds in this film. The lyrics in the soundtrack have a lot of religious reference which again highlights one of the causes or themes in the movie.<br />We see men wearing protective uniform on their bodies and around their mouths this once again indicates some sort of virus or plague has been formed. They have weapons which again suggest that things have got out of hand. Their uniform differentiates them from the ‘mutated’ the audience can see they have higher authority. We then hear a voice over of people possibly the press asking a series of questions about the situation the man repetitively answers “we don’t know” which again will engage the audience as they will want to find out the answer to these questions. The images of the cells fusing indicate to the audience that some sort of mutation took place and that something has been created. <br />The news of the world keeps popping up showing the gradual stages and the seriousness of the situation. ‘The mutated’ are attacking each other and everything around them we hear diegetic sound and non diegetic sound of gun shots throughout. At the end we see a reporter in a medium shot getting attacked by someone who is affected by the virus informing the audience that everyone is at risk.<br />