Common factors.

Having watched many opening sequences of zombie films and trailers such as : 28 days later, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead (original) and 28 weeks later, I have started to look at what type of things are common in each film. Things such as certain lighting, sound, actor movement, common scenes etc are quite similar from film to film.

The lighting for alot of these films tends to be very dark and dusky during the high tension action scenes. These scenes also tend to have a piece of music to them with either a high paced rhythm or a low paced, eerie beat. the actors movement in these type of scenes also tends to be very slow and wary, as if they can sense danger is about to take place . These techniques help to create tension within the audience and draw them away from reality and really hone in on the heart of the action. These scenes tend to only end up being Red Herrings* and are used only to build up tension and scare the audience but are used in almost every Zombie film I have seen.

There are also a significant number of similar scenes that are used in every film. Alot of the zombie films tend to have a scene that involves are large number of the "living dead" chasing/running after a single, uninfected character. The character in question, in most cases tends to be the main "hero" of the story and is mainly focused on during the whole of the film.
Another common scene that tends to occur in these films is the death or "changing" of one of the most liked and vulnerable characters. The directors of these zombie films tend to use this type of scene to make the audience feel sad at having lost their most preffered character, as it creates the desired effect well. Although these scenes are very common in this genre of film, if the film is well made then they are not always predictable. You go into the film thinking and partially knowing that these type of scenes are going to take place but not always are they able to pinpoint if the film is well directed.
Zombie films do also quite commonly include a scence that really shows how deserted and lonely the world has become. In 28 Days Later, they have a scene that is made up of shots of parts of London that are completely deserted. This really makes it hit home to the audience that the character really is completley alone in the world.

I think a good idea to make our zombie opening sequence believeable and realistic to the audience would be to include a "chasing" scene. This would start the film off straight away with some action and automatically entice the viewers. I also think we should include a "lonely" scene in the film. This will help to build up tension before the chasing scene and help to create a more intense effect on the audience. To do this, we would have to film early in the morning so that parts of our locations are completley deserted and we wont be interuppted whilst filming.

*Red Herring- When the audience is made to belive that something serious/significant is about to take place in the scene.

-James.