Zombieland trailer Analysis

Sonam Nguyen

Narrative structure and themes

Equilibrium

The trailer begins with a narration followed by an establishing shot of the Earth from

space, and gradually zooms in until the audience can see a wedding. This is where the

disequilibrium takes place.

Disequilibrium

The disequilibrium begins as soon as a the zombie bride cascades the wedding by

running into the groom. From this point on, the audience can see that the film will have

a lot of blood, gore and violence.

New Equilibrium

The new equilibrium begins as soon as Tallahassee speaks with Columbus. This

evidently is the new equilibrium because we can see that the movie is not only about

the zombies, but also about the relationship between the characters and their journey

of survival throughout the film.

CharactersThe trailer includes 4 protagonists including,

•Columbus, the main character –Played by Jesse Eisenberg

•Tallahassee, otherwise known as the ‘Bad Ass’ –Played by Woody Harrelson

•Wichita, the main female character and Columbus’s crush –Played by Emma Stone

•Little Rock, Wichita’s little sister –Played by Abigail Breslin

Antagonists,

•The zombies, aka the living dead

Camerawork and editingCamera shots

Establishing shot - The trailer begins with a panoramic view of planet Earth. This shows the audience

that the movie takes place here, and they can relate because its where they live.

Mid shots – are used in the middle of the trailer to show the actors, and their roles in the film (ie.

Columbus holding a gun).

Long shots – are used in the trailer, especially when showing zombies are running closer and closer to

the camera, making it feel like the zombie is trying to eat the audience.

Editing techniques

Slow motion – slows the action down which enables the audience to see the characters emotions

(usually used when someone is running away/getting attacked by a zombie).

Fast paced scenes –such as the very first shot where the bride (that becomes a zombie) jumps on the

groom during their wedding. This adds to the pace of the trailer.

Sound

The beginning of the trailer begins with non diegetic sounds of a soft flute (as well as the

sounds of a narrator that describes the apocalypse). This then changes to a fast paced

beat with sound effects of people screaming and zombie growls. As the camera focuses

on the characters (by using mid shots) there are more non diegetic jungle noises (like

birds and monkeys), this creates a sense of wilderness, and that the surviving characters

are alone in the new dystopian world. Finally ending with a rock song which brings back

the action of the trailer and fastens its pace.

In terms of the diegetic noises. Both the characters, as well as the audience, can hear the

sounds of gunshots, metal clanking and zombie noises throughout the trailer, which

make it rule up to it being hybrid of action, comedy and horror.

TitlesPostmodernism is seen through the use of hyperreality. An example of this could include

the titles that appear in the film and how they can be seen by both the characters and

the audience – such as ‘This October’ and ‘Our Land’. Making the audience feel more

engaged with the characters in the trailer, as well as the environment of where its taking

place.

Mentioned above are the only titles offered in the trailer, as the majority of it was shown

through high amount of fast paced action and dialogue. The titles that were shown were

represented in a bold silver serif font. The use of the colour grey could signify the what

the world has come to, as well as the colour of the weapons that the main characters

use.