World War Z

World War Z

In this post I will be discussing the Hollywood film "World War Z". I will be talking about the genre, I will be explaining how you can see, in the cinematography, what production context the film fits in.

     First of all I would like to point out that the film is a hybrid of horror and action. During the title sequence there is audio that makes the viewer feel uncomfortable, its unsettling. There are a few clips in the title sequence that would relate to the typical horror film, such as the flock of birds flying in a grey sky, the insects and other animals fighting. The other clips aren't part of the codes and conventions used in typical horror films. They are very fast paced towards the end of the sequence which gives the impression that the film will include action and fast paced scenes. The action side of the film is seen very early on in the actual film as there is an explosion, seen in typical action films, and then cars driving at fast speeds, similar to a car chase which is also seen in a typical action based film. The first sign of this being a horror film is the zombies. There is one part of this scene that I think relates to typical horror film conventions. This is when the man gets bitten by a zombie and "Subway Sam" is counting to 12. During this scene, the main sounds become muffled, and all you can hear clearly is the soft toy counting and the man turning into a zombie. Many horror films use the innocents of a child's toy or rhyme and turn into something scary. Here, it was realizing that people only had 12 seconds before they turned completely into a zombie. The sounds of the zombies are also what make it obvious that this film is a horror. The zombies bones are clicking and cracking when they change, and they are making groaning and screeching and this is one aspect of the zombie that makes them terrifying to the audience. The make up is very well constructed and helps the director overall create and sell the image of his film further pushing this film into the horror genre.

    I have already spoken a little about how the production context fits into Hollywood films, but I am going to go into more detail about how you can really see that this is a Hollywood production. The first thing you notice that happened in this movie is that there were so many different locations around the world were used. This instantly makes it a Hollywood Production as it clearly has a high budget to be able to do that. Also the great use of special effects and visual effects gives the film a realist aspect which further appeals to a modern audience. It is Hollywood productions that can afford do this due to the high budget that they have. Also the amount of background artists used in the film really stands out, Hollywood Productions can afford this so they usually have large amounts of them the most. These factors are what really sets a Hollywood Production apart form other productions.

    The main character "Gerry" is played by a huge star, Brad Pitt. This had a huge impact on the amount of sales this movie got overall an the publicity it got was immense, due to the fact Brad Pitt was in it. Hollywood Productions can afford to spend a larger portion of the budget on big actors such as Brad Pitt and Peter Capaldi who was another star in the movie.

     In the typical Hollywood Production with a genre of action, there is always a disaster that if its not affecting a whole city they its affecting the whole world, but there is always a hero to save the day. This is exactly what the narrative for 'World War Z' is. 'Gerry' (Brad Pitt) is set on a mission to go find a cure to stop the zombies. Although he doesn't find the cure, he instead finds out that the zombies need healthy body's to infect, and uses vaccinations to help healthy living humans become protected against the zombies until a cure is found.

    The dialog used in this movie fits in with the genre and also with the certificate of 15, there isn't any  use of strong language which is allowed but is clearly avoided as it wasn't needed in this film. Also it may have affected the age rating at which it was set. This is typically what a Hollywood Production does as they really wont use strong language unless its appropriate. The use of a lower age certificate also increase the target audience rage and allows the film to generate a bigger gross

     The characters in this film include all 7 sphere of characters in Propps theory. (The hero, villain, helper, false hero, dispatcher, princess/prince and the donor) The hero was "Gerry" this was obvious as he was the main character, and played by Brad Pitt, the main star in the movie. But you could see he was the hero in the movie because he was the one sent on the mission to save everyone, and he also helped people on his journey such as the woman who got bitten, he saved her from becoming a zombie. The villain in this film, is the disease that is spreading and causing people to turn into zombies. These zombies are the ones ending the human race. At the same time, without them knowing they are stopping the hero from finding the cure. A scene from the film that would prove this point is when on the plane leaving Jerusalem, a zombie starts infecting the passengers and plane crashes and badly injures the hero, they didn't mean for that to happen, they just wanted to do to him what they would do to any other, its just more of an incontinence to him as he is trying to stop them and save everyone. The helper in the movie was introduced in Jerusalem, Segan is a soldier in the military who helps Gerry get to the plane out of the country safely, and also leads him towards the W.H.O laboratory. This helped as this is where the cure was actually found. The false hero was Andrew Fassbach, he was a scientist and seemed really smart and confident. He was certain he was going to find a cure but decided to back out once he was confronted by the zombies. He slipped and ended up shooting himself. This was because he didn't listen to the hero, clearly was an accident but it could have been avoided. The dispatcher is Thierry Umuntoni, he was the one who asked Gerry to fulfill the mission, after previously working with him before he decided to stay at home with his family. The princess is Karin, Gerrys wife. This is because she is a main character and she is constantly being kept safe from the zombies. The donor is the doctor at the W.H.O lab, as he gives more information to to Gerry and gives him a way to get to the vaccine.

     The technology used in World War Z related to the production context as you could easily tell the the movie was a Hollywood Production. You could see straight away on the opening title sequence that the editing software was up to date as there was a use of split screens in frames to create a certain image. Also the explosions and visual effects that was used looked incredibly realistic which goes to show how far a big budget will get you.