Resident Evil
Apocalypse
In this clip from the film it is the opening scene, in this
sequence you get a flash back and then you discover the type of film it is and
you make your judgments on the film.
You know the genre of the film as most people will have seen
the previous film. But if they didn’t they would understand it from the
flashback sequence which explains the previous film. This aid’s the an audience
that hasn’t seen the film as they see extreme shots of violence and gore this
so gives the audience the opinion of a horror. Then the close-ups of the
infected settle the opinion of it being a zombie horror.
The factors I’m going to consider are mise-en-scene,
cinematography and editing. These are the most important factors of this films
intro. As the flashback part of the intro is a mixture of those micro features
which create the impact.
The mise-en-scene can be broken down into four sections for
this sequence: costumes/makeup, body language, setting, props. These help create the tone and theme of the film.
Costume is a mild factor as there isn’t much focuses on key
characters much. There is mild focus on some costumes as just after the
flashback you see people in hazmat suits, this suggest people to them there is
something inside the room that is bio-hazardous. This
makes a person wonder what is in there and adds tension for a viewer as most
people will assume those hazmat suit people will die. Then this contrasts to
the next parts of the sequence as they see people in casual everyday kind of
clothes. The main point is the make-up as there is on a characters eye which
has colour change eye contacts; this adds a Sci-fi/ supernatural type of feel.
This makes a weird kind of feel to the film. This has connotations of leading
to the main villain in the film. The colours keep on to the eye which makes it
seem like it is her natural kind of colour.
Body language is also important to the sequence as there is
a lot of focus on eyes and being casual. The focus on the eyes is important as
they contrast from each other as firstly there are the umbrella eyes then a
focus on her normal eyes. This makes it seem like something has happened to her
to make the eye colour change which makes it seem very Sci-fi. After the umbrella
eye you see a comic book stylisation of an eye which then fades out, this is referenced
when you see her eyes again and comic book style eyes zoom out and her eyes
become normal again. This makes the audience wonder what has went on to make
her eyes like this and why they did it. It can also make the audience think of
it as an enigma code that may be explained in a later in the film or a sequel.
Setting is also quite important as the film is based in a different
universe to the normal world, it is also important as the films are based on a
game which means they don’t want to make the fans not make it accurate. It is
based in a town called Racoon city which is a made up area in America that
makes it less realistic and instantly means people careless about the people of
that town dying. When you see this town you instantly assume it is a stereotypical
American town with suburbs and paper boys ECT. Then this contrast to the fact it’s
made up town which makes the audience feel sorry for the people of the town as it’s
a normal and unsuspecting town.
Props are mildly important as well as they are used and
focused on in shots. In one shot there is a focus on a radar type device. There
is focus on the radar as in the plot it is needed. It is a clear use of action
code, as it instantly shows you there are zombies and a lot virus. Also it adds
impact to the costume of those in the hazmat suits. This also again gives an
enigma code to those who may not understand the genre as there is a clear text
showing the ‘T-virus’ which is a the cause of the virus this can also be used
as an action code for a viewer of the previous as they will know what is going to
happen and are clued in to the theme and story of the film. The bar also moves
so it as when you see the bar going up and down you instantly know something
bad is going to happen to those people.
There is a range of camera angles used in this sequence the
main ones are establishing shots and extreme close-ups. The establishing shots
that are used create an image of a normal everyday stereotypical American suburb
this creates the image that it can happen anywhere in the world, so it adds a
sense of realism to it. This then adds fear for and tension for the audience as
they know what will happen to this nice area. The close ups are important as it
focuses on her eyes which adds w strange feel as normally you wouldn’t see
something from this close-up in real life so it can be an un-nerving shot. The
focus on the eyes has many connotations as it then zooms into her eye as if we
are entering her mind and then flashback is in her mind then zooms out from her
eye. This has connotations of her having
mental problems and having being scared from the past events. There is also a
use of camera movement. The most noticeable one is a tracking/zoom towards one
hazmat suit person. This adds fear as you can see and imagine the fear he was
in, as you assume you seeing it from a point of view of a zombie. This is again
an odd shot as it is an unnatural kind of movement which links into a sci-fi
supernatural kind of genre to the film.
The film stock is quite important as it is a high budget
film and they want everything to be clear on the camera so they used 35mm,
which does all of this. It is important as it can draw more attention detail to
the zombies and the expression of each of the characters. The light is used
well as when you see Raccoon city it is high key like natural lighting. This
adds the effect of normality. The colours have been used well as the colours of
the characters eyes are red and white. These are the colours of umbrella. This
is an action code to what the film is about as most people who have seen the previous
know who they are. The framing of the each shot is good as they always have a focus
in the shot and there is no guess work on what it is that is the focus. They do
this by close-ups or it being the only thing in frame. This helps the audience as
they can just relax and not have to question everything so it is an example of ‘leave
your brain at the door cinema’.
The editing plays a huge role in the flashback sequence as
there is a large amount of transitions and effects off the flashback. During
this sequence you see a graphic of the umbrella logo which is table shaped.
This makes the audience think it is a sci-fi film which has connotations for
people thinking themes going to include high tech devices. Then there is circle
of frames that come up like frames of a shot and spin around on the logo. This
again gives a sci-fi feel but is used very well as it makes it original for
most films to do something like that. The spinning around looks confused at
some stages so this could have connotations of her mind being crazy and confused,
as it appears we are inside her mind. This helps the audience feel for her as they
see the fact she seems to be going crazy thinking about the previous events and
they were horrific. There is also a large amount of quick cuts used this sets a
pace for the film and makes the audience think it is going to be a quick paced
film with a lot of action and events. This makes the audience think it could be
an action as most action films use these types of cuts.
So therefore in conclusion the film comes across as many
different genres but is primarily a zombie film as they are the key point of
the film. Each of the micro features make the audience has judgments on what is
going t happen in the film. So therefore it is a good intro for a film of this type of genre.
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