Textual analysis- Bane of brothers
Immediately editing is used as the screen fades from black
to an establishing shot where the audience can see the blood shots in the room
whilst the door opens. There is non-diegetic sound effects in the background
which almost camouflages itself with the background.
The use of a low angle shot connotes the vulnerability of
Jensen who looks consumed by the fear of the zombies outside. A point of view
shot is used to show what Jensen sees which is a blooded zombie lurking up to
be at eye level with him. There is a change of volume in the music as it slowly
fades into a high pitched loud sharp sound as Jensen looks through the peep
whole the sound intensifies accordingly.
The female zombie is covered in blood from face to neck and has a very
stiff, awkward posture, the director- Hart follows the key conventions of
zombie horror.
The shot changes into a cut way where it shows the actions
if Alex along with ambient sound of the medicine rattles, the facial expression
whilst whispering to himself ‘Jensen’, the mode of address suggests an element
of both fear and worry. Editing of sound I used cleverly in this section where
Alex drops the bags and his footsteps fade in to the background just when the
audience realise that another pair of feet’s will follow- zombie feet’s. There
is blood dripping from the leg of a zombie, one foot with a shoe and the other
with a sock shows the disorientation of the zombies instilling an unsettling emotion
in audiences.
In the first minute there a 3 zombies shown, where they all
involve blood and gore. Sound effects of what sounds like- heavy breathing and
hollow sounds is used throughout to create a creepy effect where the fear is
everywhere no matter where Alex or Jensen go. As an audience, just in the first
minute I exposed to a high level of gore, violence and I’m given a brief
introduction to the relationship of these characters through their facial
expressions as they show a high degree of care for one another.
The director uses low-key lighting to show the shift of mood
as the room is discreet and dull. Although through dialogue there is nothing
tense about the scene the facial expressions of Jensen who seems to be occupied
with his own thoughts and the fade of music to low level to loud foreshadow
that something unpleasant may happen as the rise in music instils a level of
fear in the audience. The music comes to
a haphazard end when Alex places his hands on Jensen the dread created by just
the sound and close-up shot of Jensen’s head excites the audience and makes
them feel as though they can predict that Jensen is a zombie as he is not
responding an inattentive.
As Jensen takes off his jacked when requested by Alex the
fear of what the audience predicted comes true, Jensen’s actions being very
slow and tense creates the anticipated feeling where the audience want to find
out if he is also infected the shot then changes into a reverse focal zoom
where the details on Jensen’s hands are graphically shown as Alex is in the
background fearing for his life. An extreme close up shots shows Alex’s real
emotions as he wipes his tears with the gun in his hand.
The screen fades to black, however non-diegetic sound is
used during the black out where Alex is crying and sniffling. The sound of the
music changes from loud and eerie to 1 pitch piano, slow paced to connote the
difficult time for Alex as he remembers his childhood through an old
photograph.
The disoriented shot of where Alex’s fears are shown and the
gun is in the shot but not in focus shows that Alex is thinking of violence as
a solution. In the background while Alex ensembles the gun his now zombie
brother is up and as the audience know going to attack Alex. Non asynchronous
diegetic sound is used of zombie sounds of gagging is used to show the rise of
the new zombie. The plot twist, comes in when Alex raises the gun towards his
own head when the audience thought that he would kill Jensen as he is the
infected one. The film ends in an enigma where even after the trigger is pulled
Alex is alive the audience then make a choice as to what happens to Alex and
sympathise for him for his loss of brother as well state of confusion and
frustration.
Key scenes I will use for inspiration:
Zombie 1: Blood dripping from her face to her neck and chest creating a look where the blood is fresh and she has just been eating raw flesh. The point of view shot from Jensen’s angle shows the audience what he is seeing through the peep hole- although the rest of her body is not shown in this shot, viewers can almost imagine what she’d look like as her body language is quite jagged and shows no sense of stability.
Zombie 2: The second zombie which appears is just ¼ of the zombie’s leg, the camera angle which shows Alex’s footsteps fading into the background almost welcome in the zombies footsteps. The feet like all the other zombies is drenched in blood, the fact that there is only one pair of shoe on the feet shows true nature of zombies- inhumane.
Zombie 3: The props of the last zombie to appear in the first minute again is covered in blood, with bruises on his neck and left side of his head. The average white t shirt which most boys were represents the idea that anyone is a victim to the virus going around. Also, an over the shoulder shot is used to show the scream of the zombie, after he gets shot is wild and ‘in your face’ following another convention of zombie horror using the over the shoulder shot creates this idea of ‘dread’ as the audience know that there is a zombie behind Alex but the character himself doesn't know.
