Opening Analysis: ‘Night of the Living Dead’

Opening Analysis: ‘Night of the Living Dead’

This classic 1968 horror film has a ‘setting establishing’ opening as the use of several wide-angle shots captures the journey of a car through the countryside. The barbed wire fencing seen in the corner of a shot may be an effort to put the idea of danger subtly into the audience’s minds. There are also many dead or leafless trees in the background, which is a typical convention of horror films as they reference a lack of life and have a generally sinister and creepy appearance.

We cannot ignore the spooky non-diegetic score that has been playing from the outset of the film. The use of violins and other string instruments creates an eerie feeling and builds anticipation for the audience as they predict that something scary or dramatic is going to happen. It may create an image of zombies in the audiences mind as we link this kind of music to Halloween in which people commonly dress up as these creatures.

A key shot is at 1:32 when the car is captured driving past a cemetery entrance that appears to be covered in either blood or mud (either way, not well kept). If it is splattered with blood, it acts as a signal that some sort of danger is coming. There are obvious connotations to blood, including death and violence. There are also connotations of cemeteries to death, zombies and loneliness, as well as the supernatural.

After a section of dialogue spoken in the car, the male character is alone when the radio suddenly comes on without it being touched. This is a typical convention of horror as technology turning on or not working properly normally links to the supernatural. There is then a sudden non-diegetic sound, which we connote to sound similar to a UFO landing or other ‘out of this world’ sounds.

A panning shot captured on a shaky camera going from a tree down towards the two characters walking towards a grave makes the audience feel like they could be involved and like something is going to happen as it appears slightly unprofessional compared to what is expected. The fact the audience can tell it is down purposely likes this shows that it must have some sort of significance and value. The shot then goes out of focus on the character as he comes closer, signifying a lack of comfort and knowledge, leading to an uneasy feeling for the audience.

Suddenly, a dramatic thunder sound is heard and the appearance of lightning makes the male characters faced become washed out due to high key lighting. The scene takes a dramatic change as a wide-angle shot captures a zombie like being walking through the graveyard. This is a typical convention of horror films as they link to death and the supernatural. The female character is clearly afraid as she tells the male to stop telling a story about how she used to be afraid of the cemetery. This may be relatable for the audience as fears that you have when your younger never really go away for definite. He then exclaims, in a sort of possessed tone “they’re coming for you”. This acts as an enigma code as the audience want to know ‘who?’ and also, why has the males attitude suddenly changed.

The girl then tries to walk past a zombie as it steps forward to begin trying to attack her. A medium shot captures the movement and frightened facial expression of the female character. A close up shot of the zombies face demonstrates anger and annoyance as he clearly tries to scare the female. The pace that the shots are edited at increases due to the sudden action-taking place on screen. The music also gets louder and more dramatic to work with the visuals and create an all around scary feeling. There are also diegetic sounds of screams and anger which make the audience feel scared and vulnerable to the situation.