Warm Bodies - Opening 2 Minutes Analysis

The first thing we see in the opening scene of Warm Bodies is an extreme close up of the main character sharing his thoughts with the viewer. Going straight into this shot creates a huge enigma as the viewer begins to wonder why he and a large group of others seem to be living in an abandoned airport. This enigma is soon answered in the main characters narration.

Also in this first clip a lot of humour has been used. For example R, the main character, states that they are all dead. R then begins to insult the other characters by saying they are dead and that they look awful. Using humour this early on in the film allows the viewer connect with the character, which may also help them empathise with him later on in the film.

In R's monologue we hear about what he spends his time doing, for example, he explains that he likes to guess what the other characters jobs where.

The shots being used are generally mid shots with a slow pan and zoom edit. This complements the slow moving background music well and shows that the film isn't going to be a full on action film. From the mise en scene we can see that the film if going to be a zombie film.

The opening 2 minutes provide the viewer with a huge bit of background knowledge about R. I feel that it is a strong opening scene as it explains some of the bits of the film which are not self-explanatory.

Mise en scene is cleverly used in this clip to reinforce the genre of the film. The clothes which are being worn by the characters suggest that they have not changed their clothes since they were humans - which tells the audience that judging by the state of the clothes, was a long time ago. This makes the opening 2 minutes much more effective as it conveys much more information about the film to the viewer than what would be conveyed without a lot of attention being paid on mise en scene.

The editing of the opening 2 minutes leads to R becoming the most prominent character, this leads to a more successful film as it allows the viewer to connect with the character, and possibly side with them in any conflict which might be present throughout the film.