Night of the living dead

Night of the Living Dead is a classic zombie horror film released on October 1^st, 1968. The costumes used are fairly basic and don’t give too much away concerning the rest of the film. The male character is wearing what seems to be your average black and white suit, the female, seemingly basic casual 60’s wear. This choice of naturalistic costume is to reinforce the mise-en-scene of a normal day in the life of these character, by doing so making the following events far more astonishing and horrific to the audiance.

 The lack of dialoge in the beggining scene helps to create a hightened atmosphere as the audience is required to create their own perception of the events that occur.This is used in order to engage the audience successfully.

As for the soundtrack, the musical score used in this introductory piece of filming is very unique. The introductory music piece is orchestrated and is a rather sharp piece of music; it’s very tense. It’s obvious that the electronically created music used today was not available back then, so orchestrated pieces was the way to go. However, it’s also widely considered that orchestrated music has the best effect for building suspense and tension in a horror film.

The cut rate in this introduction is fairly average. The amounts of cuts are fairly consistent and each cut is roughly the same length as the previous.

Concerning the camera work, some very effective shots and angles are used in the opening sequence. We see the car travelling along to what seems to be a grave yard and its journey is the entirety of the introductory sequence. The camera never rises above the subject or lowers below the subject. It neither pans nor tracks the subject. The camera is fixed at the subject’s level and the camera is positioned along the cuts at various different angles throughout the cars journey. The use of the long shot and wide shot and often used during this sequence.

The mise-en-scene in this sequence is very chilling and defines everything the horror film stands for. The deserted, isolated forest and graveyard setting is has a very high scare value, and may make the viewer feel uncomfortable and even vulnerable. The music is orchestrated, sharp, tense and eerily slow paced. This just builds up the suspense and really makes the viewer, especially me, want to see the rest of the film; the ultimate purpose of any film introductory scene, regardless of genre.