Sean of the Dead opening sequence

For this task we had to take an opening sequence of our own choice and talk about the connotaions and denotations of it.

 

Semiotics for opening sequence:

Denotations:

1.     Man pushing a trolley through a car park

2.     Lady working a counter at a supermarket

3.     People in a queue taking their phones out in symmetry

4.     People walking down an alley in symmetry

5.     Boy kicking a football on a road

6.     Man 1 walking very slowly + yawning

7.     Man 1 joining man 2 on the couch playing a games console

8.     Man 1 leaving because he has work.

Connotations:

1.     The man pushing the trolley looks very lonely because the car park drowns him out because of all the empty space. This makes the spectator feel some sympathy for the man because the job looks very boring and uninspiring.

2.     The lady working at the counter is quite similar to the man pushing the trolley because her job also looks very boring and repetitive. Although there are many people around her, they all look alone as nobody is socialising with anyone, as if everyone there is half asleep.

3.     Again nobody is socialising in this clip which shows a depressing vibe in these people’s lives because they look half asleep and bored out of their minds. Ironically most of them pull out their phones at exactly the same time which is what people tend to do when they have nothing better to do and are trying to make themselves look busy. There is one creepy guy in the queue staring strongly at the man next to him as if he is judging him or ‘sizing him up’, as if he was looking at his ‘food’ like a zombie would.

4.     Everybody in this clip is walking slowly symmetrically down a mucky alleyway with their heads down all looking dead and as if they’re being run by a machine. The clip gives the spectator a very depressing view on life being it seems like these people are losing their ability to have personalities or socialise. Almost like they are in their first few steps to becoming a zombie.

5.     The boy kicking the football seems like he’s lacking the energy a normal child should have because he’s just standing on the spot. He is clearly also lonely because he is without any friends to play with which adds the lack of social behaviour everyone has in this opening scene.

6.     The camera focuses on the man’s legs to make it look like he is walking like a zombie which adds tension to the scene. Although the tension is relieved when they show it’s really just a tired man, adding some comedy to the scene. However this tired man, looking half asleep and walking very slowly adds to the tired and dead theme that’s been used repetitively in this opening sequence.

7.     In this clip the 1^st man enters a very mucky room where there’s little space to walk, giving the impression that both the men are lazy people. This is further emphasised when the 1^st man joins the second one on the sofa to play a video game.

8.     The 1^st man had to be reminded he had work, showing that he is very forgetful and doesn’t enjoy his job. He has a look of disappointment on his face when he’s reminded, adding to the depressed vibe that is used in the opening sequence.