Analysis Of Warm Bodies

Mise-En-Scene

Characters

• Overall dark feel to the film - not necessarily through the lighting (abandoned buildings, graffiti on cars, grey sky, buildings and flooring, abandoned, quiet streets)
• Hidden knowledge that becomes clear and is discovered as the film goes on (zombies are becoming humanised)
• Sense of danger increases throughout the film - zombies, Colonel Grigio and mass attack by Bonies

Props

• Guns (used by Julie/Colonel Grigio/human soldiers)
• Camera (used by Julie to take photo of R)
• Record player (played by both R and Julie in the plane)
• Cars (R & Julie in the sports car/M (Marcus) taking out the Bonies)
• Umbrella (When M (Marcus) makes a human friend)

Effect

Gives an overall feel for the basic sense of survival as their lives are in danger from both the dead and the living (Bonies and Colonel Grigio). The dull setting gives the idea of the world being a bleak place to live in as well as the fact that the teenagers are dressed the same as the adults, symbolising that to live in this post-apocalyptic world, you have to grow up fast and there is no time for being the age you are supposed to be - you are fighting to survive.

Protagonist - R and Julie

Helper - M (Marcus) and Nora

Antagonist - Zombies (before humanisation), Colonel Grigio (refuses to believe that the zombies are changing - poses a threat to R), Bonies (Wanting to destroy R & Julie and the effect they're having on everybody

Age Group - Mainly late teens to 40 years old

Mainly male cast

Women & children in a violent world shows vulnerability - especially Julie and her father and that relationship in an apocalyptic world

Effect

The props add more interest to the film as it gives both the protagonists and the antagonists weapons to fight with as well as a way of communicating, for example, the record player is used by R to calm Julie and show her that there is a different side to what she sees in front of her, the camera is used by Julie to show R what her life possibly used to be like so he understands her more, a car is used by M (Marcus) to put across to both Julie and R that things are changing and he wants to help after taking out the Bonies and the umbrella is used by Marcus to ultimately help him to make a friend.

Editing

• Used to show the change in R and the other zombies as they slowly become human again - the heartbeat starting again
• Used to bring the Bonies to life
• Showing Perrie's memories as R eats his brain
• Showing R's dream as he sleeps
• Footage sped up as the zombie woman attempts to break through the glass at the start
• Putting together R & Julie's fall from the building into the water
• The video of Colonel Grigio's 'rousing speech' about beyond the walls and the dangers of both the zombies and the Bonies.
• Cuts between R & Julie's journey back and the other zombies at the airport as they begin to change as well as when the soldiers and zombies are attacking the Bonies while R & Julie are running away

Effect

Shows the audience the change in R, M (Marcus) and the other zombies on an intimate level as we see their hearts begin to beat again and eventually become more humanised until they bleed again. It's especially shown in R as he begins to dream about Julie and her friends Perrie and Nora. The editing also shows everyone's struggle for survival as it constantly cuts between the humans and the zombies killing the Bonies to R and Julie running away from the Bonies' onslaught to eventually jump out of the building into water.

Warm Bodies

Rated 12A

Sound

• Gun shots
• Zombie groans
• Bonies screeches
• Car engine
• Humans screaming (when R kills Perrie)
• Stadium noise - ball hitting bat, crowd cheering

Comedy Horror/Drama Horror

Effect

Directed by Jonothan Levine

Produced by David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman & Bruce Papandrea

Brings a sense of reality to the film as it is mainly focused on the change that R & Julie bring about and how everything that the humans know is not as precise as it is made out to be, however it is still a post-apocalyptic world and there was a past which is what the sounds bring through as the sound effects demonstrate the sense of normalcy that used to be around before the world changed. The sound effects also add to the idea of horror as they are mainly revolved around the noises that the zombies make (groaning), the sounds the Bonies make (inhuman screeching) and the sounds of humans screaming as they're killed.

Music

Mainly tracks by A-list musicians e.g. Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses, Bob Dylan, Bon Iver and M83, although there is a classical track used (Concerto in A Minor for Flute, Oboe, Strings and Continuo RV 522: Allegro. As well as this, there are also original tracks that were composed specifically for Warm Bodies by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders.

Effect

Gives a recent feel to the film as it is set in a post-apocalyptic world and they're stuck in the past - our present. It creates a more comfortable atmosphere to the film but also creates unease as it triggers the thought of if our present is their past, how far away is the change into this apocalyptic world?

Lighting

Mainly white-yellow/orange lighting used (around the human camp - torch lighting, Nina's house - hallway has white-yellow light, bedroom has orange-ish light, abandoned house that Julie & R stay in has white lighting (innocence?))

No lighting in the outside world except natural light - adds to sense of bleak existence

Analysis Of Warm Bodies

Effect

By using white-yellow lighting, it gives the sense of innocence because the white-yellow light is only present when the teenagers are on screen, which shows the idea of innocence as they are not quite adults yet but they are having to behave like they are due to the fact that they live in a world where they could be killed anyday and therefore have to be responsible and mature rather than being able to behave as teenagers.

The use of the natural lighting puts across the idea of it being a bleak world because the light is hiding nothing from the viewer's eye and we can therefore see what has happened to our world, which slightly horrifies the audience.

Cameras

Mainly long shots and mid-shots used to emphasise the difference between the humans, the zombies and the Bonies as they all have a different way of moving. The mid-shots are used when R is in his own thoughts e.g. watching over Julie in the plane, trying not to creep her out and in the abandoned house when Julie is removing her wet clothing. Occasional close-ups used to show R's experience as he feels and turns human again.

Effect

The long shots show the audience that although each race walks, talks and behaves differently, they are more similar than they would think, which is proven when R turns human again. The mid-shots show that R is feeling again as he reacts to Julie as well as the other zombies feeling again when R and Julie hold hands and trigger the change in them all. The close-ups show R's reaction to certain things as he changes e.g. when he eats Perrie's brains and sees the memories as well as when he begins to dream and tries to figure out where he is.

By Cara Martin-Gowing, AS Media