By Joseph Naguski

"Oh America, I wish I could tell you that this was still America. But I've come to realize you can't have a country without people. And there are no people here." -Columbus. (Fleischer, Zombieland)

Audiences get thrown right into the outrageously gory Armageddon which encapsulates Zombieland as an eerie narration takes place and the screen is attacked ferociously by a hideous zombie. Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” blasts through the screen as dynamic typography flies throughout the screen. Designed by Ben Conrad, the outrageous antics of this title sequence really does set the tone for the hilariously scary ridiculousness of what's to come from the film.

After the savage introduction to Zombieland the audience is given a voice-over by one of the film’s main protagonists Columbus who gives a background of what is going on and then goes into a few of his rules of survival in the zombie-invested world he now lives in.  Bloody typography saying “Rule #1: Cardio, Rule #2: Double Tap…” appears on screen as we are introduced to some of the absurd scenarios which occur. This sets the tone for the rest of the film which constantly reveals these rules as they come into play in the characters’ actions. A woman soars across the road in slow motion as she is flung out of her car window after crashing into a truck as she attempts to escape from a horde of little girl zombies. This introduces the audience to Rule #4: Always wear a seat-belt. From there the Metallica begins to play and the actual title sequence starts. A man jumps off of a flight of stairs to escape a zombie, knocking away the type for of the credits “Colombia Pictures”. This transitions to a close-up of a zombie with blood spraying from its mouth, the blood blowing away more letters of credits away. A milkshake flies in the air as a woman being chased by a zombie, money escapes from a briefcase as a business man attempts to make a run from the zombies, a zombie bride tries to eat her new husband and more scenes of chaos fill the screen. No one type of person is spared in these scenes, from little girls to rich business men to criminals the zombies have no preference. This gets the audience ready for the uniqueness of the characters which are to come. The title itself is introduced with the smashing of a crowbar against the screen imitating the shattering of glass, destroying the type of the title itself as the crowbar swings down against it. More ridiculous scenes play, with the sequence ending off on the director’s credits as a zombie flies into the screen, his blood spraying against it.

Zombieland is a film which takes the horror of the popular post-apocalyptic zombie genre and gives it a comedic twist in the absurdity of the events that occur. It revolves around four survivors named after place names – a geeky college kid named Columbus, a bad ass redneck called Tallahassee, and con-artist sisters named Wichita and Little Rock. These unlikely allies come together, each with having their own goal but ultimately work with one another to find a safe haven from the horrors of the zombie apocalypse.

One of the most unique characteristics of this title sequence is how the typography of the piece interacts with the mayhem which encapsulates the environment of Zombieland. As mentioned in the sequence description, one example of this is the title itself which is shattered with a crowbar with pieces sent flying at the screen towards viewers. Not only is typography heavily present in the title sequence, but it is shown throughout the film as Columbus’s rules pop up on the screen. Ben Conrad in an interview with artofthetitle.com stated “The interactive animation of the type first started with the rules and eventually made their way into the main title sequence. We wanted to seamlessly integrate the type into the scene, making the type become another character. We were inspired by the tension between beauty and horror that the slow-motion footage created. The goal for the type was to respond to that horrific grace, to react to the movement.” The sequence was created using the adobe creative suite and the 3D computer graphics application Maya.

It is rare that type is such a prominent piece to a film, and Zombieland utilizes it in such a unique way as a means to punctuate the screen with Columbus’s sometimes helpful and sometimes mundane rules which are scattered throughout the film. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is an obvious musical choice that really captures the state of society in the film. The dynamism which surrounds Zombieland’s title sequence makes it an intriguing and engaging piece that really shows audiences the journey they are in store for.

Work Cited
Ulloa, Alexander. “Zombieland.” Art of the Title, 5 Apr. 2010, www.artofthetitle.com/title/zombieland/.
Zombieland. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media 2 Oct. 2009.

By Mason Leaver

The small-scale-thriller is a genre that has been thoroughly explored in the last twenty years. From psychological thrillers like Memento (Nolan, 2000) or Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010), or closed room thrillers like Saw (Wan, 2004), or Buried (Cortés, 2010) audiences have seen many takes on the small-scale-thriller. It’s hard to have a new thriller come out without being able to simply compare it to a previous film. Jeremy Saulnier’s 2015 release Green Room attempts to bring something new to the genre, and does so successfully. Green Room is a gruesome locked room thriller, focusing on a punk-rock band that must fight of Neo-Nazi’s, offering an entirely original and entertaining take on a well explored genre.
    
​Green Room focuses on an indie punk-rock band that is struggling to make ends meet. After taking an odd gig to try to scrape by, they quickly realize that the venue is run by Neo-Nazis. After the gang witnesses a terrible act of violence, and are locked in the venue’s green room, they quickly realize that they are the next ones to be killed. The rest of the film is a game of cat and mouse as the band attempts to escape, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

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By Bill Friedell

This use of environmental storytelling doesn’t just apply to the overall narrative of the film. The settings are also utilized for characterization. In the director's commentary for the film, Gunn talks about the specific use of color combo=inations for specific scenes, which informs the production design (Gunn, 2017). For the Sovereign's throne room, they are characterized with a gold and blue color scheme, giving the Sovereign a regal, utopian aesthetic. Seeing as they perceive themselves as being genetically perfect beings, this choice of color seems fitting. ​
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Contrasting the Sovereign is the planet Contraxia, where the audience is re-acquainted with Yondu. It is a snowy, cloudy planet that houses an outpost filled sleazy neon signs, perfectly reflecting Yondu’s current state, as he is shown isolated in a room, looking down on the rest of his Ravagers completely alone. Over the course of the film, he realizes that he isn’t alone, and that he had not driven everyone from his life

By Mason Leaver

The idea of personal identity is all about the question “What makes you… you?”. More specifically, The Prestige concerns itself with the question “What does it mean for me to be the same person over time?”, a topic often referred to as “persistence”. A philosopher might ask a question regarding persistence such as “Are you the same person now as you were when you were five? What does or does not make you the same person as her?”. There are a few ideas about how we survive and persist over time. One prominent theory is the body theory, which says that personal identity persists over time because you remain in the same body from life to death. Another popular theory is John Locke’s theory of survival, in which he said that you survive if someone in the future has psychological continuity with you, which is to say that they remember having had your experiences. 
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While the body theory and the memory theory of persistence are popular ones, they are challenged by the philosophies and ideas presented in The Prestige. Angier’s cloning machine is one such problem. After all, Angier’s clones are entirely psychologically continuous with the original (they have all of the same memories). According to Locke, they ought to be the very same person. This is actually a philosophy that Angier embraces. It is important to remember that Angier kills off the Angier that is cloned after each trick, so that there is only one Angier. The Angier which was copied is killed, and a new Angier takes his place, only to be killed the next time the trick is performed. 
However, Angier does not see this as a death. Rather, Angier sees himself as surviving through the trick, because each clone is psychologically continuous. Each copy is just as much Angier as the original was. This seems to be the viewpoint shared by Nikola Tesla earlier in the movie, after Angier has seen the many copies of his hat. Angier asks Tesla which hat is his, to which Tesla replies, “They are all your hat, Mr. Angier” (The Prestige). That is to say that every hat has the same identity as all of the others. Each copy is just as much the same hat as the original. This view also happens to be shared by modern philosopher Derek Parfit. In his book “Reasons and Persons”, Parfit introduces a thought experiment almost identical to the one presented in The Prestige, involving a teleporter which malfunctions and creates two seperate copies of the same man. Parfit argues that since they are psychologically continuous, both versions are the same man, and that if one copy were to be destroyed, the personality and identity of the man would still be alive. It’s an odd concept, and it challenges our typical notions of the Self, but the film presents a fresh and interesting perspective on the problem. 

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Angier's many hats.

Sources

By Bill Friedell

One issue the film had was the usage of Batman lore and mythology. While the redefinition of Thomas Wayne as a privileged one percenter running for mayor and including Arkham Asylum as Arkham State Hospital is well done, the inclusion of young Bruce Wayne and the use of a major moment in Batman lore feel ancillary. The subjectivity of the film does give purpose to this scene, but it ultimately took me out of the film. Because of seeing this scene in so many other Batman films, it stuck out from the approach the film had taken that it drew attention to itself. The film works best when it is focusing on its singular take on the Joker, reinterpreting the characters and world separate from Batman. 

Overall, Joker is a unique film in the comic book film genre. The overall craft of the film from, direction, cinematography, score, and acting work beautifully and allows for a film to rest in the uncomfortable subjectivity of a truly disturbed central character. While it may wear its influences on its sleeve and had one note supporting characters, the overall journey from Arthur Fleck to Joker is satisfying and disturbing to watch. If you go into this movie with an open mind to a new interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime, you my find this film may be up your alley.

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Works Cited
Augustyn, Brian, et al. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. DC Comics, 2017.

Millar, Mark, et al. Superman: Red Son. DC Comics, 2003.

By Bill Friedell

Genre filmmaking at its best takes real world issues and themes and packages them in fantastical settings, elements, and characters. By taking the invasion story and beginning it as a comedy about friends getting drunk on a pub crawl, Wright seamlessly invites the audience to partake in a stylish, comedic, action packed tale of regret, friendship, and soldiering on in the face of regret. It’s one thing to write a twist that recontextualizes the film at the very end, but it’s another to shift genre and have the genre change enhance the drama already found in the story.


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Works Cited
"Feature Commentary with Writers Edgar Write & Simon Pegg." The World's End​. Dir. Wright. Universal Studios, 2013. Blu Ray

By Bill Friedell

By Joseph Naguski

Work Cited
Perkins, Will. “Deadpool .” Art of the Title, 22 Mar. 2016, www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/.

By Bill Friedell

By Joseph Naguski

Works Cited
Ha, Anthony. “How the New 'Lion King' Came to Life .” TechCrunch , 30 July 2019, techcrunch.com/2019/07/30/lion-king-behind-the-scenes/.