'Zombieland' (2009) still shot Analysis

This is the scene from ‘Zombieland’ where Columbus and Tallahassee are going to look in a snack shop to look for Tallahassee’s beloved Twinkies. This shot is just after Columbus fires at a door after hearing a noise.

In this shot you can see different lighting effects, affecting the way that the two characters are perceived within the mise-en-scene. Columbus (on the left) has bright key lighting, connoting his innocence towards the situation almost childlike which is further backed up by his startled facial expression. On the other hand, Tallahassee has lower fill lighting indicating his anti-hero side, which means he does things that he does things that stereotypically hero like but he is still seen as a protagonist. These creates a contrast between the two of them, almost creating like this father and son feel as it is almost as if the duller lighting shows the maturity of Tallahassee. This is further backed up by the position of their shotguns which are phallic symbols. Columbus’s is pointed down below the camera and Tallahassee’s is pointed above the camera, showing us the relation to their personalities. It almost represents head movements; his phallic symbol being down represents his lack of confidence and it being up shows Tallahassee’s confident and dignified approach.

The use of mise-en-scene is used to amplify their personalities and show us the contrast between the two but with the general bright lighting connotes to their strong relationship and one emphasised by how they are standing so close to each other. Their clothes are another indication of this, Columbus is wearing a hoodie, joggers and a striped top that is connoted to very youthful clothing, on the other hand you have Tallahassee how is wearing a snake skin pattern, with a cowboy hat and jeans, giving a lot more edge and ruggedness. This further emphasizes the contrast between the two by using representation.

There has been a rise in popularity of the modern trend of comedy horror sub-genre, Zombie land made a lifetime gross of $75,590,286 along with Ghostbusters making $242,212,467, Scary Movie making $157,019,771 and Gremlins making $153,083,102.