Ancillary Product #2: Magazine Article Research // Action, Adventure, Horror

World War Z (2013)

The mise-en-scene in the picture immediately reflects the several genres evident in this film. For example, the costume worn by the characters is a conventional military uniform. They are all holding weapons, which are icons of violence and power. This sets up the action genre as action films conventionally entail combat and fear (which is seen etched onto the characters' faces). The military are only engaged in civilian situations when something is dangerously wrong and the fact they are all running suggests that the film will document the battle between the protagonists and antagonists. Conventionally, films that involve a battle between the antagonists and protagonists will follow both sides journey and development before the two sides fight. Therefore we get the reading that the film is an adventure film also.

The title 'World War Z' immediately tells us that the film is an action film, supporting our reading of the picture of the soldiers. The title itself suggests that the world is being upturned by a great force. It's common knowledge that if there was to be another war, and that if it was between countries, pure combat would surely lead to obliteration because of the mass number of nuclear weapons the world has at its dispense. Since this is not evident in the main image, we can assume that something more sinister must be at foot. It cannot be aliens however, because special effects would be visible in the images. Therefore this establishes the horror genre because it takes into account the fear of the unknown: a theme conventional of the horror genre.

The second image mainly informs us of the horror genre. In the picture a huge crowd is running from something worth fearing. The presence of the person jumping at the crowd with animalistic violence implies there are more running after the innocent civilians. Since this is the behaviour seen in zombie films, we assume the film follows the events of a zombie apocalypse. This article conforms to the horror genre by including such an image as the one of the zombie, which is something found in many horror movies.

As discussed in the analysis below, the predominant colours used are blue tones. Blue is a stereotypically masculine colour, implying the film is aimed at boys/men. The article conforms to the action genre by implementing this colour because while being a stereotypically masculine colour, action is a stereotypically masculine interest, further suggesting the target audience is men. However, without judging the stereotypical way in which the article is presented, we can assume that the audience is young adults/ adults because of the mature content (e.g. horror, fear and violence-unsuitable for young children).