Biohazard begins with an element of mystery which aims to draw the audience into watching the whole film. This shows similarities to other films which share the same genre such as "28 days later" - a heavy influence on the film which begins with an unknown virus being released from an experiment. This leads the audience to wonder how this individual scene will pan out and fit into the entire film. The opening shot is a reverse zoom which shows a solitary character containing something in a shed. This follows the element of mystery as you are not quite sure what he is containing. However due to popular conventions of the film such as its title which gives connotations such as "virus" and disease" (these link with similar themes in other zombie films) the audience can guess what is being held back. This immediately shows the audience the agent of change in the film as the "zombie" character has been partially introduced from this. This is shown in other zombie films such as "Zombieland" which opens with a series of clips showing various people being attacked by zombies. This early introduction to the main villain of the film makes the audience comfortable with what they expect to see throughout the rest of the film and although it may remove some of the initial tension, most zombie films contain large quantities of zombies at any given time which means the audience becomes familiar with them anyway. The opening scene also creates an early tension which propels the audience into the genre of the film and provides an early scare, this style of opening is shared with other classic horror films such as "Scream" and "Halloween" as the audience experiences the horror genre as soon as the film starts.
The plot of Biohazard also follows the broad story-line of other zombie films in that the group of characters are struggling to survive. This is shown in the opening as they aim to kill the zombie as it is a massive danger to them and provides the main threat to the characters. After the initial footage during the credits several stills of newspaper headlines are used to create the backdrop of the story and provide the origin of the Biohazard seen in the film. These stills eliminate the need to delve deeper into the beginning of the zombie outbreak as the audience is left to imagine the events using the details provided by the headlines. The characters also follow conventional characters as they are both male. In films about survival the main character/s are usually male as they are stereo-typically more suited to a hostile environment than woman due to their increased strength and stamina. Other media texts which share the same genre and character styles are "The Walking dead" whose main character is police officer Rick Grimes and "The evil dead" whose main character is Ashley Williams. Both these films contain male lead roles who are dominant figures within their group who act as the leader.
My film also starts in a the back-garden of a house in a small town. This relatively small and local set shows similarities of other independent horror films such as "State of emergency" where the locations used are supposed to mimic real life settings opposed to big budget films such as "Zombieland" which uses sets such as amusement parks and mansions. This makes the film appear more down to earth and realistic, matching my objective of making my film opening look like an independent film opposed to a hollywood blockbuster.
My film opening also follows strict continuity meaning that all the shots used are edited as to appear fluent with actions carrying on throughout different shots. I broke the 180 degree rule on purpose as to unsettle the audeince. Since this may confuse the audience as to where the characters are situated it creates a sense of unease which i hope increases the effect of the tension in the opening scene.
Generic enigma codes seen in almost every film are used to ask questions such as who are the main characters and where is the film set. However adapting to the genre of the film - an enigma film in the form of a strange thumping noise is used to ask the question about what is in the shed, coupled with the question = why is it being kept inside there? These enigma codes share the element of mystery brought by the film to create tension and horror for the audience to experience. Expositional information is shown through the speech of the characters to tell the audience the main characters name and why he is guarding the shed. It is also used to show the audience the type of characters they both are. An enigma code which asks the question - what happens when he attacks the zombie" is not answered until further on in the film. As at the end of the credits the audience learns that the scene in fact takes place during the middle of the film and not the start as the audience is shown that the next scene takes place "24 hours earlier"
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