MARC FORSTER | PARAMOUNT PICTURES
MAIN TITLE | ANIMATION | TYPOGRAPHY

During the initial briefing, director Marc Forster, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner made it clear that they were looking for an opening title sequence that relied only on stock footage to hint at the impending outbreak. The focus of the footage was meant to highlight the hive mentality of large groups, both animal and human, like schools of fish swimming as one, or crowds of people walking through urban cities. The zombies in the film are human in form, but possess animalistic behaviors and speed. Prologue aimed to construct a story that reflected the socioeconomic and political state of today without dating the piece. Prologue conducted extensive research to find news clips, footage of erratic animal behavior, and herds of people to introduce the world on the brink of a zombie apocalypse. This research also includes the many audio clips interlaced throughout the sequence that cohesively blend with and expound upon the images on screen. The opening score by Muse acted as a metronome, subconsciously brightening the tone of the piece, which is contrasted against the cacophony of radio announcers and savage imagery. Inspired by title sequences like Altered States and the Dead Zone, the mattes and angled lines that track along screen are the letters of the title, slowly coming together for the final reveal at the end of the sequence.