Netflix's Snyder School Will Show You How Zack Snyder Makes Movies
Grab your textbooks about slow motion and big, rippling muscles, because it's time to enroll in Snyder School! In honor of his new Netflix movie Army of the Dead, the streaming giant has put together a series of videos that explore Zack Snyder's creative process. From opening titles – which Snyder really excels at – to world-building, this four-part series will give you insight into how Snyder works, if you're interested in that sort of thing. Watch the first installment below.
Snyder School – Opening Titles
I find Zack Snyder's filmography a bit hit or miss, but I freely admit that Mr. Snyder is very good at crafting opening credit sequences. The opening credits for his Dawn of the Dead remake, scored to Johnny Cash's "When The Man Comes Around," are great. Ditto the credits for his Watchmen adaptation. In fact, I'd say the opening credits are the best part of the movie. And now Snyder has done it again with his memorable opening credits sequence for his Netflix movie Army of the Dead.
In the video above, Snyder breaks down the opening credits of Army of the Dead, and also goes into some of his other opening credits sequences. "I'm telling you in advance how the movie is going to feel, or be," Snyder says here. "That's the real power of the title sequence!" While I know what he's saying here, I have to disagree – the opening to Army of the Dead suggests a movie much more playful and comedic than the film itself. That said, the credits do set up the film's characters, and as Snyder says, they also act as a kind of prologue to the movie.
That said, this is a fun video – and it's the first of four videos that are part of the so-called Snyder School. The series, which will be available exclusively on the Netflix Film Club on YouTube, promises to look at how Snyder "built the world of Army of The Dead and many of the other films that he has brought to life. Also delving into the lessons he's learned in terms of craft, this is the ultimate Zack Snyder film school." Here's a breakdown of all of the episodes: