I will be analysing the 2002 film "28 Days Later", Directed by Danny Boyle. This film is of the zombie genre and this analysis will tie in with previous research I've been doing. The film is about a man who wakes up twenty eight days into an apocalypse after being in a coma following a crash, the film follows this man as he tries to make sense of what's occurred and his attempt of survival within this hostile environment.
At the beginning of the film a montage of clips displaying violence and rioting are shown on a fuzzy, poor quality camera. This shows that these events are very frantic and this can also been seen by the shakiness of the camera. The camera then zooms out and pans across to show that this is in fact footage being shown on numerous TV's in a scientific environment, A single chimp is shown strapped down being forced to witness these events, It can be seen by the viewer that the chimp looks very submissive and this shows that this animal has been in captivity for a long period of time. As the camera pans across the setting, it passes by a security television linked to a camera, in which numerous masked people are seen before one of them covers up the camera, blacking out the screen.
The action now focuses on these individuals as they enter their room, the way in which they speak and their use of body language shows that they are shocked. There are fast paced showing chimps aggressively shouting, these shots freeze after the camera flash occurs, symbolizing a photo that has been taken. As the characters move through the setting they are followed by tracking shots which is effective as it allows the audience to see things from their perspective. As they enter the room with the chimp that was in focus at start of the clip, close-ups are used on both the Chimp and the individual characters as they look on in astonishment, this was used in order for the audience to see the emotions on the character. After this, an eye-line match is used from the perspective of the characters as they try to understand the situation and then a POV shot from the chimp as it quickly shakes its head side to side. It's at this point the agenda of the group is revealed as they decide to set the animals free.
As the characters notice a scientist is present in the room. A tracking shot pulls the action to where this character is stood. A high angle shot is used over the setting before the scientist tries to get help. A match on action occurs as the one of the trespassers rip the security phone from the wall, the cut in shot is almost unnoticeable. During conversation its explained that the chimps are infected with "Rage", The shot reverse shot shows the intensity between the characters and it emphasises the contrast between the argument of whether or not to let the animals free. A two shot of a trespasser holding the scientist against a wall shows to the audience the difference power these characters have.
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| "Two shot" |
As the chimp is released a POV dollying show is used to show that it is charging out of its confinement, towards the single female trespasser. As the chimp attacks the woman, the colours in the shots become a tinted red colour in conjunction with very fast paced shots of the attack, the camera primarily focusing on the womans face in the form of a closeup as she struggles against the strength of the creature, this section of the film is filled in with numerous screams and unnatural sounds. From this point, numerous fast paced shots are used in a form of cross cutting to show the severity and danger of the situation, switching between the chimps, the characters and the now infected individuals. As the scientist attempts to kill the infected woman, An extreme close-up of her now demented eyes are shown right before she presumably kills the scientist, Finally a long take of a still encaged chimp slamming on its glass walls is shown right before the shot cuts to black, followed by a few seconds of silence.
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| "Extreme close-up" |
Some edited text fades in reading "28 Days Later", which indicates to the audience the amount of time that has passed. The first shot from here has a wide depth of field, and it is almost an extreme close-up as it only shows a partial amount of a mans face, this is accompanied by breathing, showing he has just awoken. A high angle shot is then shown which established the scene for the audience, seeing this slim, almost malnourished looking man laying on a hospital bed. As he gets up, and walks around, the lack of sound is almost eerie as numerous elliptical edits show while he travels through the hospital. This represents the passage of time along with the lack of human interaction in this time frame. A shallow depth of field is seen as he walks away with the phones hanging down from their lines, it allows the audience to understand that there is a lack of telephone communication within the country, possibly hinting that something has gone wrong. During his exploration of the hospital the camera is very sensitive to the lighting and it creates a high key lighting environment, making the scene look almost dreamlike.
After leaving the hospital, a wide variety of extreme long shots and establishing shots are used to show that the film is set in London and that it appears to be all but abandoned, this almost confirms to the audience that something definitely isn't right about the situation as its common knowledge that London is a densely populated city, There is also a handheld knee high shot of the main character walking through lots of England memorabilia, further emphasizing the setting and the amount of litter that is present shows that the streets haven't been maintained for a long time. Throughout his exploration of the city he continuously calls out for people, Eventually he stumbles across a pile of money and a low angle tracking shot is used as he picks up numerous notes, along with this is an introduction of non-diegetic music, which is used to convey the realisation of his situation as he continuous walking around the city.
The thoughts of the character and the audience are finally confirmed after he trips a car alarm with no reaction from any person before finally finding a newspaper that reads an evacuation has taken place. A close-up on the word 'evacuation' is matched with the music as it reaches its climax, The main character finally approaches a wall and a mix of close-ups, zooms and handheld tracking shots are all used as he examines a wall filled with notes left by evacuees. Finally as he walks away the camera zooms in onto a picture of a young child, showing that whatever has occurred has taken innocent casualties and this is used with the intention to bring out emotion from the audience.
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