28 Days Later Opening Analysis

'28 Days Later'

Danny Boyle, 2002

“28 Days Later” is a modern horror film that falls under the genre of post apocalyptic British drama. This instantly sets the audiences generic horror movie expectations and 28 Days Later fills all of those expectations by sticking to the successful horror movie formula. In other words it doesn’t push the bar by straying from the classic horror film form. The opening sequence also conforms to the characteristics of the genre, presenting something intended to be scary with all the conventions of a horror film instead of playing with contrasting entities. For example when the infected monkeys escape later in the opening sequence, dramatic music starts playing instead of calm music. From the first scene it is obvious the film has a linear storyline and that the introduction is the cause for the rest of the movie. The character exposition in the first scene introduces two sets of people, an animal testing scientist and a group of animal cruelly extremists. It is obvious straight away who the characters are because of the use of stereotypical views, the scientist is dressed in a lab coat and the extremists are wearing balaclavas. To make the characters deeper than the stereotypical views that the scene first portrays, the use of verbal and non verbal language is key. The extremist’s voices are loud and delivered in an aggressive, their posture is also aggressive and movement is fast but have a naivety about them as they are in unfamiliar territory. This portrays them as tough characters but also blinded by their aggression and naivety. On the other hand the scientist non verbal language clearly shows he is scared. This is backed up with his voice which unlike the extremist’s is quite stuttering and quite but he is presented as knowledgeable talking in a formal way using scientific terms.
The style of “28 Days Later” has many aspects. Firstly, the camera work is quite unique. During the eerie slow parts a very slow, panning, wide long shot is used to set the scene and convey the idea of a relaxed atmosphere. The shot usually includes something at the edge in the foreground which is not important to the scene but used to convey mise on scene and give a sense of scale. Then during the more action orientated parts a steady cam is used with a medium long shot but doesn’t move much at all. The use of the medium long shot combined with steady cam put us into the scene more to give a more immersive experience. From analysing this sequence I can see some camera techniques used to build tension. In some shots the camera angle is cantered to convey the feeling of unease. This is particularly effective when used in conjunction with darkness. The audience is generally positioned within the narrative as a spectator getting to know people and feel emotion for them, yet again this gives a more immersive experience for the watcher. When the woman extremist starts to turn towards the end of the scene a big close up is used so that we can see her emotions. The use of steady cam rather than handicam keeps the watchers calmer and able to focus on key events in the scene. The lighting is very dark throughout the scene which connotes a sense of evil, the unknown and mystery, the scene seems to have a high contrast which also makes the shadows more dramatic. Colour is also used to stylize the sequence, to do this a blue filter is used in calmer parts to keep watchers clam but still on edge with the sense of cold and a red filter is used in heavy action parts to connote the message of anger, rage and action and other associations made with the colour red. The most used non-diegetic sound is the music which is constantly ambient throughout maintaining the tension of the scene. This ambient music is slow in tempo through the low action parts anchoring the images to the feeling of mystery and eeriness, this conveys to the watcher mystery and eeriness as they interpret all the props in the scene such as the monkey heads which is another techniques used to build tension in this sequence. This is a great example of how the feel of a scene can be changed by the music. When the action starts the music continues but another non-diegetic sound begins. This is a fast pace, pulsing, heartbeat type sound which connotes fear, adrenaline, etc adding tension to the scene during these parts. The original ambient music also speeds up connoting the feeling of tension and subconsciously putting the watcher on edge. The diegetic sound which stands out to have the biggest impact on the scene is the screams of monkeys; this yet again connotes fear and the sense that something isn’t right. For the setting, a stock location lab is used; the lab is presented as very high tech which connotes the idea of modern, advanced complicated science. The use of modern clothing on all the characters also tells us that the film is set in the modern world.
There is a lot of ideological discourse even in just the opening scene of “28 Days Later” so I will explore some of this discourse on two layers. Firstly the social groups within the text are represented in a certain way. One of the extremists has long hair which would connote that he is a rebel and doesn’t abide by rules, this also reinforced with his swearing. On the other hand the scientist is pale faced and very skinny which connotes weakness and poor health. On a bigger scale the views shown in the text such as the extremists who are against animal testing can be interpreted as all people with anti-animal testing views are rebels who don’t follow rules. This is also true for the Scientist, which represents all scientists as skinny and unhealthy. The ideological discourse also reinforces the set of beliefs that animal testing is wrong and also dangerous. The monkeys are kept in very bad conditions and the extremist woman reacts to that by crying. This reinforces the idea that animal testing is morally wrong. The sequence also reinforces the idea that animal testing is dangerous rather than beneficial.
In this opening scene the mise-on-scene is also important. The props lying around the lab include test tubes, vials and parts of monkey. This conveys the idea of experiments and scientific work and reinforces the stereotypical views of the lab, backed up with the ambient music these items in the scene feel eerie. The way the characters are positioned in the scene is also significant. The extremists are shown in a group in a small area whilst the scientist is shown on his own in an open plan area. This shows that the scientist is completely outnumbered and doesn’t stand any chance of stopping the naive extremists.
From the opening sequence of “28 Days Later” I believe that the target audience are males ages between 18 and 30. As a young British male myself I interpret the text in a certain way because of my social background. As the film is set in modern Britain and I live in modern Britain I believe that I interpret the text just as the director intended me too. If I were of a different nationality I would have to look deeper into the social situation of Britain before making my interpretation of the text.