28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later

-Characters

·        Robert Carlyle as Don

·        Rose Byrne as Scarlet

·        Jeremy Renner as Doyle

·        Harold Perrineau as Flynn

-Setting

The setting is a boarded up house, which is totally isolated from the outside world. Not only this, but the scene is in the main room, and doesn’t change from that room. These two things; small space and isolation, both go to reinforce the idea of claustrophobia. The idea of being trapped invokes a primal fear in all of us, which means that when the audience see’s it they can relate to that feeling of terror. The house is in quite a bit of disarray, which could be a reflection of the disarray and chaos that is going on outside of the house, showing just how much this chaos is a part of their lives.

-Mise en Scene

Throughout the opening, the most prevalent thing is the contrast of natural and unnatural light. Throughout the scene, the windows are boarded up, so they have to rely on the dim dining room light. This causes the scene to be low key in its lighting, which connotes the darkness of the film. Contrast this with the natural light we see when the latch is opened, and a sense of danger is cast over the outside world, with the bright light almost blinding. The significance of this is that we get a greater feeling of claustrophobia and isolation, as the outside where the sunlight is, is a threat. As well as this, they are wearing normal clothes, which appear to be quite shabby. This helps the audience to get a feeling of sympathy for the characters, but it also means that they can relate to it, which is key to the horror genre. The framing of the shot is fairly normal, with all of the characters centre of the shot for at least a part of the film. The significance of this is that it shows that in this, they are all equally in danger, and as such are all equal in the group.

-Edits

The shot uses a lot of straight cuts. Not only is this for convention Verisimilitude, used to help the audience feel closer to the characters and help them to relate to it, as it is almost normal, and it is almost realistic in the way they are edited together. However, as well as this, the different camera shots are edited together slow to start with, and then increasingly quickly, which builds tension slowly and subconsciously makes the audience feel more tense and nervous, knowing something will happen without even realising it.

-Camera shots and Movement

A lot of the shots in the opening are both mid/close shots, and a lot of them are also hand held shots. The significance of the mid and close shots is that they are all in close proximity, and it emphasises the claustrophobic atmosphere. However, as well as this it shows just how close knit this group is, as they are never far away from each other. The hand held shot is used to bring the audience members into the film, because the juddering camera helps to show that it is from your perspective, almost as if you were there to watch it firsthand. As well as this, there is a high angle tracking shot used from the top of the stairs. The dark shadows around the image of the people at the table help to connote a dark future, but it also helps to shed light on the paranoia that they are not safe anywhere, and even somewhere that they feel safe could be compromised.

-Sound

Throughout the clip, there is very little non-diegetic sound. This is most likely because the audience are trying to feel like they are in the movie, and using something which isn’t in the world that the characters are in would distract the audience from immersing themselves. Despite this, a lot of normal diegetic sound is used, mainly talking. The noise of scraping plates can be heard, which connotes verisimilitude. However, when the sound of the knocking on the door happens it is a very key point, as the noise is intrusive on their safe atmosphere.