Textual Analysis of 28 Days Later

28 Days Later Analysis

The beginning of the scene starts with a high angle shot from behind a cross in an entrance. It can be denoted from the cross that it is a very spiritual and holy place. The room appears to be quite small from what we can see. The high angle makes the protagonist look small and vulnerable. There is a tilt shot of the protagonist as he walks ups the stairs it is help us to establish the character, by showing what he physically looks like. As he walks up the stairs the left of the frame is focused on graffiti on the wall. This connotes that the building has defaced by vandals. The protagonist seems to be a relatively young man who appears to be wearing blue doctor scrubs. This however doesn't tell us whether he is a real doctor or not. He has a white bag with him. This immediately starts to create mystery as he is holding firmly to the bag but we don’t know what is in it. The bag also seems to be the key prop in this scene.

As he reaches the top we switch into the protagonist's point of view. There is panning in which we see countless numbers of dead bodies suggesting a mass death. There is a medium close of the protagonist showing his emotion toward the bodies. It constantly cross cuts from the bodies and him suggesting he plays a part in this and there is a relationship. Furthermore at this point the score is introduced. It is very soft and mellow; playing to his emotions as he see the bodies; score suggests sadness. Asynchronous sounds of flies 'buzzing' around shows that the bodies have started to rot and have been dead from some while.

There is more diegetic sounds. Mostly it is very limited dialogue at the time. When he says 'Hello', there is a quick whip pan from left to right. This shocks the audience as two zombies jump up from the crowd of decomposed corps. The sudden appearance of these two antagonists creates suspense and tension in the room. When they do so the score continues. However it varies from the first time as it starts with a loud bell like sound creating more tension through pleonastic sound. As part of the audience this is expected because a man walking into an empty building in thrillers means there will be trouble from the protagonist whoever it may be.

As he walks he is shot form a low angle and the score continues playing the same motif. There is a close up of the white bag. This highlights the importance of the bag as it could be the only belongings he has. There a loud and sharp asynchronous sound of door banging against each other. We don't know what is happening so it adds to the suspense creating drama in the scene. A man dressed in a black gown enters and we find out he is a priest. The black long gown is what would be worn in many churches but the colours will often vary. From his costume we can tell that the character would be a very religious of course but very simplistic as it is all one colour, also making it dull.

There is a long shot of the priest which helps us to establish what he looks like. There is an action code at this part of the scene. This is because our protagonist is trying to communicate with the priest but he does not reply and charges for him. As the audience we waiting anticipating what will happen. This is common amongst thriller and action movies. A medium close up of the priest on the floor was used to show he was knocked down by the white bag. Kinetic camera movement was used when the protagonist was struggling with the priest. When he is on the floor we are eye line level where we can see his fearful eyes. There is a repeated, overlapping editing when he hits the priest with the bag.

Quickly after as the protagonist is escaping the score is fast paced creating more action. Tilt shot is used again as he runs down the stairs as well as high and low angles to when he went up. A canted shot is used as he runs to escape the old and defaced church building. Having the oblique shot it links to how the movie is unnatural due to the theme of it being post-apocalyptic. An extreme close of the protagonist's face shows his fear as he tries to escape the group of zombies chasing him. Fast editing of him running increases the pace of the scene and instead of the most and mellow score rock music seems to be playing. There is less tension but more action. A quick cut montage of different building is used, asynchronous shouting from the masked heroes trying to protect the protagonist. Later there is no score but just the diegetic sounds of growling and shouting followed by the loud explosion of the buildings from the montage. Outside is hard high key, making it seem dull and realistic. Finally there is an extreme long shot just before a large explosion. This scene had many thriller and action influences. The genre it would specifically belong to would be an Action Sci-fi thriller.

                                                                                                                                                             The use in this montage in this film with very expressive music helps to make the scene more dramatic, or action packed depending on the narrative. In an opening sequence a montage would be good to include because it can set up enigmas to the narrative what is being show in the montage and why? This would create tension as well as drama.

Kinetic camera movement can be very effective because is makes it more realistic. This would be a possible feature in my opening sequence because it make it very real and effective.