AH: Opening sequence analysis

28 Weeks Later (Fresnadillo, 07)

Film language:

• The location of this scene is in a typically British rural house (reinforcing the fact it is a British Film). The lighting is minimal (candle lit) and darkness is usually to imply depression in films. The consideration of costume shows them as dirty and un-hygienic, as if they haven’t washed in a while giving the impression they can’t risk and are hiding from something.
• The camera shots within the opening are a mix between static and moving shots. When the boy is banging on the door to get in the camera begins to shake and connotes panic and fear.
•  There isn’t any music until the boy is at the door. When he does start banging, its one noise getting louder and louder until the door is opened and he gets in. The dialogue shows many accents found in Britain, Scottish, northern and southern English. Selective sound is used to highlight the fact they are eating and portraying it as a luxury.
• From the characters dialogue we learn how they have come to terms with the situation around them. You hear aggression form one of the men and weakness in the all the women’s voices, showing that it is a violent and brutal situation. Also from body language, all the characters appear to be exhausted.
• The director emphasises sharp sounds, this creates tension and scares audiences. It is very successful in the opening as it helps set the film up.

Institutional context:

• The most well known actor in this film is Robert Carlyle; he isn’t huge but has appeared in the huge film ‘Trainspotting’. This makes him a star and makes audiences more likely to go and watch it.
• The studio that produced it were Fox Atomic, owned by industrial giants 20^th Century Fox. The company has now shut down.
• On 13 April 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover. The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, along with the statement that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!” Removable chalk-powder graffiti was sprayed in locations around London and Birmingham featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and was quickly snapped up. In May 2007, 20th Century Fox posted a free 28 Weeks Later-themed flash game on their international website, foxinternational.com. In the game, the player can play one of the infected in three parts of the city.

28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002)

Film Language:

• The use of clips of past events that have been significantly violent adds to the realism. As the chimpanzee is relieved it is noticeable that it is strapped down and unable to move, this gives an impression of quarantine. This is further reinforced by the location, a scientific testing lab, typically known to be the source of infections in such zombie films.
• Some of the shots show the activists in balaclavas in the perspective of a CCTV camera; this shows a breach in security. This can be referred to the sequence of riots at the beginning, as they are all evidence of rebellion or chaos. The use of tracking shots help show the discovery of the ‘chimps’ and the conditions they have been kept in, the audiences still sympathise with the ‘chimps’ as they appear harmless.
• The music is slow and low pitched whilst the chimps watch the now ‘infected’ women kill the professor, this gives the impression it is only the beginning and that there is an ironic calm within the potential apocalypse.
• Through the characters verbal and non-verbal dialogue we learn the naivety from the public towards the so called ‘rage infection’. Once the women is infected we see a complete change in character, the audience now is in fear of the unknown.
•  The editing within in the clip is typical of a zombie horror. Beginning with a montage edit linking the scenes of chaos together. When the girl gets attacked there is a very fast cutting rate, avoiding the need to film the actual bite of the ‘chimp’. The fast cutting rate is used to help reinforce rear and the potential anarchy.

Institutional context:

• The main character ‘Jim’ is played by star Cillian Murphy, whos has also appeared in the Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film for him was the break to Hollywood.
• The film was produced by DNA Films which is a British film production company founded by Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald. The company is an independent production company.
• There were no big splashy publicity events. No magazine covers. Instead, the Fox unit worked the Internet, spending $1 million on banner ads on such well-traveled Web sites for movie buffs as AOL and Yahoo! and a six-minute blood-splattered trailer on Apple's QuickTime site. To generate word of mouth, the studio brought the film to the Sundance Film Festival in January and made sure that Internet denizens like aint-it-cool-news.com's Harry Knowles saw it. As hoped, Knowles' site gave the movie plenty of free publicity.

Wolf Creek (McLean, 2005)

Film language:

• The typography is in small white (typewriter) font with a black background, it reads, “The following is based on actual events”. The typography firmly reinforces this as it’s in a report style font, creating the sense it has happened. The location of the Australian outback is perfect as then states that 30’000 people go missing in Australia every year, this inserts fear and anticipation amongst audiences. Later the date 1999 is stated giving audiences temporal cohesion.
• The uses of close-ups in the beginning help audiences create a character exposition and familiarise with the characters. Then the long shot shows a beautiful view of the beach, giving an impression of natural beauty and we begin to question the genre.
• The only use of music is when they are partying on their last night before the trip. Apart from that there is only dialogue anchoring the shots. The dialogue helps build a story around the characters; all the dialogue is typical and doesn’t connote any fear.

Institutional context:

• No star has been used in this film as it is low budget and is very common in big horror films, if huge stars are used in horror films it subtracts fear as people still look at the character how they have in previous films.
• Produced by Dimension Films which is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films.
• The 'based on a true story' tag is part of the films charming little ad campaign that attempts to portray the film as a new kind of horror film.