28days later opening scene – analysis

The opening scene starts with people sitting around a table, the mise-en-scene in the clip shows that the people are frightened and scared. The lighting is low key which makes the scene very dark and barely any light which suggests to the audience there death is creeping up on them and there is an unknown mystery awaiting them and the darkness portrays that to the audience that they are not in a safe place. Also there is non-verbal communication used at the start through the close ups (camera shots) show to the audience the facial expressions on the faces of the characters and it clearly shows they are scared and frightened through the tears in their eyes and the terror shown by their facial expressions. The mise-en-scene in the opening scene also shows the setting, the setting is what looks like a abandoned house, the windows and doors are all blocked and the doors are blocked with several locks which clearly shows they don’t want anyone to come in. furthermore the setting clearly shows there is not much sunlight able to get into the building which shows darkness throughout the house which makes the setting a mystery to the viewer and makes the house more creepy as you can’t see everything. In addition the props throughout the opening scene make it clear to the viewer what the situation is and increase the intensity at the start of the film. For example the food is showing realism in the clip and that they are obviously not able to cook nutritious food as the food looks very dull and not very nice and therefore clearly shows they are unable to eat well and may suggest they are trapped in the house. Camera shots and movements are also used in the first scene to create tension right at the start there is a long shot of the women preparing the food this shows the women is isolated and she may be lonely as she is on her own and this suggests that she is not in a good place which creates tension right from the start. There is another camera movement is used when the man is by the door, a handheld is used to create realism in the clip and makes the audience a part of the film and makes the moment tense. Also the handheld is not still which suggests that the people the people are nervous and scared because the camera keeps shaking. There is also another camera shot used right at the end of the opening scene where the is a close up of somebody looing out of the window and it quickly pans to another close up of somebody outside the house this shows the clear facial expression of the person and you can tell the people inside the house are in danger Furthermore sound is used throughout the clip, the non-diegetic sound in the opening scene is used to create tension and show that there is dagger approaching them. In addition as the man approaches the door the music gets louder and louder to build tension which makes the viewer assume there is something they don’t want to open the door to on the other side and when they open the door and it’s a little boy the music drop and becomes more quitter which clearly shows the people are relieved that it’s a human rather than something else. There is also diegetic sound used in the scene for example the plate collides with the other plate creating a noise which is like a shaking noise which makes the moment more tense as it shows the characters are nervous and scared. Lastly editing is used in the opening scene, there is a shot reverse shot of the young boy and the women this shows the relationship which they have which is in this situation that they are both new to each other and are both scared and very tense this makes it clear to the audience there situation and what is going on between the two characters. Overall the opening scene of “28 days later” is a great start to a thriller as the action is right at the start and makes it clear from the start that the people are blocking themselves in a house for a reason and this is shown very clearly by the director through the mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing .