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British Horror: 28 Days Later Year 12 Film

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British Horror: 28 Days Later

Year 12 Film

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Essay QuestionsHow far are the messages and values of the films you have studied for this topic shaped by genre conventions?

Using particular sequences from the films you have studied for this topic, explore the representation of key characters.

What can be described as distinctively ‘British’ in particular sequences from the films you have studied for this topic?

How far are the storylines in the films you have studied for this topic typically British?

How are narrative devices used to increase the impact of horror or comedy in the films you have studied for this topic?

How is gender represented in the horror or comedy films you have studied for this topic?

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28 Days Later Post 9/11 – Boyle and his screenwriter drew from

other international crises and disasters for apocalyptic images.

Allegory for terrorism – depicts zombies as ravenous, swift threat that cares for only itself and attacks rabidly and indiscriminately.

The film suggests the response to the threat of the ravenous other is to protect the nuclear family and military.

Reaffirm conservative ideology of reinscribing white, patriarchal, capitalist power.

Could be compared to the reality of the outbreak of disease. i.e. Aids/Foot and Mouth (a British disease).

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Opening Sequence Jim is born/awakens into a new world –

abandonment of iconic, bustling city. Traces famous landmarks which disorients the

audience. Loss of his parents – acceptance of the loss of his

old life and the reality of his new life. From the opening sequence of the film, viewers

are aware that an infection has decimated the world and its inhabitants. There are no more laws, rules, or social conventions. All that remains is a wild frontier: unpredictable, inhospitable, and utterly alien.

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Rage Britain's depiction of post-apocalypse cinema is

characteristically political due to the Thatcher era and its history with totalitarian police and anarchic punk style movements.

The narrative presents the rage virus as victimizing harmless citizens – ultimately the quest is to restore calm and create a utopian civilization.

Destruction of civilization. Refuses Christian models of salvation – faith did

not save the priest and his followers. Emphasizes the desolate circumstance of the few survivors.

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Breakdown of Society Ignorance of the animal activists – unlike the

traditional zombie film, they do not rise from the dead but are essentially man made.

Military and authority take liberty on their free reign.

Communication and trust is eliminated. The widespread carnage has decimated society,

leaving behind no traces of the social contract necessary to support economic institutions. The absence of this basic system of meaning symbolizes the decay of the modern way of life.

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Survival When Jim and Selena realise the key to survival is in

continuing the journey within a group they seek each others companionship.

The formation of such strong bonds alters the structure of the film by shifting the narrative focus from survival to cooperation and kinship.

What Frank and Hannah have to offer Jim and Selena is familial intimacy, they are companions who share more than a common goal and start to coalesce as a family.

This collective hero does not seek to conquer the scene, to somehow exert its will over its surroundings, but to transcend the scene by drawing upon shared communal experience.

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Characters: 28 Days Later

How are these key characters represented? How is gender represented?

Selena Jim

ZombiesMajor Henry WestSoldiers

Frank and Hannah

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Selena Selena is the primary representation of the

masculine archetype in the film. From the very beginning, she embodies all of the

characteristics of the classic ego-driven hero. She is rugged, crass, and completely cynical.

She is given very little context, therefore despite her apparent reservations she is the one who decided to save Jim from his first encounter with the infected and ultimately becomes Jims protector.

Selena embodies the role of Hannah’s guardian, highlighting her maternal instincts.

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JimJim undergoes four important transformations throughout the film:1) In the film’s opening moments, Jim resembles a child;

he is unaware of his surroundings and completely incapable of defending himself.

2) When Jim enters the diner it appears he desires to gain some independence, he succeeds by successfully killing an infected boy – he graduates from helpless boy to self-sufficient man.

3) Upon Frank’s death, Jim assumes the position of father (protector), a role that he is forced into as his rescuers assume him to be the collectives leader.

4) Jim ultimately embodies the monstrous zombies to become the hero and save Selena and Hannah.

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Embodying the Monster Jim attacks the soldiers with rage and abandon, he

embodies the very characteristics which separate humankind from the infected.

Mythically, this represents Jim’s conversion from masculine (rational) defender, to feminine (non-rational) attacker.

Like the infected, he now represents the devouring mother, a ravenous and consuming representation of the unconscious.

The brutality displayed when Jim gouges out the eyes of a soldier is significant because it represents the devouring mother’s conquest of the last vestiges of the masculine archetype.

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HORROR NARRATIVES The assumption is that the WAY a horror film is told

is going to be the very similar across all horror films, that's what makes it recognisable to the audience. For the most part these questions want you to: 1. Make known that you are aware of the narrative

features of the horror genre and how they are used in the films to communicate their stories

2. Discuss how this is done in a similar/typical way across all films

3. Consider how the films manage to break the ‘genre mould’ and not be typical

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Gender in Horror Within the horror film genre the main representation of

gender tends to be of women. Many women are portrayed as a form of sexual desire or envy, most women in horror films tend to be the victims of a male killer.

The reasoning behind murders differs from one villain to the next but they tend to have a similar theme to them which tends to make the villains the punishers for the women’s sexual activity.

Throughout history women have been portrayed as a sexual object but with some of the more recent horrors even the women are becoming the villains and can be quite violent and twisted.

Many horrors follow the classic style of using women as sexual objects, this causes the audience to disengage with their human ability to sympathize with the victim as they see it as a ‘she will get what is coming to her’.

The woman who has had sex out of wedlock usually getting killed as punishment. This kind of representation doesn’t just work in the concept of women but we can also create an unsympathetic felling towards male characters.