28 Weeks later - Opening two minutes

28 weeks later

Opening two minutes analysis

The opening of the film identifies the genre to be horror as there are several genre indicators, for example there is low key lighting which creates a sense of eerie ness and suspense as not everything can clearly be seen in the shots. A sense of fear and depression is shown through the characters and there is tension between all of them even though they are family, this could have come about due to the intense, claustrophobic living situation and the horrors of the outside world they live in. Candles are their only source of light which is another genre indicator as a comedy usually doesn’t involve candle light, this would be more common in medieval times not modern earth so suggests they are hiding from something or someone or due to a zombie apocalypse there is no power. An old wooden rickety house is another genre indicator as it adds to the eerie rural setting they are in, it subverts to the stereotypical convention that an old house in the middle of nowhere is destined to be attacked by some form of zombie or alien – it doesn’t leave the viewer with a great sense of hope for these characters. There is also a sense of community within the film that is usually only brought about by some sort of disaster or tragedy, common in horror/action movies – by only watching the opening two minutes the viewer already has a clear view of the genre of the film and expectations of what’s to come.

There is no music, almost no sound at all in the characters house which supports the theory of tension and fear, they are all too afraid to talk and don’t want to as they are tired of being trapped in the same house with the same people all day long. As they gather round the table there is an exchange of comments about the food being brought before them, the viewer can assume it is not the finest of foods and most likely they have the same most evenings, due to the rural setting they're in nice food has become a treat rather than a necessity. Continuing speech between the characters (diegetic) shows spirits are surprisingly high considering the circumstances and a feeling of community is again felt by the viewer. A deathly knocking on the door (diegetic) startles the viewer just like the characters but maybe not as much as a convention of horror movies is to have something strange knocking at the door, it’s expected by the viewer. Silence is heard for a moment before eerie music fades in (non-diegetic) to add to the suspense in the scene and inject fear into the viewer, there's a sense of excitement and tension – what's knocking on the door? Should they open it? A child's cry shoots straight to the heart of the viewer; it grabs them and throws them into the mist of the film as they start to wonder what they would do, this subverts to the horror stereotype that although everything may seem fine to begin with that won’t last long. The music fades as the dad relocks the just opened door to show that they are safe now as the child is inside, the child's voice telling the family where he has come from is key in finding more put about this character but soon fades away as focus is put onto one of the female characters as she heads towards a window – this alerts the viewer that something is going to happen as conventions of horror suggest that if a female or any character goes off on their own then it’s not going to end well. A loud scream and crash alerts the viewer the ‘enemy’ have made an arrival and is a great contradiction to the quiet, domestic scene beforehand with the child and mother - this suggests that although their domestic life was fine before things are set to become louder and scarier as the film progresses.

The characters seem fairly simple and there is not one person shining through above the rest, they show nearly all the reactions to an apocalypse (optimistic, pessimistic, quiet, realist) and therefore provide characters that almost everyone can relate to and draw the viewer’s in. The boy represents hope as he has managed to survive but also represents the calm before the storm as conventions show it’s normally the innocent characters that bring death with them.

The use of camera is not as important in a horror movie as it would be in an action film for example as there is not likely to be as many big, broad shots as they want to keep the lighting low and the mystery alive. Extensive close up shots create tension and suspense which is key for a horror movie, 28 weeks later has a large number of medium shots to establish the setting and characters without revealing too much about anything. There are very few close up shots considering it’s a horror movie, there are one or two to get up close to the characters and draw the viewer back in and keep a sense of tension and mystery alive.