Film Title: 28 Weeks Later
Year of production: 2007
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Genre/Genres: Horror
Brief plot outline
Over the course of 28 weeks following the original outbreak of the ‘rage’ virus the infected have apparently all died primarily because of starvation and Britain had been declared relatively safe. An American NATO group were brought in to London to repopulate the city and bring it back to normal. Settlers and survivors were brought in and all looked to be going well. Don and his wife Alice were hiding in a barricaded cottage that they shared with 4 others, they let a terrified boy in and moments later a group of the infected attack and get inside the cottage. Alice refuses to leave the cottage without the boy so Don leaves her and makes a run for the stream with a pack of the infected chasing him, he just manages to escape and we are led to believe that he is the only survivor. Don makes it to the ‘Isle of Dogs’ the safe zone called District One and he gets a job as a caretaker. His children Tammy and Andy are then brought in who were in Spain when the virus first started. After finding out from their dad that their mother is apparently dead Andy and Tammy slip out of the safe zone to go to their old house to get a picture of their mother. To their astonishment they find their mother in the house still alive but infected although she has some sort of immunity to the virus which her son Andy also has as they both have different coloured eyes which due to a peculiar pattern in their genes creates immunity. The US army track Andy and Tammy’s movement and find them at their house with their infected mother. Seeing as she is not a direct threat and isn’t attacking anyone they take her back to the safe zone, hoping that she could lead to a cure. Don comes to see Alice and is upset and disappointed with himself as he left her to die. He kisses her and because they share saliva he then gets infected. He then savagely kills her and goes on a rampage attacking soldiers and civilians. The rage virus is now spreading within district one quickly. It is no longer a safety zone.
Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?
1) When Don escapes Don the barricaded cottage infected inside he is sprinting down to the stream to desperately try to get away. There is an establishing shot of him running with many infected chasing him in the background down the hill. He looks back at the cottage window and sees Alice banging on the window and she is then grabbed by the infected so we as the audience assume that she has been attacked. Then as Don reaches the dock where there is a boat, fast paced montage editing is used as the infected get closer and closer to him and then try to get him. He narrowly escapes which is what the audience is hoping for as the editing makes you feel uneasy for him. Collision cutting is then used as he eases further away from the dock and the editing is now slow and there is peaceful element to the scene and the audience can breathe a sigh of relief as Don has escaped unharmed.
2) Doyle (male hero) radios Flynn and tells him to pick them up in his helicopter at Wembley stadium. When Andy and Tammy finally get their as they are the only survivors as Doyle heroically dies for them and so does Scarlet (the doctor) there is a long shot of them standing in the middle of the abandoned and decayed pitch with the long green uncut grass around them. This scene really impressed me as the stadium emphasises how far the diagesis is outside of the cultural dominant ideologies (CDI) of the viewers, thus shocking them.
How was watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
The was a lot of collision cutting throughout the film and the change of fast paced editing to slow paced or vice versa really made the film exciting watch.
Characters & Representation
Male hero – Doyle: Sacrifices himself to save Tammy, Andy and Scarlet.
Final girl – Tammy: Only girl to survive out of the characters
Female victim – Scarlet: Not the usual, stereotypical female victim, she is smart and brave, dies when trying to save Tammy and Andy
Quick monster – Zombies: When Don is running down to the dock with the zombies chasing him down the hill, they are quicker than he is
Mise-en-Scene
Enclosed location – Barricaded cottage, District One
Gore (Body Horror) – When one of the snipers shoots a zombie in the head that is just about to attack Andy
Low key lighting – Underground scene with only flashlight on the gun
Editing
Montage/Collision cutting/Slow editing – When Don escapes from the zombies in the boat. It changes from very fast paced exciting editing as the zombies are edging closer and closer to Don, but then he narrowly escapes and the editing slows down and there is a feeling of calmness.
Cinematography
A lot of close ups, handheld camera and point of view in the underground scene when Tammy is alone, it makes the audience feel like they are there and it is scary as you are worried for her.
Which aspects of the film would you like to INCLUDE in your own trailer? Why?
I would like to include a similar type of shot than the establishing shot/landscape shot used when Don is running down a hill from the infected to the boat as you can see the all the zombies chasing Don in one shot; it is exciting because the audience are hoping that he escapes. There is also a high expressionist angle used in this shot which connotes his weakness.
Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? Why?
I would like to avoid making certain characters seem stupid in my trailer as I think this is very annoying for the audience to watch. For example, when Andy and Tammy sneak out of the safety zone after they are told not to and then nearly end up getting bitten. We empathise much more with female survivors and male heroes, and this ensures that we really want them to survive. This maximises the emotional impact of the suspense and the shock, because we are emotionally involved with the film.
What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why?
Can you recreate this in your own film? How?
I liked how exciting it was in some parts with how quick the zombies or ‘infected’ moved and how scary they looked, this scary effect could be recreated with a good use of make-up. The collision cutting helped make the film really exciting, this could be recreated in my trailer with a clever use of montage.
Year of production: 2007
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Genre/Genres: Horror
Brief plot outline
Over the course of 28 weeks following the original outbreak of the ‘rage’ virus the infected have apparently all died primarily because of starvation and Britain had been declared relatively safe. An American NATO group were brought in to London to repopulate the city and bring it back to normal. Settlers and survivors were brought in and all looked to be going well. Don and his wife Alice were hiding in a barricaded cottage that they shared with 4 others, they let a terrified boy in and moments later a group of the infected attack and get inside the cottage. Alice refuses to leave the cottage without the boy so Don leaves her and makes a run for the stream with a pack of the infected chasing him, he just manages to escape and we are led to believe that he is the only survivor. Don makes it to the ‘Isle of Dogs’ the safe zone called District One and he gets a job as a caretaker. His children Tammy and Andy are then brought in who were in Spain when the virus first started. After finding out from their dad that their mother is apparently dead Andy and Tammy slip out of the safe zone to go to their old house to get a picture of their mother. To their astonishment they find their mother in the house still alive but infected although she has some sort of immunity to the virus which her son Andy also has as they both have different coloured eyes which due to a peculiar pattern in their genes creates immunity. The US army track Andy and Tammy’s movement and find them at their house with their infected mother. Seeing as she is not a direct threat and isn’t attacking anyone they take her back to the safe zone, hoping that she could lead to a cure. Don comes to see Alice and is upset and disappointed with himself as he left her to die. He kisses her and because they share saliva he then gets infected. He then savagely kills her and goes on a rampage attacking soldiers and civilians. The rage virus is now spreading within district one quickly. It is no longer a safety zone.
Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?
1) When Don escapes Don the barricaded cottage infected inside he is sprinting down to the stream to desperately try to get away. There is an establishing shot of him running with many infected chasing him in the background down the hill. He looks back at the cottage window and sees Alice banging on the window and she is then grabbed by the infected so we as the audience assume that she has been attacked. Then as Don reaches the dock where there is a boat, fast paced montage editing is used as the infected get closer and closer to him and then try to get him. He narrowly escapes which is what the audience is hoping for as the editing makes you feel uneasy for him. Collision cutting is then used as he eases further away from the dock and the editing is now slow and there is peaceful element to the scene and the audience can breathe a sigh of relief as Don has escaped unharmed.
2) Doyle (male hero) radios Flynn and tells him to pick them up in his helicopter at Wembley stadium. When Andy and Tammy finally get their as they are the only survivors as Doyle heroically dies for them and so does Scarlet (the doctor) there is a long shot of them standing in the middle of the abandoned and decayed pitch with the long green uncut grass around them. This scene really impressed me as the stadium emphasises how far the diagesis is outside of the cultural dominant ideologies (CDI) of the viewers, thus shocking them.
How was watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
The was a lot of collision cutting throughout the film and the change of fast paced editing to slow paced or vice versa really made the film exciting watch.
Characters & Representation
Male hero – Doyle: Sacrifices himself to save Tammy, Andy and Scarlet.
Final girl – Tammy: Only girl to survive out of the characters
Female victim – Scarlet: Not the usual, stereotypical female victim, she is smart and brave, dies when trying to save Tammy and Andy
Quick monster – Zombies: When Don is running down to the dock with the zombies chasing him down the hill, they are quicker than he is
Mise-en-Scene
Enclosed location – Barricaded cottage, District One
Gore (Body Horror) – When one of the snipers shoots a zombie in the head that is just about to attack Andy
Low key lighting – Underground scene with only flashlight on the gun
Editing
Montage/Collision cutting/Slow editing – When Don escapes from the zombies in the boat. It changes from very fast paced exciting editing as the zombies are edging closer and closer to Don, but then he narrowly escapes and the editing slows down and there is a feeling of calmness.
Cinematography
A lot of close ups, handheld camera and point of view in the underground scene when Tammy is alone, it makes the audience feel like they are there and it is scary as you are worried for her.
Which aspects of the film would you like to INCLUDE in your own trailer? Why?
I would like to include a similar type of shot than the establishing shot/landscape shot used when Don is running down a hill from the infected to the boat as you can see the all the zombies chasing Don in one shot; it is exciting because the audience are hoping that he escapes. There is also a high expressionist angle used in this shot which connotes his weakness.
Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? Why?
I would like to avoid making certain characters seem stupid in my trailer as I think this is very annoying for the audience to watch. For example, when Andy and Tammy sneak out of the safety zone after they are told not to and then nearly end up getting bitten. We empathise much more with female survivors and male heroes, and this ensures that we really want them to survive. This maximises the emotional impact of the suspense and the shock, because we are emotionally involved with the film.
What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why?
Can you recreate this in your own film? How?
I liked how exciting it was in some parts with how quick the zombies or ‘infected’ moved and how scary they looked, this scary effect could be recreated with a good use of make-up. The collision cutting helped make the film really exciting, this could be recreated in my trailer with a clever use of montage.
No comments:
Post a Comment