Blog Post #7: The Camera Work of 28 Days Later

Danny Boyle's 2002 thriller 28 Days Later features incredibly compelling camera work to convey the completely isolated mood of the film. The film begins with an introduction to the "rage" virus. A close up on a television is playing violent news reels, then the camera pans back to reveal multiple televisions with the content, then back further to reveal the subject to which this content is directed--a monkey. The use of reverse shot progression, from specific to general immediately disorients the viewer: they are unsure of what is going on, where they are, why they are being shown this, then the meaning becomes more clear as the scene progresses. Slowly, more information is given via the medium and long shots: the viewer can now see that this is in a lab, and there are cages and cages of monkeys, all very upset. Then the shots revert back to close ups, specifically on the faces and upper bodies of the monkeys, being sure to show them scream and pound their fists against their cage. At this point, the motives of the scene are still uncertain; the shots meant for identification are providing extremely limited insight into the surrounding area, and this confusion sets the tone for the remainder of the film.       

The reverse shot progression is also prominent in the scene immediately following, when the Jim is introduced to the film. An extreme close-up first introduces his face, and then there is a medium shot showing him in a hospital bed, then back to a close up of his face. The alternating shots leave the viewer longing for information: "Why is he in a hospital?" "Is anyone else there?" "What is he doing?" Information is clearly being withheld. As he walks out of the hospital, we see medium shots of Jim walking alone through streets. Through extreme long shots, we can now see that the city is London, and appears to be completely deserted. The leak of information through the reverse progression signifies the complete isolation Jim feels, as he realizes that he is absolutely alone, and the sheer confusion that ultimately arises from this realization.

These are the first six minutes of the film, which show the scene's I'm talking about: