28 days later is a British independent horror movie produced by DNA Films and British Film Council.
Enigma Codes
Immediately, there are alarms going off in the audiences head questioning why people are behaving in the way they are at the start of the film. The opening sequence raises enigma codes from the sudden shock of the chaos we see and this immerses the audience from the very start. Examples of some of these enigma codes would be ‘Why is the lady crying?’ and ‘Where is all this chaos happening?’ By raising all these questions, it is clear that the audience is already fully engaged in the movie.
Characters
No characters were introduced during the opening scene of this film, it really just consisted mainly of scenes of pure violence and misery. Police had riot shields to fend off rioters and protect themselves and we can infer that, at the beginning, the rioting and chaos was taking place within a Islam orientated community/country and then scenes were changed to possibly a different community of people purely based off the clothing e.g. Head scarves. Since this is a British independent movie, the footage of the seemingly British police (indicated by the high visibility jackets) may evoke a sense of fear from the audience as these are the people in society who are supposed to be protecting them. In contrast to this, the violence being shown may, for some people, provoke a sense of safety as they see it as police keeping things under control. This sense of safety is ironic as, during a horror movie, the audience is typically looking to be fear induced.
Above is an example of policemen wearing typically British uniform – High visibility jackets and batons as opposed to guns.
Below, we see people who we can assume are in a Middle-eastern or Asian country, based purely on their headgear.
Mise-en-scene
Regarding the lighting and location of horror films, this one does not follow the conventions. There is not much happening by way of lighting as everything appears to have a filter over it to make them look, presumably, like a news report so everything looked like it was happening under natural lighting. By making it seem like a news report and using natural lighting, the audience is openly invited into the movie and although footage may be uncomfortable to watch, it may help them settle in to watching it much sooner.
In terms of location, there were very few signs as to where all of this may have been taking place, subsequently, triggering an enigma code. The only possible indication for location would be the police uniforms and clothing of the rioters. The chaos taking place, for the audience, has no context and this triggers alarms in their heads and helps to provoke a sense of discomfort and possible fear that the genre typically attempts to achieve.
Conventionally, lighting is dark and everything is located in a neighbourhood or house. However, these acts of violence unfolding before the audience may still have the same startling effect on them as that of a conventional horror film beginning.
Cinematography
The fast paced editing reflects the intensity of the scenes that the audience see on screen, aiding to help fully entice them from the very start. To further this, the camera movement appears shaky and handheld which makes the footage seem like authentic to live news reports and again, helps to fully entice them in what is happening.
Sound
In contrast to the mise-en-scene, the sound does still follow abide by conventions of a horror film; the high pitched screeches, some inaudible dialogue and sudden outbursts of a loud noise. However, there is no real fear provoking factor within the audio, it appears to mainly be used to set the scene and not startle the audience.
Titles
No titles were included in this opening sequence. It may have been a possibility that Danny Boyle felt that titles would have disrupted the atmosphere and pace he was trying to convey throughout the opening sequence, to the audience.
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