Jim is unshaven and looks dishevelled, he has a partially shaven head with scars and this
suggests to the audience that he has been there for some time. The use of sound at the beginning of this scene is incredibly effective. There is absolutely no ambient sound and the silence is eerie. Diegetic sounds such as Jim’s breathing and groaning as he arises from his bed are exaggerated and the lack of ambient sound or soundtrack enhances the tension. This also makes other sounds more effective as they appear louder and the sound of the equipment clattering to the floor as Jim gets up is shocking. The lack of ambient sound and also that the room is flooded by an intense yellow natural light, opposed to the unnatural fluorescent light usually associated with hospitals indicates that there has been a complete breakdown of normal society.
Cutting between the use of two shots, medium close-ups of Jim and long overhead shots we follow Jim as he stumbles to the door. The quick succession of cutting and between the two types of shots shows the audience Jim’s reactions to his surroundings, meaning we can understand his confusion. Also as Jim can only mumble hello the audience is made aware of his weakened state.
As Jim stands at the door a close-up of his face peering from behind the blinds is used. This is symbolic of him being behind bars, like a caged animal. Cutting to a long shot of the hallway outside, its chaotic state shows that whatever has happened extends to the whole of the hospital. It then cuts to a medium shot showing Jim’s feet and also that a key has been pushed under the door making it apparent that someone was preventing something getting in rather than him getting out, heightening anticipation.
Stumbling into the corridor Jim is now clad in a doctor’s outfit which signifies that he is clean and infection free. Cutting again to a long shot we see Jim slowly descending the stairs, this shows his fear and apprehension. The lobby is also strewn with litter and overturned furniture giving it a post-apocalyptic feel. Now cutting to a close-up of some hanging telephones, Jim enters the frame and frantically searches for a working phone. He is unsuccessful and this shows the audience all forms of communication have been cut.
Next a close-up shows Jim’s lower body with cans of pepsi in the forefront of the frame, the camera tilts up to reveal Jim thirstily devouring a drink. The guzzling noise is exaggerated again highlighting the lack of ambient sound and making Jim seem even more isolated and alone. Cutting to a high-angle long shot we see a vending machine that has spilt its wares and Jim gathers some of these the realisation he realises something terrible has happened sets in.
A canted low angle shot shows Jim has left the building and then this cuts to an aerial shot making him seem minute and completely insignificant against the high-rise buildings showing again how vulnerable and alone he is. The colours and the natural light give it a gritty, realistic feel and the blue hue gives it freshness as well.
As he wanders through London the sequence cuts between long shots of the setting and medium shots of the main character. Famous monuments such as Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and London Eye set the location and allow audiences beyond Britain, particularly the American public to feel more comfortable with this British film. This would also be a familiar sight for American audiences as it is a characteristic of American Zombie films to show large desolate cities. An extreme long shot shows Jim walking over Tower Bridge and the sky has changed to an intense red and orange colour. This makes the City seem angry and signifies danger. This makes the audience uneasy as it is reminiscent of the infected eyes that were shown in the previous scene.
The medium shots of Jim stumbling over tower Bridge then are also mixed with close-ups of his feet and the floor showing souvenirs of Big Ben and the British flag scattered over the floor showing the audience the scale of the disaster. At this point a very slow, quiet and melancholy piece of music begins; this is parallel to the scene as it reflects Jim’s mood, his loneliness and desperation reinforcing how terrifying a desolate and barren London must be. The music is a driving, apocalyptic and climatic piece by a group of French Canadian anarchists and as Jim wanders the streets it gradually gains speeds, and increases in volume.
Long shots at a canted high-angle look down on Jim as he wanders further and add to the effect of confusion and as often the shots have something in the forefront of the frame, such as a gargoyle, it makes it feel that something is peering out watching him. Other aspects of the Mise-en-scene such as the iconic red London Double-Decker Bus turned over is a really powerful message as to the scale of the disaster. Again there is litter strewn everywhere again reinforcing the apocalyptic feel to the scene.
As he walks towards a statue of soldiers this makes the audience think about war and death and as we see another desolate street the camera whip-pans around as the music suddenly grows louder to reveal Jim picking up £20 notes from the floor. This encourages the audience to feel sympathy for Jim as it is abundantly clear that money is worthless.
The music gets louder as we follow Jim wandering deserted streets. An extreme long shot then cuts closer to a long shot showing Jim’s progress. In this particular sequence there is a large United Colours of Benetton billboard used showing models in bright clothing smiling. It then cuts to a medium close-up showing Jim’s face parallel to one of the models behind him. This shows the huge contrast there is between them and this shows the difference of life before the disaster and her smiling face makes the audience feel as if she is mocking him.
Still wandering, Jim approaches a car, the music still ever increasing in volume, as he approaches an abandoned car the camera shoots Jim from the inside looking at his face. As he touches the car an alarm goes off. The sound is so exaggerated it shocks the audience and really gets the adrenaline pumping. The effect of showing Jim through the car window also means we can see his reaction.
The music now increases in speed and volume as Jim moves on down the street. The Mise-en-scene here is extremely well executed, litter and newspapers are strewn everywhere and confusion is added to by using canted angles showing Jim picking up a newspaper then cutting to an extreme close-up of the headline “Evacuation, mass exodus of British People causes chaos” portraying what has happened to the audience. Jim throws down the paper in despair and moves towards a small monument covered in posters. The sun is shown directly behind the building and seems huge giving this shot an Armageddon feel.
Using a hand-held camera it cuts between close-ups of Jim’s face and close-ups on the missing people messages on the board, allowing the audience to see Jim’s reactions but meaning they too can see what he is seeing. The sheer volume of messages provokes a powerful reaction in the audience as suddenly each missing person is given an identity and we are made aware that everyone must have lost someone special. Jim seems to smile with despair. The camera movements are wild, zooming in and out on the messages, spinning around Jim upwards showing his shock. The music finally reaches its peak and dies off as the camera now zooms in unsteadily on one specific picture of a little boy and fades to black, ending this dramatic, mysterious and tense scene.
Word Count 1, 665
