After a brief silence and an abrupt jump, a temporal relation, to 28 days later, we see a shut eye in an extreme close-up shot. This brings the audience’s attention to the fact that he has just woken up, yet also brings subtle fear into the action, as for a split second we are not quite sure whether or not this is a human being, simply waking up, or one of the infected un-dead monsters. The camera then cuts to a high angle shot of the young man lying down on a bed, the mise-en-scene of the location tell us that this is obviously a hospital. Yet the untidiness of the props and the strange fact that he has no clothes on, when traditionally a hospital in the developed world isn’t usually one to deprive modesty and would have him tucked in under a bed sheet of some kind. The camera angle is also canted, which again suggests something is not quite right. The body language of the protagonist in this shot seems almost like broken-doll, not a natural position to generally lie in. Furthermore the cinematography of the high angle shot shows Jim in a ‘cross like position’ implying connotations of Jesus on the cross, possibly implying that Jim is a saviour. Another thing I notice about the mise-en-scene is that Jim is tied in with intravenous tubes, and has a scar, exactly where the previous monkey had his electrodes tied in. Danny Boyle is comparing both man and monkey in this method and is trying to get across the message that being exposed to vast amounts of violence through everyday media is harmful. By good acting techniques Cillian Murphy (Jim) shows the audience of his confusion and misunderstanding of his surroundings, this is confirmed by the use of close up shots of Jim’s face when he looks around the room in puzzlement. When Jim looks out the window of the hospital room, the blinds are set across his face; this resembles the bars of a cage and implies that he is trapped. When Jim gets out the room he has to find a key to escape, this has possible connotations of Jesus escaping from the cave after being buried, and again implying Jim is a saviour. An establishing shot of the hospital corridor is then used; this verifies to the audience furthermore that something has gone wrong, due to the further use of messy, disorderly mise-en-scene props and the inhabitation. As he leaves the room and walks around the hospital building there are many more uses of through the window view shot, which again resembles bars and cages. This could entail the feeling that he is being watched. Throughout the film the camera employs many different ranges of establishing and long shots. This is to show the reader the full extent of the epidemic disaster. The high angle location shots are a technique to make Jim seem diminutive and alone in the desolate settings. The close up shot of the hospital public phones hanging off the dial shows the background blurred, this shows us that the director wants us to focus our attention on the phones and give the viewer the feeling that Jim is cut off from all communication to the outside world. When Jim starts scavenging for drinks out of the vending machine, I feel this has been done to compare him to the animals that were involved at the start of the film, as he doesn’t care about his appearance just like an ape wouldn’t as he has not been a part of society for a long period of time. During this shot the camera switches to a high angle shot looking down on Jim, which again makes him appear small and insignificant, who is crouched down like an ape to represent his thirsty desperate state. After this the camera catches a glimpse of Jim’s hair after his operation, half of his hair is normal how it was and half of it is shaved, I think this is to represent how half of his primitive side is coming out and half of his sane human side still remains. The camera then shows another establishing shot of the outside of the hospital, and focuses on a very angular and straight side of the building which implies the theme of cage bars, which suggests imprisonment. The action of Jim’s head popping over the wall, almost a barrier, adds to this effect. Also the range of contrasting lines in the shot of the buildings, the windows, the balconies again the shot is canted, another implication that something is horribly wrong. Once Jim is out the hospital the camera shows a wide variety of shots, mainly long establishing shots of the usually hectic and highly populated London, which includes the London eye, Westminster bridge, Piccadilly circus, entirely abandoned of people implying that although Jim is completely alone, he is being watched, this is also shown in the next shot where Jim walks past a statue of a lion. The camera shows Jim’s feet walking over broken toys of the Big Ben, representing that London and its most memorable features are broken and destroyed. Jim is also again being watched by Big Ben’s clock face which is looking down on him as he looks back across the view of London. Again the mise-en-scene shows the viewers of the massive disruption and strange situation. The excessive litter on the streets, no habitation or other person in sight are examples of this. Jim then comes across an overturned double Decker bus in London which has smashed glass hanging off the window which once more signifies the jagged edges of the cage bars and also symbolizes death as the bus is red. The next frame of Jim walking is a bird’s eye view shot to show that Jim is completely isolated and that he is miniature compared to the rest of the world. Jim then walks past some old war memorial statues, I feel the director has done this to show that the only people left are dead people and that Jim is possibly surrounded by dead people. Furthermore, when Jim walks closer to the statues, his figure becomes almost a silhouette. Which makes him appear similar to the statues, this could foretell that Jim is about to become a hero. When he picks up money off the streets, the shot is a handheld, the majority of the film is shot in digital camera, due to its low budget, this adds realism. Also the fact that Jim is picking up money from off the streets represents the corruption of the situation and that the city is completely disrupt. The panning shot across the landscape of London only shows grey and bland colours, representing the depressive chaos of the situation. When Jim goes to touch the car that is parked up in a place it shouldn’t be, the alarm goes off. Jim’s shock and surprise shows that he still believes people are out there as he acts embarrassed, of course no-one is around to hear it, but the sudden loud sound in the quiet and vacant area would come as a shock. What's more, the car is parked in a yellow grid; this is a place where cars are never allowed to park so this shows that any form of police or control doesn’t exist anymore. The section of the scene in which it shows Jim coming across flowers and letters for the dead, this shows resemblance to results of 9/11. This is one of the most well known scourges of disaster.
I believe this is quite a powerful scene and enjoyed the clear difference between this and the typical mainstream Hollywood cinema. Instead of spending money on expensive special effects, clever cinematography creates the shocking scenes of the abandoned city of London, and the insane intensity of the action scenes. This fits in brilliantly with the realism of the film and the message Boyle is trying to get across.
When Jim arrives at the church the whole shot is set in low key lighting adding suspense and mystery, possibly implying something dangerous lies within the church. He is in the background whilst a wooden cross in the church is focused on in the foreground right next to the church window which is covered in crossed over bars, just like prison bars, again showing associations of imprisonment and being trapped, this is clearly a persistent method in the cinematography, the director undoubtedly wants the audience to get the feeling of captivity and the thought of being watched in this sequence. On the wall of the church, written in what appears to be blood. There is a reference to the book of Revelations with the phrase; “The End is extremely fucking nigh,” This points out that humanity is at an end, it is time for man to repent or be swallowed up by a Rage inducing virus. When Jim walks to the main part of the church, the camera pans across all the dead bodies that are dumped in the church, although the shot is in low key lighting there is a string of light that is shone onto them, implying that they maybe still have some life in them. Then the priest comes through the doors after a large crescendo of sounds to build suspense, the priest looks inhumane and dirty, he approaches Jim in a dangerous manner and Jim is forced to strike him, when Jim has done so he feels obliged to apologize even though the priest is obviously dangerous and violent, again representing that Jim can’t believe what’s happening. Throughout this scene the camera looks down on Jim through a high angle shot to represent how vulnerable he is to the danger of getting bitten by the priest, until he hits him. Then the camera looks down on the priest to show that Jim has defeated him and almost escaped the danger.
Another recurring theme in “28 Days Later” is the role of Christianity in western society and how spirituality plays a part in our present day lives. Danny Boyle uses religious symbolism throughout “28 Days Later” in the form of crosses, religious text and a priest to relay his spiritual message. In fact Jim’s first encounter with the infected is with a priest who swats at the air as if possessed. So, what is Danny Boyle saying about spirituality? Simply that western society has become so influenced by consumerism and acquiring material that we are all bound for a wake up call. There is a reference to the book of Revelations with the phrase; “The End is extremely fucking nigh,” written upon the walls of an inner city church. This points out that humanity is at an end, it is time for man to repent or be swallowed up by a Rage inducing virus. As well, Jim notices a postcard that reads, “It will be your grave for you are vile. –Nahum 1:14.” This is a verse from the bible that predicted the destruction of the city of Nineveh (Internet Movie Database) because the inhabitants were wicked.
