The initial shot of the sequence is a long shot looking down on a deserted New York City, (which is shown to be deserted through the Mis En Scene of decrement and abandoned cars.) This deserted landscape and long shot looking down on it serve to isolate the protagonist, making him vulnerable and therein building tension. In pursuit of the deer the protagonist is hunting, the protagonist’s dog enters a dark building following the deer. Immediately, there is a non-diagetic unsettling sound, which therefore suggests that the building and lack of light is dangerous and threatening. As it is soon established afterwards that the protagonist is going to go in after his dog, this creates tension and fear in the audience.

Once the protagonist enters the dark building, the only sound is the diagetic whispers and footsteps of the protagonist, as any sound will alert the dangers of the building to the protagonist’s presence. This therefore leaves audiences tense as they subconsciously try to avoid making a sound, building tension. Additionally, the only lighting used in the building is the natural light coming from the protagonist’s flashlight, meaning that the audience and protagonist only have a limited control and ability to perceive, making the protagonist very vulnerable, building tension.

While the protagonist tersely searches the building for his dog a combination of long shots and over the shoulder tracking shots. The long shots are partly hand held; giving them a voyeuristic quality, i.e. there is something watching the protagonist. This creates tension because that makes increases the peril the protagonist is in. Additionally, the over the shoulder tracking shots show the audience what the protagonist would be seeing, creating a sense of the audience being in the same trouble as the protagonist, creating fear and heightening the tension.

The tense silence is pierced by a single off screen diagetic zombie scream, which is highly unsettling, somewhere in the building. Not only does this scream serve as a surprise to panic the audience, but it also suggests that zombies are now aware to the protagonist’s presence, both of which create tension, as further surprise could occur at any moment.

Surprise is used once again as he protagonist in his search for the dog turns his flashlight on over a part of a room, which the audience is now used to nothing being there, and there is a huddle of zombies all together right where the flashlight was shined. This therefore panics the audience as the protagonist is now in extreme proximity to danger and could’ve woken the zombies up very easily. This therefore heightens the tension.

The initial opening long shots which are both silent and with a dark and empty mis en scene are desolate and builds a sense of isolation. This relates to the films slogan that in space, no one can hear you scream. The vacuum of space therefore isolates the protagonists, creating tension.

The ponderous long shots of barren landscapes and empty space is immediately followed by a highly kinetic montage sequence of hand held tracking and reverse tracking shots of the lead protagonist. The fact that she is running immediately establishes both a sense of urgency, and tension, because clearly she is running from something. Furthermore, the very dark and gritty mis en scene in these tracking shots of corridors emphasises the claustrophobia on board the ship and also highlights the fragility of the human condition, as we rely on light for our vision making us vulnerable in the dark.

The lack of diagetic sound for the majority of these chase montage shots also relates to the films slogan that in space, no one can hear you scream, because whilst the viewer can clearly see that the protagonists are in trouble, no cries for help can be heard. This highlights the sense of isolation and tension. Furthermore, the non-diagetic looping siren sound is also highly unsettling and creates tension in the viewer.

 The fast pace of editing during these montage edits is also synchronous with the fast pace of the on screen action, building the sense of action. Additionally, the sporadic manner in which the montage of images is edited creates a dislocation of time and space, which unsettles the viewer as they cannot get a firm hold on the events they are viewing. This creates fear and tension.

A continuous use of clops during the montage of clips continually brings the viewer closer and closer into the action and panic, and increasingly tense. Eventually, the montage reaches a frantic climax in which the editing becomes even master, the MES more strange and unsettling and the camera even closer, and also with diagetic sound. Therefore, the viewer can is now longer a neutral observer that cannot hear the protagonists screams through the vacuum of space, but now another crew member on board the ship unable to make sense of what is going on around them. This creates lots of tension.

However, all tension is suddenly released, with one final long shot of a planet, which is now silent and with a dark MES once again. Viewers are now once again neutral observers of the protagonist’s plight, the vacuum of space once again isolating the protagonists, which is a nervy and unsettling end of the trailer for viewers.

The first chase scene of 28 Days Later takes place after our protagonist wakes up, seemingly alone, in a deserted hospital, and soon realises the entirety of London is abandoned. He enters a church, and after climbing a staircase with a graffiti-covered wall next to it (saying “Repent, the end is very F***ing nigh”), encounters the main room covered in what appears to be bodies – soon realising not all of them are dead. These opening locations set a very morbid tone for 28 Days Later and foreshadows the struggle our protagonists are up against – firstly, our protagonist beginning the story by waking up in a hospital could be an allusion to birth which is often in a hospital location, suggesting that he has perhaps been “reborn” into a new life, which he finds is in fact a nightmare, or a “hell”. This partially links with the church as a location where he encounters his first “infected” with the binary opposition of holy and unholy being prevalent – the ancient church could be seen as desecrated by the undead, accidental creations of science due to Man’s attempts to play god. Additionally the protagonist’s exploration of the abandoned London, taking place with depressingly slow non-diegetic music, sets a grim scene for the upcoming chase – the audience realises before it happens that he is alone with the infected.

                The protagonist first encounters an infected priest in the church, unsure of what is causing him to act as he is. Prior to the chase ensuing, a series of shot reverse shots of the protagonist and advancing zombie portrays the protagonist’s sense of confusion and panic at this point – the shots increase in camera movement as the zombie gets closer, with edits being faster and less stable, and diegetic sound also increasing in volume. These elements, being synchronous, culminate with the protagonist striking the zombie and knocking him down, an action followed by near silence and seconds of calm as the audience takes in what happened – the first act of violence itself is hugely emphasised, signifying that the protagonist is required to do such a thing, emphasising the opposition of normal life and apocalyptic life and the mental and physical struggle that the protagonist, an ordinary man, is now faced with, a common theme in zombie horrors.

                Following this the protagonist turns and flees while a shot reverse shot shows the zombie crawling towards him again violently, with fast paced non-diegetic music starting as the editing picks up pace and becomes more frantic. The urgency of the situation is emphasised through two mid shots of him clumsily running down the previously shown stairs, followed quickly by a high-angle long shot of several zombies sprinting out of the church after him from the pile of bodies. This series of events leaves the viewer in suspense through the chase scene – while we know of the likely zombie apocalypse the protagonist is faced with, he is not entirely sure of the situation as he has just woken up from a coma and likely hasn’t processed the danger he is suddenly faced with, and as such the audience ponders helplessly about whether or not the protagonist will realise the danger and escape or not.

                Our protagonist sprints out of the church in a high-angle shot with a wooden cross in the centre of the screen again emphasising the religious connotations of the apocalypse and the binary opposition of holy and unholy, but the protagonist lacks the time to think about such things – his diegetic footsteps increase in volume with a long shot of him sprinting down the street further emphasising his panic and isolation. With various cuts to high angle shots of him and reverse over-the-shoulder shots showing the audience the growing crowd of zombies chasing him, the tension and pace of the scene further increases for the chase, and an additional two characters are introduced to the scene in a high-angle long shot of a fuel station (in the style of CCTV camera footage) in which they are shown preparing Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) while wearing gas masks and concealing clothing. As pace of editing increases further, cutting between shots of these anonymous figures and the increasingly tense chase scene with the helpless protagonist suspends the audience further as the two potential rescuers race against time to help the protagonist.

                The audience’s hopes are confirmed as a tracking shot behind the protagonist reveals the masked pair, who shout “Over here” at him dominating the diegetic sound and hurling petrol bombs at the zombies, some of which end up burning as a result. The intensity of the scene continues increasing – sound, editing and kinetic camera movements all increase in speed representing the adrenaline rush the protagonists are experiencing as brief cuts to the burning zombies with their loud screaming continuing, defiant to the fire, remind us of the imminent threat to them. The protagonist sprints behind the pair, providing the audience with a slight degree of relief, however the shouting and swearing of the two combined with the persistence of the zombies shown in brief handheld extreme close ups ensure the audience realises it’s not over yet.

                With the imminent panic decreasing one of the masked saviours stops to interact with the fuel station, seemingly sabotaging it in a close up of him frantically using a petrol bomb while several zombies are shown running towards where they were seconds before. He sprints to join the other two who have fled behind a wall and stopped, breathing intensely after the encounter and relaxing to some degree – the non-diegetic music slows and stops signifying the end of the chase, while long shots of the fuel station in a derelict London show the scale and isolation of what just happened despite the presence of the zombies still persisting.

                The full conclusion of the conflict occurs with a sudden cut to an explosion at the fuel station, which quickly sets off a chain reaction of fire and explosions shown in shots of various angles as zombies are sent flying and burning from the explosion. Another long shot of the fuel station against London’s idle skyline shows the size of the masked characters’ work compared to the insignificance of the protagonists themselves, and cutting back to said survivors we hear one shout in victory as they hide in cover from the repetitive blasts, reminding us that despite the events that have just taken place the protagonists are still likeable, human, ordinary characters in an extraordinary situation.


-Joe

A key convention of many zombie films is the mise en scène and atmosphere in which the scenes take place – typically post-apocalyptic settings involving abandoned, deserted and ruined buildings or entire towns, which add up to a dreary atmosphere and sense of isolation for the protagonists. In 28 Days Later Danny Boyle creates this atmosphere very effectively through his choice of locations and effective mise en scène. The audience is placed in an environment which is familiar to many viewers (London), but desolate and empty as the protagonist explores it for answers. This leaves the viewer curious as to what has happened but also provoking some degree of shock as they see the post-apocalyptic version of familiar places.

                Following the opening scene set in a dark laboratory where the “infection” is violently released, our attention is switched to the main protagonist – a man who wakes up in a seemingly empty hospital, alone. He begins his search for answers by looking throughout the hospital while calling out “Hello?” In this scene, it is clear to the reader he is alone – diegetic sound is nonexistent apart from his own voice and actions, while the mise en scène establishes this as a place of disaster – overturned tables and trolleys, as well as broken vending machines are clearly shown in mid and long shots of the protagonist, with a very slow pace of editing allowing the audience to acknowledge the lack of life in the hospital and London throughout the scene. Corridors are shown littered with cans, chairs and other pieces of litter adding to the post-apocalyptic atmosphere, with the protagonist shown isolated in relatively long shots, as he walks around confused and lost, often taking up very little of the frame as the stillness of London and the hospital is emphasised.

                Exiting the hospital, our protagonist walks throughout London in near silence. Ambient lighting adds to the atmosphere, with dusk creating a moody overtone for the long shots of our protagonist. Non-diegetic music slowly begins, gradually increasing in volume and pace throughout the relatively long scene, enhancing the isolation as the audience and the protagonist realize the full extent of what has happened. Despite his continual calling of “Hello”, the audience is well aware that he is alone, with longer shots being used as he passes an overturned double-decker bus and various landmarks in London that enhance the reality of the situation to the audience.

                With the pace of the non-diegetic music and kinetic camera movements gradually increasing, it is evident that the protagonist is becoming rather self-aware and agitated at his loneliness against the dead silence of London, encountering further debris as his initial confusion and disorientation turns to fear and shock through faster edits and kinetic camera movements, as well as a faster pace of non-diegetic music. After accidentally setting off a car alarm, the protagonist encounters a ruined news agent, picking up one of the many strewn around newspapers, and confirming his initial fears of an apocalyptic event and global chaos.

                The scale of the disaster is evident when the protagonist discovers hundreds of makeshift flyers and posters asking for help with finding missing people, and various prophetic warnings about the nature and scale of the disaster, as the non-diegetic music and pace of editing picks up further in speed, allowing the audience to fully empathise with his panic at the situation. The scene is concluded as he walks out of frame as the camera zooms in on a picture of a lost child, with the non-diegetic music stopping and the screen fading to black, leaving the audience pondering the protagonist’s odds of survival.

                Throughout the scene the mise en scene of the deserted London is emphasized through consistent use of lingering shots and long shots, both used to show the stillness of the city and the isolation of our protagonist, the only visible movement in any shots. This contrasts the later sections of the scene where the emphasis is less placed on the mise en scène and abandonment but rather the use of rapid editing and more kinetic camera movements focus on the panic of the protagonist at realizing he has woken up into an apocalyptic event and is (seemingly) alone in London.

This clip from the film Zombieland occurs towards the end of the film with a final chase scene from the zombies. The world has been taken over by zombies and with only four people seemingly left alive, this movie shows their fight for survival. In the clip the two female protagonists are running away from the zombies in a theme park with only one gun to protect them from hundreds of zombies.  The location of a theme park is ironic as theme parks are associated with happiness and a very public place whereas they are frightened and alone with just them and the zombies, facing death.

 The use of mise en scene is also used ironically with the theme park lights all around them during the chase scene, these contrast to the idea of them running from death and suffering. Other than these theme park lights placed around the corners of the shots there is little other light as the clip takes place at night on a day where it was raining as puddles cover the floor this is also pathetic fallacy as it matches the mood of the clip. The girls then take cover in a yellow hummer, this is also contrasting to the movie as it is representing normality which obviously the movie is not as it’s a zombie outbreak and gives them a sense of safety, security and freedom within a car. The sense of freedom is in contrast to the zombie attack as they are unable to do things they would have been able to do before.  The audience can also see this as a symbol of hope giving them a false impression of being saved which inevitably does not happen when the zombies smash through the windows of the car and continue to attack the girls. The car also helps to build tension as when the girls get in the car they fail to start it quickly giving the zombies time to catch up and break in. Guns are a prominent prop in this film and again in this clip. The girls have one gun between them at the start of the clip later acquiring another as a form of protection against the zombies. The guns represent power and strength which alone can equal/overpower the zombies which they would not have been able to do without them.  

The use of camera includes a variety of different shots collectively building anticipation, disorientation and tension. At the start of the clip as the girls are running there are a lot of shot reverse shots showing their point of view and the zombies as they slowly catch up, there are also hand held shots which disorientate the audience putting them in the position of the two female characters. There are long shots of the theme park showing the girls in the distance and a large number of zombies which shows the proportions and scale of the problem facing them and leading the audience to believe there is even less chance that they will be able to escape as they are vastly outnumbered. There are also close ups of the zombies faces, showing the blood around there mouths and hands representing that they are blood thirsty and eat meat/humans, this creates fear among the audience.

Throughout this clip there is non digetic music playing. The music is fast and energetic which helps not to build too much tension and fear in the clip as it’s a comedy not a horror genre.  However the music also helps to build tension as when the girls escape from the zombies for about 10 seconds of the film the music stops, building tension among the audience in anticipation as the zombies reappear. The on and off scream digetic of the zombies groaning helps build anticipation as you can hear even when they are off screen that there are lots of them there and they are getting closer. This will give the audience a sense of fear and help build tension.

The pace of editing is predominantly fast in this clip to create a sense of action and tension as the girls try to escape from the zombies. With mainly short shots and quick cuts this will disorientate the audience putting them in the position of the female characters. The pace of editing slows down when the zombies are not around to contrast to the chase scene and puts the audience more at ease, with longer shots of the girls and less cuts before again speeding up once the zombies start to return.

In this clip from Dawn of the Dead, the characters are fighting off some of the zombies with weapons that appeared to be made/stolen from the mall that they were trapped in. This use of mise-en-scene creates a sort of reality due to the fact that it wouldn’t be very believable if they had high-tech equipment. The pace of editing in this clip is fast and there are a lot of cuts including a variety of shots: close-ups, long shots and midshots. These shots combined with the fast pace of editing creates the feeling of battle and survival as the audience wants the protagonists to defeat the zombies, especially with their scavenged weapons (props). 

The atmosphere in this clip is very apocalyptic. There is smoke everywhere from fire and there is fire everywhere from the protagonists flame throwers as well as crashed cars where a person would’ve presumably been attacked by a zombie. This mise-en-scene creates the feeling of hell and makes it seem like the end of the world. The character’s costumes are very dirty which reinforces the verisimilitude of the film, the characters having been stuck in a mall for quite a while and also having killed zombies would make them unclean and messy. The lighting within this clip is very dark with the light only coming from certain light sources, such as the torch or the surrounding fire. This lighting again creates the idea of hell and darkness which could represent evil and death. The location of this clip is set in an industrial place as it is surrounded with buildings and cars, all having been wrecked due to the zombie apocalypse. This all creates a sense of panic for the audience as the verisimilitude of that location makes the audience feel like the zombie apocalypse could happen where they are and the audience no longer feels safe within their environment.

The constant off-screen diagetic and sometimes diagetic sounds of zombies screaming and groaning is very effective in creating the panic and apocalyptic world as they are supernatural sounds which you would not here in a safe, tranquil place. This creates the chaos and the danger and once again, the idea of hell. Also, the connotation of the surrounding fire reinforces the idea of hell on earth. Underneath all of the diagetic sounds of screaming, there is also the non-diagetic sound of tense music which creates tension

Throughout this clip from Dead Set, the camera is rarely static, especially when the camera is supposedly showing the zombie’s point of view. The opening shot sets the scene within a studio where the characters appear to be panicking because the screens have turned off and they are not getting any signal. You can feel the sense of panic through the use of the diagetic sound of talking and machines beeping; everyone within the frame is talking over each other. This then cuts to a handheld shot showing zombies running down a corridor. The camera, in this shot, is moving a lot and is not static which creates a chaotic effect and also the sense of panic. Throughout the clip, whenever the zombies are in the frame, the camera is not still and is moving rapidly backwards and forwards which creates the chaotic, sickening effect. It also makes the audience feel as if they are running away from the zombies which creates the panic effect once again.

The pace of editing is very fast when the zombies attack; there are cuts to close-ups, mid-shots and long shots and the camera is always kinetic. This again creates the feeling of chaos rather than order. In this clip, they also contrast the two strongly, with jump cuts between the chaos in the studio and the normality within the Big Brother house, where none of the characters know about the outbreak. There is no non-diagetic sound during this outbreak part, only the diagetic sound of zombies groaning, people screaming and what sounds like body parts being ripped off and other gruesome sounds. This creates a feeling of panic and reality as the screams themselves represent people in pain or panicked and then accompanied with the gruesome sounds of flesh being torn it makes the audience feel scared. Also, the reality of it is reinforced due to the fact that there is no non-diagetic music over the top, which would not be believable (not that a zombie outbreak itself is believable). Just the sound of groaning, screaming and flesh being torn hits the audience with the feeling of pure chaos.

Also, within the clip, the camera angles appear to be disjointed and not pointing at anything specific, especially within the chase scene/outbreak scene. The camera tends to point at random body parts of the zombies, for example there is a handheld shot showing a group of zombie’s feet all moving, as well as the camera moving. This creates the feeling of the unknown and once again chaos. It is as if even the camera is panicked and does not know where to look. This places the audiences in a nervous position and makes them feel part of what is going on.

During the clip, there are a lot of kinetic close-ups of body parts, especially when a person is being bitten. This creates an importance towards the biting which informs the audience (if they didn’t already know) how the infection will spread. Also, the close-ups only show us bits and pieces of detail which again creates the panic as you do not get to see the whole picture and only get to see people being bitten, or close-ups of people’s faces running away from the zombies looking terrified. This reinforces the idea of chaos and panic as the audience is forced to see only small parts rather than just watching it all from a distance. This again makes the audience feel involved in the outbreak thus creating a sense of panic and hopelessness.