28 days later

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