Section B

British Horror

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

How conventional is 28 Days Later as a Horror Film? Generic Conventions Narrative theory application Representation of gender Messages and ideologies

Analysis of the opening scene

28 Days Later also involves an interesting opening scene with effect use of enigma codes
From watching the opening scene of the film what do you think the film will be about? How do you know this?

Re-watch the opening scene and make notes on the film language involved:

Aspect Mise en scene

Description

Camera work

Sound

Editing

Lighting and colour

Are these aspects conventional of most horror films?

Genre Expectations
Recap what is iconography?

Make a list of all iconography of horror films in present in 28 Days Later:

Representation of Women
28 Days Later is, again, particularly interesting film to analyse in terms of the representation of gender One of the main areas in the study of women in film has been the way in which many female characters only seem to exist to be looked at. 28 Days Later, as with the Descent, challenges this How do you think women are depicted in 28 Days Later?

In horrors gender stereotypes present men as aggressors and protectors in a range of films along with women as princesses and sex objects but in more recent horror films they often transcend these roles, becoming heroes. There is a slight change in 28 Days Later, referring to Jim and Selina

Selina begins as the hero and ends up the princess in a cardigan and sewing at the end of the film, reverting back to a traditional female role once the crisis is over.

Jim
The character of Jim in 28 Days Later turns a usual stereotype of women in horror films onto its head. What is Jim like at the beginning of the film?

How has he changed towards the end?

Jim begins the film naked and awaking from a coma seriously in need of help in terms of knowledge, fighting skills and emotional support. By the end of the film he is bare-chested and forcing his thumbs into another mans eye socket in order to save the girl and become the hero Here you can see a movement in gender representations from fragile princess to the a male hero. Within horror films it is largely the male gender that is presented as the villain, whether it be a human or a creature. 28 Days has the villains as the remaining population of infected yet it is men again who stand out as villains, individually

Men are also depicted as villains represented by the army Major Henry West, after confining the women to the stately home he has taken over, confesses to Jim, I promised them women. His attempted justification of preserving the human race falls on deaf ears as the audience can see from the infantry that it is aggressive sexual satisfaction that they seek, I am going to make her squeal. This is a clear example of two different ways men are represented in horror films. Firstly as

protectors and then as aggressors

Frank
Frank presents the final stereotype of men in horrors; the father Frank is the decision make, leading them to the soldiers, the true father to Hannah and the adopted father to Jim and Selina who he watches over whilst driving them to Manchester in the form of a family holiday. He also sacrifices himself when he becomes infected, shouting get away from me rather than pleading for help. This is clearly a positive stereotype as a father but it is also a character and role that dies within the film leaving the young to prosper and survive for on their own. As we will see, it is the fragile and the defenceless within horrors, that change, fight and win.

Selina
As previously stated the women in horror films tend to make the transition throughout the film from princess to hero. However, Selina is the opposite of this, starting out as a hero How does Selina do this?

She then reverts to a traditional female role towards the end of the film. How does she do this?

She later falls in love and ends up sewing in a big cardigan at the end of the film while she awaits rescue with Jim. Selina rescues Jim wearing an army jacket with her hair and face covered and later tells him that if she needs to kill anyone because of the infection she will, do it in a heartbeat. We are presented with a change in roles in this film, but the film does present us with an international catastrophe and Selinas actions mimic those of the women in WW2 who were forced to take a masculine role while men were at war and then revert back to their traditional role at the end.

Narrative
Recap: Todorovs theory of narrative structure Propps theory of character roles Levi Strauss theory of binary opposition

Narrative Theories Levi Strauss theory of binary oppositions suggest that a narrative cannot move forward without some sort of conflict or oppositions What oppositions did you find in 28 Days Later? Remember these can be visual or conceptual Binary Opposition How this develops the narrative of the film

Enigma Codes What is an enigma code?

What enigma codes are present in 28 Days Later?

Enigma Codes

If and when these are solved

Propps Character Types Propp states that all stories will contain 7 specific roles. To do this you may want to brainstorm with your partner the names of the characters Can you assign a character to each role? Does the role changed from character to character in the film? Are there several characters who occupy one role?

Character Types Villain

Characters from the film

Comments

Hero

Donor

Helper

Princess

Dispatcher

False Hero

Todorovs Theory of Equilibrium Todorov stated that all stories share a structure, in terms of how the story is told Can you apply this to 28 Days Later?

Stage Equilibrium

What is happening in the film

Disruption of the equilibrium

Recognition that disorder has occurred

An attempt to restore the equilibrium

The return of a new equilibrium

Remember, all theories are there to be argued. Did you find that 28 Days Later adheres to or challenges most of the theories? From your work on this would you say that 28 Days Later is conventional horror film, in terms of its narrative or not?

Messages and Values

What are some of the messages and values are present in horror films generally?

Which are present in 28 Days Later? Fears: The other: terrorist, teenager, northerner Viruses Primal fear of survival

Life lessons Dont do drugs War is bad

How does 28 Days Later reflect societies concerns?

28 Days Later was made in 2002 you may need to do some research about what was happening around this time Hint think about epidemics

Viruses It is not just other people that we are made to be afraid of. Messages and values that are picked up and presented by the society of the day are mirrored in horror films. One such message is the fear of viruses and biological attacks on the society in which we live. In 28 Days Later where the Rage virus is released accidentally by an animal rights group as they open the cage of diseased monkeys. The Rage virus in the film was actually being made to calm people down, In order to cure you must first understand The interesting thing about these messages and values being presented is that they have come from the society in which we live. More and more the world is being attacked by

viruses and disease: swine flu, bird flu and foot and mouth are just some of the recent examples that have devastated the country in which we live In 28 Days Later the scale of mistake and consequence is much greater, most of the people in the county are infected by the rage virus, this is mirrored by the institution (the government) who made the mistake by conceiving the rage virus and possibly provides a warning to society as a whole about testing on animals and tampering with nature

Assignment Title How far would you consider 28 Days Later to be a conventional horror film, in terms of its genre, narrative and representation of gender and messages and values?

This assignment is due in after Christmas on: . You can complete it and hand it to me before if you wish. Failure to hand this in will result in me keeping you behind on the Wednesday until 4.15 to complete it in class. This is expected to be typed and printed approximately 1 1/2 sides of A4