Analysing Shot Types in a Film Opening

Analysing Shot types in a Film Opening

28 Weeks Later Opening Scene

In the opening scene of 28 weeks later we are in a barn which is under siege to a zombie horde. The main protagonist Don is shown running up a stair case to the upper level of the barn. He then enters a room where the little boy and his wife are hiding. Don then tries to grab his wife and escape but she goes back to try and rescue the little boy in the closet. When the wife gets the little boy out of the closet a zombie bursts in the room and separates Don and the wife and boy. Next Don decides to leave his wife and save himself by running into the next room and closing the door. The wife shouts for Don but it is too late and they run into the room opposite. Don climbs out of the window and starts running across the field. He glances back to the barn to see his wife at the window still shouting for him. She is then taken away by the zombies into the darkness behind her. While Don is running across the field we can see more zombies running after Don in the background. Finally he gets to the river where someone is waiting with a boat and he shouts for him to go. Jumping on to the boat Don quickly gets the boat started but he can't get away yet because the other person has fallen into the river and Don is trying to save him. After an unsuccessful rescue a zombie has zombie has grabbed onto the side of the boat and Don kicks him in the face before steering the boat down the river.

In this scene its a close up shot of a little boy peaking through a gap in the wardrobe door. A close up shot is used to clearly show how a character is feeling. In this scene the little boy is obviously very frightened as his eyes and mouth are open and it seems like he has just seen something which isn't very pleasant.

This scene shows the character Don running down a corridor. The camera shot used is a Mid shot, this type of shot is usually used to make a character look powerful or important. The Mid shot in this scene is used to make Don look vulnerable. As Don runs down the corridor he is surrounded by dark shadows making the viewer...

In this shot it is a close up of Don's wife when she realises that Don has abandoned her and the boy. A close up shot is effective because it clearly shows how the character is feeling by showing the character's facial expressions in detail. In this shot Don's wife is clearly terrified and at he same time in shock because she can't believe her own husband would abandon her.