28 Days Later...

I just got back from a preview of 28 Days Later, the new Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave) movie. I went in with few expectations other than “low budget zombie movie.” I really enjoyed it. I’d like to see it again when it comes out.

What I found particularly stunning is the look of the film. While The Beach was full of color and the clich�d view of paradise 28 Days Later goes in practically the opposite direction. The colors are frequently washed out, and the picture feels like television enlarged for the big screen. A conceit that seems to tie the movie together with the opening sequence. There are a handful of scenes where the scenery is clearly digitally manipulated, For example a patch of flowers look like they’ve been rendered as oil pantings in photoshop. Thankfully it’s sparingly used which is why I think it worked so well to help create a different world. In particular I liked the way fire was shown. The fires seem too vivid for the camera at times so they pixelate in neat ways. For me, all these things really added to the sensation that I was a roving reporter with a cheap digital video camera capturing the last moments of human civilization.

The music worked in quite nicely. First Mogwai Fear Satan made it into a movie, and now g!ybe’s East Hastings has shown up. East Hastings starts up in the first 10 minutes when he’s wandering around an empty London. The movie nicely avoids the generic post-apocalypse clich� of the rag-tag group finding a scientist who explains why the world ended. The closest you get to that kind of exposition is when Selena explains to Jim that the candy (the main “food” that has lasted 28 days) he’s been eating is what caused his headache. In general it’s details like that (what kind of food would still be around) which make the movie a bit more thoughtful and interesting than the usual zombie gorefest.

I can’t believe they just used Canon XL-1 cameras to shoot it. Dave has one of those. Movie making really is getting cheaper. Listening: (none) Feeling: creeped out