28 DAYS LATER
London features in the film for roughly 40 minutes, and this film showcases it like no other.
WESTMINSTER:
The key scene I will discuss (if you've seen the film you'll know which one I'm talking about) occurs towards the beginning of the film. After a group of activists release chimpanzees, who unknowingly to them are infected with the rage virus that they then transfer to the human population, the UK has experienced a societal collapse. The protagonist Jim (Cillian Murphy), wakes up from a coma in St Thomas' Hospital, you guessed it - 28 days later.
The most iconic scene features him walking across Westminster Bridge, past the London Eye, the Old War Office Building, the Household Cavalry Museum, and St Paul's Cathedral.
Alright get ready for me to geek out on you in 1,2,3….
What makes this sequence so spectacular is how absolutely eerie and bizarre it is to see a city as busy and populated as London to be completely empty other than one individual. The filming techniques employed here are SIMPLY AMAZING. There is no other way to put it. We are accustomed to seeing London as a pulsing hub of action, claustrophobic thrills and enigmatic history. To then view it as such a wide space and also completely empty is unsettling. When we, the audience, see London void of any life whatsoever, the concept of this post-apocalyptic city becomes terrifying before we have even seen the real antagonists to be fearful of.
MASTERFUL FILMMAKING I TELL YOU.
MASTERFUL FILMMAKING I TELL YOU.
Upon researching the shoot behind 28 Days Later, I discovered that for this sequence the crew would be in central London during July on a Sunday morning, ready to shoot by dusk and early daylight around 4-5am. They would have roughly one hour to hold off the traffic and early risers (yes even at 6am on a Sunday people are getting around London) in order to get the shots.
I have attached a video of the sequence below:
And to give you a sense of how busy these areas normally are - here's a video I took in St James Park, just one street over from where some of the sequence was filmed.
Tips and Tricks: If you are looking to recreate Jim's walk through post-apocalyptic London, the closest you will get is to recreate the crew's schedule and get to Westminster very early on a Sunday morning!
However, the east side of central London and Westminster is very worthy of your time, crowds or not. It is the hub of all the main tourist attractions, situated near the cultural centre of Southbank (the BFI, National Theatre and Southbank Centre), the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, the Churchill War Rooms and leading onto Trafalgar Square and the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. So - A LOT TO DO AND SEE!
For a more left-field view of Westminster - why not a boat cruise down the Thames? They usually start up by Blackfriars and travel all the way down towards London Bridge, giving great side views of all the famous buildings lining the river.
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| Here I am on a River Thames cruise |
Having had the luxury of several weeks in London, I was able to check out most of these famous locations.
However, if pressed for time, my main recommendations would be:
However, if pressed for time, my main recommendations would be:
- The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (mine featured a Michael Jackson instrumental medley!)
- Westminster Abbey (this one for the history buffs)
- St Paul's Cathedral (See above)
- The BFI (I will dedicate a post on this later!)
- Trafalgar Square
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| At Buckingham Palace! 💂♂️ |
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| The London Eye from the North Bank (lol at the cheesy pose)🎡 |
I've attached a map below ⇓
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1r6ubjz6HZZkuftS-1CtsUpV1ga749Mya&usp=sharing
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