I Am Legend
The
film I Am Legend is as
drama/sci-fi/thriller, and typical conventions of these genres are dramatic
storylines, modern/advanced equipment, and sometimes scary scenes, or ones that
may catch viewers off guard. This opening sequence only partially enforces
these conventions because we haven’t seen any modern equipment and there isn’t
much shown about the plot as this is only showing some of the aftermath of what
happened. However there are parts of this that could make the viewer jump such
as when the deer suddenly jump over the car and stampede down the streets. I think
that the purpose of this opening sequence is to make the audience think about
what could have caused so much damage to the city.
This
opening sequence used a range of shots including establishing and long shots of
the run down city to show the setting, and many over the shoulder shots are
used when the main character is chasing the deer which includes the audience as
it makes it seem more realistic and as if you are sitting in the back of the
car with him. This opening sequence uses both high-angle and low-angle shots;
high-angle is used when the camera is tracking the car driving down one of the
streets, this is also quite zoomed out so it makes the city too small, and the
man in the car look smaller an lonely as
if he was the last man on earth. Low-angle is used to make some buildings look
taller and intimidating and as if they are going to collapse on the city. The camera
mostly uses tracking; tracking of the car, birds, and the deer when they are
running from the man in the car, the camera also pans across the city from
above, giving the audience a better view of the devastation.
The
setting is this opening sequence is a rundown city with weeds and vines growing
on the roads and in the cracks in buildings, this gives the city it’s post-apocalyptic look which emphasises the
theme of the film. The lighting of this scene is all high key because it is
still daytime, and this contrasts to the use of darkness later in the film. There
are only two characters in this opening sequence (both unnamed) and they are
the man and his dog, the use of only two characters makes the city seem even
bigger and them even more lonely which could make the audience feel sorry for
them.
There
are no titles or text in this scene as it wants you to focus on the devastation
of the city. The pace of the scene starts off slow to show how neutral
everything is, and it only speeds up slightly when the car drives on. When the
deer stampede down the street the pace speeds up even more to show that there
is potential danger which may make the viewer scared that something else is
coming. Match-on-action is used when the man spins his car and it cuts to a
closer shot of him still spinning his car, this allows the audience to see what
is going on, on both large scale and small scale.
There
is no music used in this opening sequence at all which makes it seem more
naturalistic. However there is ambient sound which is diegetic, this is the
birds and the wind. We can also hear the car’s engine when the man is driving,
and we also hear the tires skidding and the car revving when he is chasing the
deer.
