I Am Legend Analysis

I Am Legend Notes.

• starts off with production company logos.
• no music, only the sound of a TV news report as the company logos are shown.
• TV news report starts off normal until the picture suddenly cuts to a woman at the news desk interviewing a woman about her cure for cancer- camera uses a sot reverse shot method.
• The next scene cuts to the establishing shot of New York three years later, with empty abandoned streets.
• Next shot is a birds eye view of the road where we can see a single car driving through the empty streets.
• The shot then cuts to the inside of the car and we see a close up of a rifle being picked up, the close up shot pans upwards to reveal a mid shot off Will Smith.
• there is use of shot reverse shot when Will is looking at his dog in the passenger seat of the car.
• a shot of the drivers point of view from behind the steering wheel and windscreen.
• music- very dramatic violins create a constant pase  for the scene and build tension.
• as the deer jump out the music suddenly stops using only diegetic noises.
• the music builds up again as the main character speeds off to chase the deer, the use of big bass drums gives off a feeling of the wild to fit in with the chase or the hunt for prey.
• when the deer seemed to have escaped down the subway the music changes back to the calmer, dramatic violins, but when the deer come back out and the chase picks up once more, the music changes yet again to the bass drum chase music.
• more use of the camera work from inside the car looking out of the windscreen.
• as the deer escape the camera pans up to show cars all abandoned blocking the way forward, as this is shown the music changes to a sudden burst of brass trumpets to give suspense- orchestral music.
• the shot then changes to the main character and his dog walking through the tall grass. the use of deep bass strings in the orchestra makes the scene feel tense and give the sense of danger.
• then, as the shot changes to a  mid shot of the main character about to shoot the deer, the music picks up with flickering flutes to give the unsettling feeling that something is about to happen but as the deer goes behind a wall the music dies down to a quiet version of the tense violins music.
•  as the shot changes to the main character running to where the deer is hiding, the use of a tense orchestra (strings and brass) and the shaky camera movements give us an idea of what the main character is experiencing.
• the music stops dead when the deer is spotted, then starts up again slowly and quietly.
• when the main character gets up to take a shot, the music picks up once more to a scurrying of violins.
• as the character was about to shoot a lion jumps out and takes the deer down, clever use of over shoulder camera movements mirroring the main characters line of sight are used to convey to the audience what he is seeing and feeling at this point.
• close up of watch beeping.
• character looks over his shoulder at the sun setting
• music gets louder as the tension builds.
• 1st bit of dialogue from the main character calling the dog to come to him and leave.
• long shot of the main character and his dog running away as the camera pans up.
• the music stops and the title of the movie is shown with dead silence "I Am Legend".