Film Studies Written Analysis on a clip from “I Am Legend”

How does the use of cinematography creates suspense and creates a response from the audience in the sequence from I Am Legend?

The shot begins as an aerial shot, from a bird's-eye view as an extreme long shot; this is to establish the setting and movement of the film. It also shows us the importance of the only moving thing in the shot – the car; this leads on to the rest of the sequence being revolved around the car. The aerial shot also allows us to see the derelict and post apocalyptic abandoned landscape, which immediately lets us know that something is wrong, so we're drawn into the plot straight away, which makes you think this is sci-fi as the genre often includes apocalyptic narratives.  An example of another post apocalyptic film is World War Z, which also uses the conventions of zombies, and a virus which needs a cure. This makes me excited and confused at t                                                          he same time, so I want to carry on watching to find out what happens and hope that the story will explain a few things I don't understand at the moment, for example how the world got to this dystopian future. This regular sci-fi convention is used in 'Bladerunner' in a slightly different way. Instead of having entirely derelict cities, in Bladerunner the chaos is with the majority of people who live on the ground. 

The aerial shot also displays a crossroad in the same shape as a Christian cross - this shows the religious element and underlying story behind the end of the world, and shows that there is a religious element to the film. This convention is common in other films of the same genre such as '28 Days Later' - shown in the church scene at the opening, and is based on the use of a priest, including symbolism such as crosses, and religious text to fight evil.

The effect of the mise-en-scene "mysteriously derelict area" makes me feel intrigued, and also confused; it makes me want to know how this happened and why it happened. Due to the setting and themes of being in a deserted, overgrown urban area, you could tell that the genre of this film is a thriller as a deserted urban area is a convention of horrors/thrillers. Another film that uses an aerial shot to begin the film of is “The Shining” which also starts with high key lighting.  The film could also be argued to be a sci-fi due to the dystopian future about disease and medicine. Throughout the film there are conventions of sci-fi (for example the apocalypse and the 'End of the World' mise-en-scene) so it may be classed as sci-fi but on the other hand it can also be a horror due to conventions such as the zombies and low key lighting.

When the shot cuts (straight cut) to inside of the car, it's a hand-held camera, as it gives a jerky bouncy effect making it appear quite realistic. It's as if you were driving over a bumpy unmaintained road, to show how the main character truly is isolated and alone. It's also a close up inside of the car which makes me feel claustrophobic and that the area around me is compact. 
The cuts are fast-paced and occurring quite often, this is to keep the pace and give the effect that the car is going fast. You have high angles looking down at the car driving off into the distance and low angles of the wheel as the car spins and swerves around objects. All these shots are focused on the car it shows that this is the only important thing, and that everything is revolving around the character driving it.

The effect of these shots of the car make me feel excited and tense, is he going to catch deer or not and do I want him to catch the deer? It displays a viewers dilemma of choosing whether the deer should escape or if it should be caught. It blurs the lines between what is good and what is bad. Also, a deer is synonymous with Bambi, which is an iconic Disney film, and no one wants to see a Deer killed as they are an symbolic of innocence. We also want to know why he's so desperate to catch food and looks distraught when it escapes.The fact that the lion killed the deer, epitomised the 'lord of the jungle' and took everything back to basics of survival.

The camera zooms in on a load of posters of the mise-en-scene that has the text saying “God still loves us” - 'God' being part of religion which is often a convention and iconography of the thriller/horror genre, also the fact that the camera zooms in on these posters in an ironic way, as there is no one left.  Most horror films use religion as the key theme of the film, therefore it's a convention, along with good against evil. Also on these posters, we see a butterfly which is a common symbol and key motif throughout the film, as it is constantly referencing the butterfly to god like in these posters at the start of the film. Later we see his daughter pretend to be a butterfly before she dies, and then before he dies we see a butterfly again indicating rebirth which signals a recurring motif.

A difference that this scene has compared to other thriller's/horrors is that most of it is in high key lighting whereas the convention of horror/thriller is low key lighting. However throughout the scene the light is constantly getting darker, this is a warning, and that the evil is taking over at night as all seems peaceful in day.

There is a jump cut forward in time, which we can tell due to the change in light and time in day, as it's dark and he's in a different location. It begins the shot with a high angled, mid shot, which emphasises the space around the two main characters, whilst making them both look small and insignificant - to get this effect the shot was a crane shot.
The camera then uses a tracking shot to follow the main character whilst he's hunting a deer, but from a distance which makes it look like someone's hunting him, it made me interested and edgy, and scared to what's going to happen. This was all building up for the jump scare.

When the deer is caught by the lion, it made me jump due to the sudden loud roar of non-diegetic sound. It made me confused at first as the protagonist seemed to be unsurprised, and left the lion alone as it was only fending for his family - this is an inclination and a hint at his past relations with his family. The fact that he left the lions could be due to him respecting them as they've managed to survive. We see all this in an "Over the shoulder shot" which is to give us as the audience the perspective of the character, and it also makes us feel involved in the hunt. The camera also has a deep depth of field, to focus on the action of the deer and lion rather than the person, and it makes us focus on the action too.

When the camera cuts (straight cut) to an extreme close up of the watch, it shows the significance of time and that it's foreshadowing the importance of time. It's also a POV shot from the character looking at the watch, which shows that he's been waiting for something that that makes me feel cautious and weary. The camera then highlights the sun by showing it on it's own in the  long shot and three times in over-the-shoulder shots with direct sunlight which "Bleeds" over the camera, and also when the character looks at the sun, we see him turn, then we see the sun from his point of view. We are shown in a long shot the sun setting, this is also foreshadowing and is the iconic symbol of the use of dark being used to represent evil.

The use of a German Shepard is related to power, and the connotations around that breed of dog is superiority and strength – this is used a lot to interact with the audience, as it made me protected and safe. Generally people are more affected by animals, so the animals throughout the film, like the deer, are used to make the audience sympathetic and feel emotions, it links with the audience.