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Mise en Scene:
The opening starts of with a shot showing a destroyed city, with over grown greenery on the road. This suggest no one has been on in a while. There is also no one to be seen, the most busiest place has now become the most quietest place. Creating suspense, the opening Zombieland creates suspense by using the setting in a city, however it does it with over cramming the city. One single car is shown ( a ford mustang) in the distance, this means that there is a survivor. We can see a lot of tanks lined up, like a wall, this could man to keep something out, or keep something in. This makes the opening seem mysterious, leaving the audience wanting to watch more. In the opening we see Will Smith use a gun as a prop, he was aiming and hunting deer on the road. This connotes that they are hunting for survival, maybe hunting for food. During the opening we can see a crane shot of a big cluster of cars, this is suggesting that people were trying to get out of the city (connoting it was dangerous). This leaves the audience asking questions (mysterious) to what is going on. High key lighting is used as it is outside, it comes across as natural lighting. This can make the audience feel more calm, as it is not harsh or too much for the audience to watch. This makes us think about using natural lighting when being outside. In the opening we can see building cover with plastic sheets, on the sheets we see a biohazard sign. A biohazard sign stands for "harmful and dangerous virus to society and the environment". This telling us that, that building could have been infected with some form of virus, this give the audience an idea to what the film will be about. Creating tension.
Camerawork:
The opening starts of with an establishing shot, showing us that the movie is set in New York City. A low angle shot is used, to show the empty streets, this makes it seem quite and lonely. Making the audience ask questions about what is going to happen (builds suspense). A bird eye shot is used, when showing an over view of the city. We can see there is no one around, apart from one single car driving down the road. Again this shows how lonely the city is, which is very different. However it also suggests that there is one survivor. Shot reverse shot is used, when showing us Will Smith looking at his dog with concern, this is showing us the relationship between the two of them. This makes the audience have emotion for the characters. We see a POV shot from Will Smith s perspective, this is showing us a flock of birds flying away from the streets towards the car. Showing us the chaos in the city even though there is no one to be seen. It also shows us what the character is going through, and viewing. This makes us feel connected and involved. Because of this, we might use a POV shot in our opening. In the opening we see a close up being used on Will Smiths face, we can see the concentration and determination. This makes us feel for the character but also builds tension in the task he is doing. It was used to show us the emotion on the characters face. A crane shot was used to show us all abandoned cars in the city, they were all lined up like traffic. This shows that many people were trying to leave the city, again this makes the audience ask why?
Sounding:
When first looking at the opening I noticed that there was no score through out the opening, this leave the opening being mysterious and leaving the audience wanting to watch more. All we can hear is birds tweeting and crickets, this empathizes the loneliness of the city. At the beginning of the opening there is a whistle of wind, because of this it creates a creepy and eerie atmosphere. Another example of this in the opening to "The Road", however they used a quite piece of score. When the mustang comes in to shot then sound then crescendos making the opening louder. Giving the audience relief when seeing someone has survived. The echo of the breaking car shows how there is no one around. This empathizes the loneliness of the city and maybe the world. The flapping of the flock of birds crescendos, making the opening suddenly dramatic and chaotic. This creates tension. The sound effects of deer running and the car accelerating, builds tension through out the chase scene, this keeps the audience on edge. Lastly the sound effect of the car and deer running suddenly diminuendos when the car come to a halt. This makes the opening end how it starts, with silence.
Editing:
The opening for I am Legend keeps the cuts and transitions between shots simple and smooth. This is to make the opening feel more realistic and normal. However they use techniques such as an eye line match match, this was when Will Smith was looking at the deer hen chasing them in the Mustang. This shows the audience what the character is trying to catch and do. It keeps them up to date to what is going on. CGI is used when showing us the the flock of birds flying away, towards the car. This was to show more birds, making the opening more chaotic. This keeps the audience on edge. In the opening I have noticed that there is no form of montage, this usually common in horror apocalyptic film. This could be to keep the film relatable to the audience and maybe to keep it realistic.