Film Language Essay

I Am Legend

0:00 - 2:10

2:30 - 4:07

   

     In this essay, I will be analysing the ending scene from the film "I Am Legend", as with any opening of the ending of a film I think that it always gives the audience some perspective into how the character's actions lead to the climax of the film and if whether the story will end up continuing into the next film.

      The opening of the extract is shown in a long shot which then converts into a close-up shot of the protagonist, with the use of this the audience are able to see the main character's facial expressions in relation to what they are seeing; for example, right at the beginning of the extract there is a long shot of one of the mutant-like creatures banging himself against a glass door which has been shown to the audience as we see that he wants to gain access to the man standing behind that door, this then cuts to a close-up shot of the protagonist's face where we see that he is some what scared of the creatures but sort of understands what they want, in association to this is the non-diegetic parallel sound being played in the background which has come in the form of a music soundtrack with a type of haunting melody to it, with us being the audience and by listening to this we will notice that although we can see some of the actors' lips moving we cannot hear anything they are saying, this is widely noticed at 0:14 - 0:19 seconds where we can see that the female is holding the little boy and telling him to "shush", to the audience this gives off the effect that they are scared and don't know as of yet what is going to become of them. The director's purpose of using this particular technique is possibly to let the audience know that the male character is thinking about what he can do to save the woman and the boy in an attempt to restore mankind. With the camera continuously being on him and the use of diegetic sound heard from him, it tells the audience that within the film he plays a type of hero character as we are shown that he is telling the woman what to do and where to go in order to save herself therefore connoting to the audience that he has put others before himself. 

     At the beginning of the extract, we see that the main prop is a weapon as we see that the male character is holding a gun as he awaits for the mutants to break into the part of the room where he is in, showing that he is anticipating a sort of attack from them and connoting to the audience that the only way he thinks he can save himself, the woman and the little boy is by fighting the mutants off, however when the scene does go quiet and we only hear the non-diegetic sound being played we do know that he is thinking of what he can do to save everyone, this is especially noticed when he looks at the woman. It then cuts to him putting the gun down and taking blood out of one of his "patients", with the main prop within this part of the extract being a syringe, we see that he carefully hands it to the woman and tells her to go, the director's purpose of doing this is to let the audience know that this is obviously the main reason as to why the woman had turned up to see the man and that they both know that this is what can save all those who have become mutants or to prevent them becoming mutants themselves. This juxtaposes what is seen within the first 12 seconds of the extract, the audience will clearly be able to notice that a butterfly has been formed within the glass door in result of the mutant banging himself against it, we also hear a type of voice-over letting the audience know that the male character is thinking about his daughter as she says "Daddy, look at the butterfly", as said before the camera cuts to the protagonist looking at the woman as he now realises what he has to do, to the audience this shows that he clearly thinks about his daughter a lot and how the butterfly reminds him of her.

     From 1:15 - 2:10, we only hear non-diegetic sound being played in the form of a music soundtrack and evidently the main mutant shouting at the protagonist, with us being the audience this builds up the anticipation as we do not know as of yet what he is going to do and how he is going to go about it. In association to the camera framing of some parts of the extract, we are shown what the male protagonist is doing at 0:35 seconds and 0:54 seconds as there appears to be a close-up shot which has been used as said before connoting to the audience that what has been injected into this syringe is very important and must be taken great care of. The extract then fades out to white and cuts to the next part of the scene, the director probably used this type of editing method to let the audience know that the narrative of the film has now moved on which as a result has the effect on the audience that they are about to see how the protagonist's actions within the film has resulted in what becomes of the woman and the little boy and possibly those who have not become mutants.

     The setting appears to be in a very confined area where the actors will have to make use of what is around them; for example, at 1:42 seconds of the extract, we see the main character reach towards the back of a drawer and pull out a hand grenade, which for the purpose of this has been used to show that the protagonist would rather risk his own life than risking those of the innocent. Due to what we are seeing and hearing within the first few minutes of the extract we know that it could possibly be the end of three people's lives as they are locked in a room with no way as of yet of escaping, which as a result provides low key lighting. The director has probably used this type of lighting to connote to the audience that it is possibly humankind's last chance of surviving. At this time the expectations of the audience are probably low as we do not know what will become of the three people, what will become of the rest of mankind and what will become of the mutants, if anything dramatic is to happen.

     The mutants' clothing to some extent appears to be casual as we see that they are wearing shirts and trousers, the director's purpose of using these costumes was possibly to connote to the audience that these mutants were in fact once human beings but as a result of some sort of disease were changed into mutants which consequently resulted in them losing all their emotions and anything they feel for others, most noticeably perceived when they continue to bang against the glass door despite the woman and the child being afraid, the director perhaps used this technique to connote to the audience that the mutants do not care about anything or anyone apart from what they came for; the protagonist. In relation to this is the main character's costumes and the female character's costumes, both appear to be very casual and natural which shows the audience that it is a very up-to-date film, but as a result of the low key lighting the actors appear to look grubby and grimy as their costumes appear to be dirty and clearly covered in blood connoting to the audience that they have evidently battled with these mutants once before.

    Within the first half of the extract, in regards to their facial expressions, they are shown to be very afraid of the mutants and what will possibly become of them, they all think that they are about to die and have no way of surviving, this is shown in a close-up shot of the male and female actors' faces. The director used this type of shot to give off the effect to the audience that this is how someone in the characters' position would feel, possibly feeling as though there is no hope of them escaping from what they are afraid of.  

     Moving onto the second half of the extract, (3:00 - 4:07) with regards to editing, it doesn't show much of it being used whereas we are able to see that there have been multiple camera framings and movements used. When the woman and the little boy are driving it shows that there has been use of a point-of-view shot which allows the audience to put themselves into the characters' position which consequently allows them to feel as though they are part of the film. A type of tracking shot appears to have been used within this specific part of the extract as the camera follows the woman driving, in association to this is the close-up shot which has been used on her face, the director's purpose of using this was to allow the audience to catch a glimpse of the female character's facial expressions, what is more is the effect it has on the audience. With the close-up shot being used it allows them to see how the woman is reacting to her new surroundings and quickly allows them to possibly think why she is there and why she is reacting in the way she is as the close-up shot shows her looking at something right ahead of her although the audience are not shown  what she is looking at as of yet. 

     The use of non-diegetic sound within this half of the extract quickly sets in as we begin to hear a voice-over which appears to be attributable to by the female character, within this voice-over we hear her talking about how in 2009 humans were nearly wiped off the Earth as the cause of a deadly virus but 2 years later a Doctor found the cure for this virus and restored all mankind allowing humans to live freely. This goes back to the ending of the first half of the extract when we saw the protagonist give up his own life to save everyone else's, she ends the sentence with "We are his legacy, This is his legend, Light of the darkness", the purpose of the director using this was to reiterate the narrative of the film to the audience once again before it ended. Due to the quote above the audience know that the protagonist seen at the beginning of the extract played the hero character within the film as he chose to save everyone else by risking his own life.

     The lighting used within this half of the extract is shown to be very high key which in a way connotes to the audience that mankind has been restored and that the characters within the film are now free of living. The characters' make-up throughout the entire extract appears to be very light and subtle, the director's purpose of this was to show the film as being very natural not wanting to take away from it's genre by having the actor's wear a lot of make-up as he/she possibly did not want to make the actor's look futuristic even though it is a science fiction film. The props used within this half of the extract are shown to be again a lot of weapons such as rifles shown at 3:26 seconds of the extract giving off the effect to the audience that even though all mankind has been restored there may be some mutants still lurking about, it also gives off the effect that they are from the Army as their costumes appear to be camouflaged. As a result of this and the female character's new surroundings, the setting appears to be in some sort of town that is protected where only humans live as they are shown to be welcoming her and the little boy into the new environment.

    As a final point is again regards to the camera framing and movements, within the last 20 seconds of this half of the extract, there is a close-up shot of the female character's face which shows her to be smiling and looking happy which as a result of this connotes to the audience that she is contented with the fact of seeing others like herself knowing that others had survived the virus. From 3:44 - 3:51 seconds the female character is shown to be handing a man a vial of blood of which he takes into his hands with gentleness. The director probably had the actors to act in this sort of way as he/she wanted the audience to know that it was the cure for the virus. A crane shot has been used in the final few seconds of this extract which lets the audience know that the film is ending and the narrative has come to a conclusion.