I Am Legend Opening Scene Analysis

At the beginning of I Am Legend, we see an establishing shot of what appears to be a broken and abandoned city. The camera then cuts to another high angle shot of inside the deserted city immediately telling the audience that something had happened here. With the use of a fish eye camera lens, another high angle shot is taking tracking down a large building, this gives the effect of showing how big the area is leaving the audience questioning how the city became abandoned. The camera carries on taking different angled shots from around the city to draw us into the world that the film is set in. After consecutive shots around the city the camera cuts to an eagle eye view tracking over the city showing off the sheer size of the location - this creates an impact on the audience telling them that something catastrophic had happened. Throughout this particular shot, on the road you can see a red car driving up one of the roads - the camera then cuts to a close up of the driver inside the car.

The driver inside the car is sat next to a dog, these are the same two characters that appear on the films poster - this indicates that these two are the main protagonists of the film/have a lot of importance within the film. The camera then cuts to a medium long shot from outside the car and following it as it speeds down the road. It then cuts to the backseat point of view which leaves the audience feeling like they are there in the back of the car with them. In this shot we can see in the distance three tanks, this will leave the audience wondering if there was a war of some sort happening which led to the abandoning of the city. Again, the camera cuts to a medium shot from a low position of the car drifting around the corner, and after the car disappears the camera moves up zooming into a poster on the back of one of the tanks say "God still loves us". This hints at what may have happened to the city and will leave the audience with an idea of the events that occurred.

The camera then continues to follow the car from different angles at a fast pace which will create excitement in the audience but will also expect something to happen to cause a halt to the excitement or to create some sort of tension due to the setting and what has happened to the city. As the camera cuts back to a view from the backseat, immediately we see a number of deer sprinting across the road taking the car off balance and leaving it skidding across the road - this causes panic in the driver which causes suspense in the audience. The car then continues to follow the deer through off road surfaces, with the use of tracking shots,this scene causes a lot of tension within the audience. 

As the driver continues to chase the deer, he pulls out a gun and aims it out the car window at the deer running alongside him - this indicates that he is attempting to kill one of the deer perhaps for food for himself and his dog, this is the idea that the audience may have due to where the film is set and how the deer may be the only food opportunity available.