Tuesday 5 October 2010

How 'I Am Legend' conventional or unconventional?

Watching the exposition of 'I am Legend', we had to concentrate on whether it had the typical conventions of an exposition. First of all, it starts off with what  sounds like they are running audio and no clip, it then looks like archive footage of a news programme, it gives what you think is a basic plot (they've cured cancer), and then it just goes silent with some non-diegetic sound. Diegesis and archive footage are typical conventions of an exposition but further through, you hear nothing but silence. The silence however, amplifies the contrast. They also show an establishing shot of New York City. The only way you can tell is the yellow cabs. The yellow cabs are a clear symbol of New York. This is also what is part of the mise-en-scene.
In some ways the exposition of 'I am Legend' is unconventional. The exposition takes ages to really get a story going which is called breaking. Also, there are no titles to explain what the film is called, who directed it, and who is even in it. However, we all know Will Smith doesn't need an introduction. If they did have titles, it would take away the engagement which means that we would forget the realism of the film. Overall, I think that the exposition is a mixture and it's hard to tell whether it's conventional or not. Others may have a different opinion but that's how I see it.

xxx

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