Action Convention analysis of 'I Am Legend' movie trailer

Watching this clip there were a few noteable Action Thriller conventions, these included

- protagonist is usually trained/skilled in combat

- protagonist is phsically fit

-fighting violence not death violence

-race against the clock scenario

-more violence than other sub genres

for the opening few seconds of this movie trailer there are lots of poilce cars and people crowding which creates a frantic confused atmosphere. A woman says "im not infected, im not infected" in a pleading way this also starts of the theme of infection, it makes you question what kind of infection? this theme of infection is contiuned and answered with Will Smiths narrator roll "there were 6billion people on earth when the infection hit.'' this one line suggests that this infection kills human beings. stating how many people were on earth also suggests that now as hes saying it there are a less significant amount.

Starting about 40 seconds in on this trailer, the main character played by Will Smith and his dog are seen running on treadmills, this suggests this is their morning workout. it also makes you wonder why they are not running outside on the streets, is there some kind of danger? this is then followed by Will Smith doing pull ups on a bar in his door way. this would suggest his is training himself for combat or engaging in a workout that will further his combating skills.

This starts off the theme of his daily routine that is played through the trailer.

'Morning' when hes running on the treadmill.

'Exersice' when hes doing pull ups in the door way.

'Eat breakfast' when his dog is pawing at the food in its bowl.

'Recreation' when Will Smith is hitting golf balls off of a plane wing on a navy boat.

there are several other labels that appear on the screen that reveal his daily doings. this shows that his day is repeated day after day and that the same sort of things should be expected to be repeated during the film.

At the end of the trailer more writing appears.. "I AM IMMUNE'' ''I AM THE LAST HUMAN'' ''I AM THE LAST HOPE'' these phrases are written in capital letters this could be because they are ment to grab the audiences attention. these phrases are against plain black backgrounds so attention is not drawn to a moving scene behind like with the previous writing. they start and carry on the theme of the film title "I Am Legend".

This film uses special effects like pyrotechniques, in the trailer this is used when a rocket hits the bridge.

there are other scenes during the film where pyrotechniques are used, gun fire and the chain reaction car explosions are two more emaples. the chain reaction car explosions are shown near the end of the trailer at about 2.08 At the end of this trailer the action quickens and more intense scenes are used. This use of packing in the action at the end means the audience will remember that bit most clearly and will be more incliend to see it. if all the action was at the begining it may have engaged the audience but by the end they may end up thinking did they use up all the action scenes? or is that it? and the film companys that produced this film would want lots of people to be inclined to go see it.

After the bridge explosion there are scenes of abandonment. these scenes include an abandoned navy boat, dock and hundreds of cars abandoned in the street.

This confirms why the people where crowding at the beggining of the trailer..they were trying to escape/flee the city. The scene captured above shows deer bounding between the abandoned cars. this shows people have not been around for a fair amount of time and that nature has taken over.

During the film there is a sense of a race against the clock. im not sure what clock hes ''racing against" but i think it may be one that could come at anytime, the one where he dies, or the human race dies out. Will Smiths character is trying to find a cure to the infection this leads him to kidnapp the infected and conduct tests it and on rats, in a basement. He then sacrifices himself. the ultimate recognition and he then succeeds in saving the human race with help from a woman and her son.