How effectively does the Director of “I Am Legend” build suspense and tension?
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‘I Am Legend’ is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence, starring Will Smith. It was originally a novel by Richard Matheson written in 1954 which was then created as a film in 2006. ‘I Am Legend’ is about Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) who is a virologist living in Manhattan, New York and is supposedly the last man alive. This came about by doctors thinking they had found a cure for cancer but instead it turned the rest of the population into ‘Hemocytes’. The ‘Hemocytes’ are continually watching Roberts moves, waiting for him to make a deadly mistake, as Robert is trying to capture them to use them to find a cure. This is an example of the common film theme ‘hunter or hunted?’ as Robert is trying to hunt them as he wants to cure them, but they’re also hunting him because they don’t want to be cured. The techniques used in ‘I Am Legend’ show how effectively Francis Lawrence creates tension and suspense. He uses techniques like different camera angles, sound, lighting and cinematography to affect the overall mood of the film and to manipulate the audience’s feelings. In this film, Francis Lawrence has done an excellent job in using these techniques to their full effect.