I, Robot (2004) Opening Sequence analysis

I, Robot (2004): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Director:
Alex Proyas
Writer:
Jeff Vintar(Screenplay)
Akiva Goldsman (Screenplay)
Jeff Vintar (Screenstory)
Isaac Asimov (Suggested by book)
Cast:
Will Smith
Bridget Moynahan 
Alex Tudyk
James Cromwell  

 I, Robot is set in the year 2035 where humans have become heavily reliant on robots. Homicide detective Del Spooner is in charge of an investigation of the apparent suicide of robotics professor Alfred Lenning. Spooner's investigation leads to him uncovering that robots are a great threat to humanity.


 

The movie begins in an unkown dark location as the opening credits start to appear, The ambient noise of bubbling gives the viewer the impression that the location is somewhere underwater but there is no clear indication of whether that is true or not.

The strangely shaped objects flying past alongside the dark background and echoed bubbling give the audience a feeling of uncertainty and confusion and make them wonder whereabouts the opening scene takes place.

At 0:23, a red light starts to glow at the bottom of the screen as the movie title appears in the centre of the screen.The title is in a smooth, metallic font that fits in with the theme of the movie, robots and the red light glowing on it gives the audience the feeling that someone bad is going to happen since the colour red symbolises danger.

At 0:38, 'Law 1' appears on the screen which states that 'A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human a human being come to harm' . This shows that the robots are seen as members of society since they have their own set of laws and that they have full inteligence. The writing then dissolves into bubbles which furthermore adds to the idea that the opening scene is set underwater.

As the writing dissapears, there is a quick cut to a girl trapped in a car underwater which reveals that the location of the opening scene is underwater.

At 0:48, 'Law 2' appears on the screen in the same font as the previous law shown and states that ' a robot must obey orders given it by human beings'. The word 'it' describes a robot as an object and not a living thing which shows that they have not yet developed higher place in the social hierachy and are still under humans command in every task they carry out.

At 0:58, the scene reverts back to the woman stuck underwater in the car, in this shot, what seems to be a pair of robot legs are shown jumping over the car. A male is now shown also stuck in a car underwater adjacent to the car where the female is. The third law then appears which says that 'a robot must protect its own existence as long as it does not conflict with the first or second law'. This shows that the robots still must defend themselves as long as they don't bring any harm to a human.

At 1:14, a robot smashes through the car window and pulls the human out, this shows that the robots are used to protect humans and save them when in desperate circumstances. The opening sequence then comes to a close and never gives confirmation of what happens to the male and female in the end which leaves the audience confused and eager to see what happens to the two.