Artificial Intelligence

Artificial life does not have to only include clones; robots are also an aspect of artificial life. Such as GERTY in Moon and David in AI, even though they may look entirely different. Both robots have a specific set of instructions ingrained into their memory as soon as they are made. Similar to how the clones in The Island believe there is a place they go. AI centers around David whose curiosity sets him apart from other robotic lifeforms throughout the film. Forms of film such as editing and mise-en-scène assist in making him a reject among humans who are, once again, seen as superior.

  

 In the scene shown in clip number 1, David is conveyed in a way that rules him out from humans. In this mise-en-scène, the circular light from above looks like a halo which represents his angelic like innocence. from above The mise-en-scène reflects upon the dire nature of how humans do not want to associate themselves with the likes of David. They observe as he attempts to mimic their eating habits and their uncomfortable behaviour is emphasised by the set design “which uses space and composition to create the scene” (Corrigan and White 84). The set design is quite symmetrical at the beginning of the scene. Monica and Henry (The married couple) are sitting opposite each other whereas David is sat at the head of the table, segregated from their point of view. Which means David can look at them without any difficulty, accentuating his curiosity to know what being human is like. 

During the second scene shown in fig 1, Monica is so terrified of the idea of him pretending to be a boy, she can barely cope. The editing in this scene is fast paced and full of shots of Monica’s reactions, which “construct space around her behaviour.” (Corrigan and White, 152) She’s not being particularly adult about the situation and her immaturity is highlighted when she pushes David into a wardrobe. 

Another scene in particular depicts David’s want to be a real boy as he stares into a photograph of Monica and Henry’s child, fig 2. The look of longing as David visibly wishes he could merge into their son just to feel human for once is intensified by his reflection nearly blending into the photograph. Later on, this Mise-en-scène becomes ironic when we realize that their son is exactly the type of child we would not want David to be. The lighting is naturalistic which conveys that him wanting to be human isn't an abnormal wish. It is something many artificial life forms would want.

 Works Cited

Corrigan, Timothy and Patricia White.  The Film Experience: An introduction. ^4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. Print.

Spielberg, Steven, A.I (Artificial Intelligence), Dreamworks Pictures, 2003