Wallander Opening

Cinematography:
The first shot is of the coast revealing the setting straight away, the camera tracks over the hills which then shows a car and two girls walking in the opposite direction the camera tracks through the gap of them and then cuts quickly to a mid shot looking over the girls shoulders. I have chosen this shot to be in my contact sheet as it is a successful shot that is used in a thriller; the rule of thirds can be used on this shot, on either side there is a girl and inbetween their shoulders car tracks can be seen in the gravel and grass. The rest of the opening sequence is then built up of close ups which do not reveal the characters and actions straight away. There is a close up on one of the girls faces from side on, this shot shows the girl in focus is the main character or the person who is involved the majority of the time. Blood is spattered across her face giving the impression they are in trouble or have been in a serious accident. However the fact that they are breathing hard shows they are in shock or possibly angry, this connotes they have made an attack which caused the blood to be on the girls face.

The titles in this do not necessarily fit the typical thriller opening titles, however they are very successful in terms of making the reader question what is happening and what will happen next. In my seventh screen shot you can see that the letters of 'Wallander' are appearing as close ups on the screen through the gaps in the letters the detective can be seen, these gaps are sharp and triangular looking, they look as though they are taking form of a knife shape which would make the audience think whethe or not there might be another knife crime. The character is seen in a very dark blue light connoting he is powerful and possibly quite calm whilst working at this job however the blue fades into black suggesting he may have a dark side to him. The knife shape then carries on through the rest of the opening sequence in my last screen shot you can see the low angle shot showing the detective/inspector and the woman who works with him through the car window.

Mise en scene:
The Mise en scene in this opening sequence isn't the typical dark thriller scene. It is in day light in the open space by the cliffs on the coast. meaning the girl who committed the murder didn't care if anyone found out or that she would get put away. This gives the impression that they are fearless as well as dangerous. The girls are dressed in dark clothing, the girl who killed the man also has red streaks in her hair the same colour as the blood showing she has a dark evil side to her. In the fifth screen shot I have taken you can see the items in the car that give away who the murdered man is, there is a taxi badge in the car however the badge is in shadow, possibly meaning he wasn't a normal innocent man. There is also a key ring hanging from the keys which pictures him with his arm around a teenage boy. The blood has splattered onto the face of the boy who the audience assume to be his son, suggesting he will also get hurt or even murdered.

Sound:

The non diegetic music in this opening doesn't fit the typical thriller music, it is music that you would hear on an everyday scene eg on a radio. When the man is found the car radio is playing bringing the thriller into real life terms, also making it seem quite realistic as could be an everyday situation. Diegetic sounds of the girls heavy breathing is very effective as it shows that they are angry and scared, it also gives away that they are the murderers and not the victims. This is not given away at first but when the following shot shows a knife in the leading girls hand it is revealed they have committed the crime, the girl drops the knife leaving an over exaggerated sound that shocks the audience.