Wallander Opening Sequence Analysis

the opening sequence of Wallander is very good at drawing the audience in with its use of high camera angles long takes which get shorter as tension builds and mise en scene and how we portray the girls.

the music starts straight away but theres a black screen this creates tension as the audience question what will appear, because sound is the only thing we can guess off. there is a fade and a sea appears which is very dark and isnt a sea that you would be near on holiday its very choppy which gives us the impressions its a dangerous place. we get closer to the cliff edge and begin to see a countryside it almost looks deserted and isolated from society from this we see a car and a person walking away from the car as,we hear a loud pitch screech the sound feels like its sucking up all of the air and then quickly cutting to the next bit. At this point there is a sudden cut to behind the two girls walking one whos smaller than the other and looks like shes walking behind the taller girl this makes it look like the other girl is much more powerful one of the girls has red hair which leads us to think shes rebellious. from hear we see blood splattered on the windscreen of a taxi and a mans taxi permit which identifies hes a taxi driver. from here there are loads of sharp cuts of the mans face which is battered and slashed up a cut of his keys with him and his son which tells us hes a family man and makes the audience feel sympathy for the man from hear we see a bloody knife in the girls hand and she drops it hear there is a sharp sound like two swords are clashing  this sound ends the sequence.

 this image that is shown at the start of the scene shows a very dark isolated sea, this gives the impression to the audience the pace that it is set is very dangerous and dark, this is not your typical shore line and beach where its sunny and cheerful you can see its very melancholy and makes the audience apprehensive before they've even seen the rest of the setting.

 This screen shot taking after the sea shows what to be a car stopped in the middle of the road and one or two people walking away from it. first of all the place looks deserted and very isolated so you wouldn't be walking around there, its very grey and misty and gives us the impression its dangerous and something isn't quite right, it makes the audience question why their is a car stopped and two people walking away from the car in the middle of the road.

This image clarifies this man is a taxi driver and the most striking this is that there is blood splattered all over his badge, at this point we don't know why but we know this man has been brutally attacked and beaten, our first conclusions of the man attempting to rape the two girls being a fake taxi goes out the window when you see hes a real licensed taxi driver.

This last picture really makes the audience feel utter sympathy for the brutally beaten man as in this picture of his keychain hes shown with a younger man whos perceived to be his son, this makes the audience feel sympathy as it shows hes a family man and there was no reason for him to deserve such a thing.