Wallander;

(Firewall, 7th December 2008)

 

 

Mise en scene;

We are first shown a shot of the sea from a birds eye view. This makes the sea look very large and over powering. It then pans up towards green hills and fields and zooms in Because we arent shown much else to start with it raises many questions like where they are? Who they are with? Whats going to happen? Why are they here? etc etc. We are then shown the back of which appears to be two young girls. The fact they are on their own and walking in the middle of what seems to be nowhere raises suspicions and worries. They are not talking to eachother and remain silent which causes an awkward and nervous atmosphere. It makes you wonder whats happened for them to be so quiet and why there is no general or friendly conversation. The one on the left has red strips in her hair which isnt considered that of the 'natural/normal' kind, indicating she could be different, unique or maybe considered a rebel. When we are shown a window with red on it we assume its blood. Blood only occurs in a situation of death or injury telling us that something dangerous or scary has happened and someone has been hurt making us curious as to whats actually happened. When we are shown the girls again, we can see their faces. Both remain silent and focused with a straight facial expression and looking ahead, refusing to look back. This could suggest they have no intention of helping or saving whoevers hurt and feel no remorse possibly meaning they are careless/heartless or have done this before. The one with the red strips in her hair has stained clothes and dirty marks on her face which look like blood making us wonder whether shes guilty or links to whats happened.

We can then see half of a mans swollen, bruised and cut face telling us hes the one whos been hurt. His eyes are closed showing hes unconcious or possibly dead. When we are shown the girls again, it becomes clear they are walking away/escaping from a stranded/deserted vechile because we can see it behind in the background of the both of them. A taxi driver card is covered in blood giving us more information that the person whos been injured is a taxi driver and also an image of a man and younger boy is shown also covered in blood. This indicates the man is a family person with children ultimately making him more innocent and having an effect on us because we feel sympathy and sorrow for him as a character. The last shot is of a blood covered hand dropping a weapon (knife) and because the hands similar to the older girl, we assume its her whos guilty of the whole situation.

Sound/music

The first sound we hear is a blowing/breeze wind sound huming and fading in. As the camera pans up towards the hills it faintly fades into music and gets more fierce and louder as the camera movement speeds up, building tension. It comes to a sudden hult/stop when the camera zooms closer to a deserted car and people walking. Then we hear diegetic sound of the footsteps of the girls walking and the crunch/rattle of their shoes. A radio echos once the shot of inside the car is shown giving a somewhat more laid back and average atmosphere, but quickly changes back to the natural diegetic sound when showing the girls. Each time the girls are shown their breathing becomes louder and more fast paced almost powering over the music indicating a sense of panic or rush ulitmately making the audience feel on edge. Despite all of this, faintly in the background you can hear the quiet humming of birds giving a more peacful and gentle feel. A sharp building high pitch twang/stab sound is sudden when the shot is shown of the girl dropping the knife, making us jump and react at that moment.

Editing;
The length of the shots vary and change throughout starting with quite a long shot and speeding up as tension builds. The cuts between each shot are quite sharp and quick and it often uses the effect of cross cutting between each place e.g. the girls to the car etc showing the relationship or link between each character. There are no titles throughout this short opening untill after the weapon is shown confirming something sinister has happened but because there is no titles or wording it makes you focus souly on whats happening.

Camerawork;

The camerawork is very effective and the first shot is good because the distance ranges making it far away and zooming in showing more of the surrounding area etc. An over the shoulder shot is also effective because it prolongs you seeing the characters straight away making it more interesting and exciting because we are unaware of whats happened or whats going to happen and it also gives the view from the characters opinion. The use of closeups is often showed which works effectively because it shows you things in detail without giving the full information e.g. who it is and whats happened. The use of bluring/fading the outside or background also works well because it again  raises questions making it more exciting etc.