Opening Sequence - Wallander

Wallander – Opening Sequence
The title of the film:
The title of this film is called ‘Wallander’ and it is based about the person Kurt Wallander who is a fictional police inspector of books and film. We first see the title appear about a minute into the opening sequence on a yellow screen with a slit in it so the viewer can see the actors, and further on we see actors/producers names appear and after all that we see the title again ‘Wallander’.

How the setting/location is revealed:
The viewer first sees a close up of a sea but it then goes into an establishing shot of a beach with hills behind it, and then it starts to zoom in, and then the viewer sees a car which is a taxi. Also, at the same time we can see two girls walking, and this makes the viewer question at what has happened. It’s also really effective as it’s zooming in because the music is building a lot of tension and is making the audience very uncomfortable.

Costumes/props:
The two girls are presented to the audience in a mess, as if they have been caught up in a lot of trouble. Both of the girls have messed up hair, while wearing black jackets with lighter coloured and both of the girls have blood splattered all over their face showing the audience that these girls have been caught up in some sort of trouble. Also, one of the girls is holding a knife covered in blood, telling the viewer that they have caused a bad crime and making them question if these girls had a good reason to kill.

Camera work/editing:
During this opening sequence I feel that the slow, cut editing between the murder scene and the two girls walking works really effectively, and this is because in the actual shots close ups are used and they show no emotions in them, and I feel this works well as the audience become hostile towards the screen and are wondering at what is happening.

Title and font style:
Like in other thriller opening sequences we see the traditional usage of bold, simple text, but this time the texts are too the sides of the screen, making more tension for the reader as they don’t know what will pop out at anytime and where. Also, as before I feel that the usage of this simple lettering doesn’t give that much away for the audience forcing them to watch on and see what the film is all about.

How the opening sets the story:
Well the audience establishes that the two girls have committed a serious crime, as they are holding a knife with blood on it, and also in the car there is blood all over the window screen. Further on into the opening sequence we establish that the detective is wondering why the girls killed a man just for money, and here we see that a plot/story is evolving.

How does it suggest that it’s a thriller:
The opening sequence could suggest that it’s a thriller by the cutting of clips between the murder scene of the car and the girls. Also, in both of the shots of the girls and the car there is the sign of blood being splattered.

The characters introduced:
In the opening sequence we meet two girls whom have committed a terrible crime of killing a taxi drive for money. Yet further on into the opening sequence we meet a police inspector who believes that the girls have killed for much deeper reasons, making the viewer following the inspector like they are also trying to crack the story.

Special effects:
Like before in other opening thriller sequences, I feel that there are no real special effects, except for the way the titles of names are presented. Firstly, we see the characters in a dark lighting with the word ‘Wallander’ in an extreme close up in bright yellow, maybe showing the audience that there is a chance of hope amongst death/fear.