TW: Opening Sequence technical analysis - Dexter

What I have learnt from this:
Technically, I have learnt the utility in causing intrigue in the audience; this is constructed because the majority of shots do not feature the protagonist, and he is only fully revealed at the end of the sequence.
Furthermore – I have learnt the utility of having an extremely high cutting rate; it adds a frantic nature to the sequence, and the fast pace goes far to create tension. The shot length is very short – with some areas having a series of 1 second long shots; this is mainly in the middle of the sequence.
Lastly, the simplicity, and normality of events are presented in a twisted and psychopathic way – through the meticulous nature. I have recognised that this simplicity causes universal applicability – which makes the scene scarier, as it implies anyone could be a killer like Dexter. The fact that there is a lack of visual effects – other than jump cuts and one fade to black, furthers the simplistic nature of the sequence.
Camera movement, however – is minimal, the majority of shots contain the camera in a fixed position, and any camera pan is slow. This highlights a juxtaposition, and therefore emphasises the pace of cutting rate, and therefore adds to the frantic feel of the sequence. Although rule of two thirds is used sometimes – generally – the focal point of the shot is in the centre; this also enhances the effectiveness of the fast cutting rate – as the fast cutting rate is also used to reveal an action from varied angles and closeness’s.
Another important aspect is the soundtrack; which is continued throughout, and is asynchronous with images – eg – blood splattering, and eyes darting.

This opening sequence will be useful in our opening sequence - as we wish to emulate the aspect of implying murder without explicity showing it. The frequent use of extreme close ups, a fast cutting rate, and an asynchronous soundtrack - can be replicated in our own opening sequence.  

Duration of shot (seconds)	Camera techniques	Mise-en-scene	Sound
2	Extreme close up	Mosquito slowly moving on character’s arm	Soundtrack
7	Close up reveals insect and face of character, camera pans up to reveal character	Character slaps the mosquito and a bloody mark is left on his arm, while his NVC reveals annoyance, this action reveals his unforgiving nature	Non-diegetic sound of slap interrupts rhythmic music – reveals importance of character
4	Title of show (Dexter)	A few blood droplets fall onto the red, capitalised title – automatically revealing the ‘slasher’ nature of the series	Soundtrack
3	Pull focus focuses on the back of the character’s head, while his facial features are blurry due to this	Character facing a mirror, but his face is blurred due to pull focus – this creates suspense for viewer due to intrigue of who character is	Soundtrack
4	Extreme close up of character’s beard	Finger strokes down the character’s face, pieces of hair move with his fingers – which reveals the powerful nature of antagonist
2	Close up of character’s neck	NVC – with his hand around his neck, holding it in place for the prop (razor) to cut his beard – this reveals the domineering, strong nature of ‘Dexter’ – due to assocations to strangling.	Sound of beard being cut is amplified (SFX), makes a gritty, unpleasant sound
2	Extreme close up	Blood appears on neckline due to razor cut, and drips down neck slowly	Soundtrack
4	Extreme close up of plug hole, camera zooms as the second droplet falls – emphasising the fact not only one blood droplet falls, which reveals the brutality of Dexter	Drop of flood (from neck in previous shot) reveals continuity, as the previous shot merely revealed the blood dripping slowly. Jump cuts reveal further blood droplets	Light hearted sound effect, similar to instrument triangle is heard upon every blood droplet – this is example of juxtaposition, this light-hearted sound reveals the character’s disinterest in pain
2	Close up of neck	Character brings a perfectly cut, small tissue to his small wound	Sountrack
3	Extreme close up of tissue	Blood is shown absorbing the whole tissue	Soundtrack becomes louder – which emphasises the distance of camera
1	Low angle shot at the height of the table	A sharp, bladed knife is drawn across plastic protection on top of a pink coloured object. This vagueness causes tension in the audience – as the prop automatically has connotations of pain and assault, so the association between pink and human skin is utilised.	Amplification of the sound of the plastic covering being cut open
1	Camera moves up slightly, still low angle shot	Knife runs precisely along the flesh	Sound bridge of the piercing of the plastic covering, but the knife is now cutting into flesh
1	Extreme close up	Sharp tool momentarily shown cutting flesh	Soundtrack
1	Extreme close up, blurry	Hard to tell due to camera shot	Sound of liquid hitting a surface
1	Low angle shot at table height	Piece of meat drops onto sizzling saucepan – prompting a false sense of security in the audience, as their fears that the flesh was human is settled	Amplified sound of flesh cooking
1	Close up	A knife is quickly jabbed into the meat and the meat is turned over, but the shot ends before the meat lands back on the saucepan	The beat in soundtrack is asynchronous with the knife entering the meat
1	Momentary extreme close up of character’s nose and bottom half of eyes	NVC – his eyes dart upwards suddenly, revealing alertness	Asyrchronous sound again – eyes dart upwards as a key is played in soundtrack
4	Extreme close up of mouth, camera stays in same position but mouth moves partly off screen. Frames per second is lowered to cause a slow-motion effect	Character is shown to throw a piece of meat into his mouth and he chews with his mouth open – this reveals the solitary nature of the character, as he is clearly alone if he eats in this manner. Also example of continuity, as this shot reveals why his eyes darted upwards in previous shot	Amplified chewing noises
1	Extreme close up, rule of two thirds – the crack in the egg	Carefully trimmed fingernails are revealed, as character cracks an egg	Amplified sound of liquid coming out of egg
2	Camera pans right to reveal egg	An egg is cooking in a pan	Sizzling sound is amplified
1	Extreme close up of knife, camera slowly moves downwards with the knife (tracking shot)	Knife turns sideways and precisely cuts into the egg	Soundtrack
1	Extreme close up of egg on plate	Extremely quick jump cuts reveal small splatters of tomato ketchup dropping onto the plate. This draws a parallel with the same camera shot which shows blood dropping into a sink earlier in the sequence	Light hearted sound effect, similar to instrument triangle is heard upon every tomato ketchup droplet – this draws another parallel to earlier shot
1	Extreme close up	Knife and fork rapidly tear apart the egg	Sound of cutlery dragging against plate is amplified and very short – possesses a likeness to sharpening a tool
1	Extreme close up	Tomato ketchup is splattered sideways onto the plate
1	Camera in fixed position (extreme close up)	Whilst cutlery sweeps quickly in front of camera, with a 1 second still of a knife with a tomato ketchup droplet on it. This draws an association to horror iconography – a blood splattered knife.	Drop of ketchup is amplified, and another drop comes immediately after – which reveals the extremist nature of the character
3	Low angle close up directly bellow coffee machine	Coffee beans whizz around screen in slow motion, reveals the perfectionist, and old-fashioned nature of character	Long-lasting note during soundtrack while this shot occurs
1	Close up of hand	Hand pictured momentarily on top of coffee machine	Ringing sound as hand clenches around coffee machine, draws association to an alarm being pressed – highlights dangerous nature of character
3	Camera peds down slowly	Revealing a clean, polished coffee machine – reveals the perfectionist nature of character	Loudness of soundtrack increases as the camera pans downwards
3	Medium shot, side on	Very sharp knife cuts down into fruit, pieces of juice squirt out	Soundtrack
4	Extreme close up of knife entering orange face on, camera pans downwards with knife	Knife enters fruit from a different camera angle	Soundtrack
2	Medium shot	Fruit is pierced slowly but strongly onto an old-fashioned juice squeezer, jump cuts very quickly reveal the fruit squished to a pulp which emphasises the character’s strength	Soundtrack, no sound of juice being squeezed
1	Extreme close up which pull focuses on the forefront, and then background of the fruit	This pull focus presents the fruit as flesh-like, as it is pulpy and red	Soundtrack
5	Extreme close up	Teeth floss is wrapped so tightly around his fingers, while the camera remains fixed. This tightness is revealed by the redness of skin either side of the floss	Soundtrack
2	POV shot from a high angle looking down on sink and hands intertwined with floss	Hands slowly move upwards and out of shot	Soundtrack
2	Close up of character’s neck	Character’s head moves downwards and into shot, NVC – gritted teeth reveals determination	Sound of floss coming out of teeth is amplified to imply self-inflicted pain
1	Still shot from high angle, close up	Hands tightly gripping laces, revealing red skin again due to blood being cut off	Tempo of soundtrack increases
2 (1:30)	Low angle shot makes character seem more domineering	Naked arm tightens and laces are shown being tied at the bottom of the screen	Sound of laces is similar to a whipping sound
1	Extreme close up with rule of two thirds and focus is on the shoe, with character blurred in the background	Blurred character in background further causes intrigue, but focus on laces highlights tightness and therefore efficiency of character	Sound bridge – this whipping sound is continued, which creates continuity
2	Extreme close up	Laces being pulled through hole	Sound of lace rubbing against hole is amplified
1	Low angle shot	Of tightened hand with laces	Soundtrack
1	High angle shot	Plain white shirt is pulled slowly over character’s head	Soundtrack
0	Close up	Shirt is pulled on, and relieved face of character is present momentarily	Soundtrack tempo slows down
5	Camera further away than previous shot, revealing all of character’s head and shoulders (close up)	Character’s eyes are fixated in camera, causing anxiety in the viewer due to this menacing glare. NVC: Dexter then grins slightly, revealing his psychopathic nature.	Soundtrack
1	Extreme close up	Key is pulled out of clean, metal keyhole	Sound of key being pulled out is amplified
6	Tracking shot	Follows Dexter as he leaves his home, from side on	Sound is asynchronous with images – he nods towards the camera as a final chime in the soundtrack sounds
1	Fade to black