In the 1940s and 50s a film style called film noir was very popular in America. These films portrayed the dark side of American life, full of urban crime and violence. Film noir had a distinct style, with shadow-filled low-key lighting. Night ruled in film noir, the shadow more important than the light.
The film opening of Dexter is a great example of this film style. The opening is very creative an cleaver which also portrays a dark side to the phsycologically challenged.
Eric Anderson, the creative director of `Dexter` says that instead focusing mainly on what he calls 'self indulgent details', he thinks the most important things are the piece’s story, how it fundamentally relates to the show, and then how will this prepare a viewer’s mind for the show. This has to build excitement within the piece, therefore creating its overall impact on the audience as these will be the opening scenes for the series.
Dexter as a character is a forensic bloodstain pattern analyst but is also a serial killer. Whilst he goes through his transformation, he has been described as 'exactly the same Dexter except something is wrong.' This is demonstrated throughout the piece with crime scene type photographs which give a sinister feel to the piece.
The use of noir lighting and shallow depth of field adds a tense atmosphere throughout the piece, by using low key lighting and use of shadows it creates a more eery feeling to the opening.
Eric Anderson also realised that the word 'Dexter' is more or less the same upside down, so wanted to incorporate this feeling of everyday things being seen as menacing into the opening sequence. He also wanted to use this idea for Dexter as a character - normal on the outside, but if you look harder you see a completely different side to him as he seems to be mentally challenged. I think that the creative director thought very hard about what type of character he would create. Creating Dexter as a more original character brings a different feel to the film and he wants the viewers to look deeper into the story and try to figure out Dexter's other personality for ourselves, this gives a different perspective to the film and really makes the audience think. An example used by Eric Anderson to demonstrate Dexter's character was this one below of a window. First glance makes it seem like a normal window, but once you find out that Martin Luther King was shot from it then it becomes interesting and eery.
The first thing we see though is a close up shot of a fly on Dexter's arm. He squats it and we see a smile on his face as if he has enjoyed killing it, and he seems to gain a thrill from killing, this is very typical for this type o genre as it gives the audience a clue that Dexter isn't mentally stable which adds mystery to the film.
The mise-en-scene of this clip is important because this is the thing that gives this feel of 'eeriness'. The mise-en-scene and the shallow depth of field shots work together to create tension. The shallow depth of field shots are close up to the objects, such as the egg being cracked and the bacon being sliced to make them look as though they are representing a murder scene which makes the opening very tense and puts the viewer on edge as these normal everyday life objects are being portrayed as something much more interesting.
The titles of Dexter are also very interesting as they are quirky and unique. The editors have used block capitals which makes the titles stand out and seem powerful, but they are also in bright red which obviously represents blood, and immediately the audience can see this which is very stereotypical of this genre.
The non-diegetic music is very important in this film opening because it help to set the feel for the piece. It starts off quiet and with just a simple beat, this tune is obviously Japanese, which sets quite a calm atmosphere. However, suddenly the diegetic sound of Dexter squatting the fly is played whichshoks the audience and brings forth a feeling of suspense. As soon as it rolls into the title, the music starts getting more of a beat. The music sounds kind of spooky an eery. The music carries on with more or less the same beat, and the diegetic sound of the food frying and Dexter eating is played over the top. As the credits are coming to an end, the music dies down and a 'ping' noise is played as Dexter walks out of his apartment smiling. This 'ping' is a noise that indicates how 'cool' and normal Dexter comes across, despite everything else. The music overall is very effective because it helps give that sense of things not also being as they seem on the outside.
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