The Wire Opening

The wire is an example of a crime drama series. The opening scene consists of two groups of people, the police, who are accompanied by a police car and surveillance. And also the gangsters surrounded by drugs and gun crime, these formal features help me to put the series into the genre. My analysis will cover the mise-en-scene properties used and the sound which accompanies the titles.

One of the most distinguishable scenes, is a black and white CCTV camera, being smashed. This means that the people smashing the camera want their actions to be blocked. It’s in black and white as it shows realism. A smashing diagetic sound is used as the camera breaks.

As the Policeman walks past the car, the soundtrack says “devil”. We know this is a policemen due to his uniform and the flashing lights on the car. This puts us in a neutral situation and contradicts our vision of the police, as the police are not always seen as the good guys. As it is in black and white, we can connote that something dark has happened which indicates danger. As the police light’s are active as well, we can assume that a murder or something of a similar nature has occurred.

A panning shot shows, a black policeman, using surveying equipment, he is not cleanly shaven. This could show that he has been in the business a long time and he is tired and fed up. It could also show he is undercover, this shows how complex this operation has become.

There is multiple shots of clinical hands with rubber gloves preparing drugs, the drugs are powered so they are of the highest danger. They look professional, the lighting is very bright, this shows they need to see what they’d doing so are professional, also it shows it is in day light so they are fearless.

There is various lighting techniques used in this opening sequence, for example we see the sun rising from the end of the street this could indicate an early morning or a late night, meaning there is never a safe time of the day for the gangsters, they are always weary. Also this could show that they are being overshadowed by the class of people they are with and what they are born into. This is because as the sun rises there is a distinguishable shadow. There is a shot further on when there is a still shot, but it is made up of multiple still images throughout the day, this is sped up considerably. This could tell us that the days go very quickly in that sort of lifestyle or it could show us that everyday is the same and it runs in a boring cycle.

There is a lack of color in the opening, this shows the audience that it is not too complicated. But it could show that the gangster way of life is just the same as the 1930’s American gangster life. Mobile phones are also used, this shows us that everyone is connected in some way, it could mean that they are like one big family or maybe that they have to be careful how they act. With the inclusion of helicopter it shows constant surveillance, there is a lack of trust and everyone is acting nervous.

The opening scene is filmed on a street, this setting could indicate claustrophobia as they are packed in-between two walls of houses, trying to hold them in. On the other hand, this shows a classic urban environment and it could help the audience understand what genre the series fits into. Cafes and pubs are in this opening scene, this shows us that it is a casual normal way of life, but it is alerting the viewer that this sort of thing can happen in every day life.

Non-diagetic sound is used as the backing track, its unusual and contradicts are initial views of what is going on, it is lighthearted with a serious undertone. But it does match what the recording equipment shows, this makes the audience get into the pace of what is going on. The music is “the blind boys of alabama” which is a contemporary gospel style. The music is going to be reflective of the series itself.

There is a large amount of technical equipment used such as recording equipment, this could mean that the police are always watching the gangsters or it could mean that they are too scared to personally spy on them and rely on technology instead

A eye is shown, they eye ball is very bright while the outside of it is dark. This gives us the impression of focus, it shows us that the police’s time is over taken by focusing on gangsters. It could also shows us the distinguishable difference between the classes, there is not merged lighting.

Numbers and data are present throughout the clip, this shows a technical side to the show, but could also mean that the gangsters don't see life as others do, they do not see death as a serious thing, they just see it as another figure, also it could show that they are always being recorded and they are just data on a computer screen and not recognized as real people.

Conclusion: Professional police-drug dealers also represented as being professional. It makes us question why is there 2 separate shots of the police and the gangsters, there are never two shots together. Does this show they live in two separate classes?

In conclusion this clip shows mainly open interpretations, due to the fact that personally i found many different ways the text could be interpreted. The cultural code is used as our ways of interpreting the text are reflective on our own culture. An example is how we see the gangsters and police, as heros or villains. The action code is present as we see lots of deaths from drugs, in which we presume that drugs are regularly used in the area. The enigma code is used as we are left wondering at the end, the clip is quick but does not explain everything, which is the purpose of this tv opening.