Silent Witness 'The Prodigal' - Amy Odell

Camera Work and Editing

The scene begins with an extreme close up of a mans face, which we later discover he is in fact a policeman.
The extreme close up shows us how much pain he is in, and what it is that happened to him to cause it. The flash back of the shooting is in a blurred depth of field, to create that 'flashback' idea. The birds eye shot of the police man on the ground lying in a deathly way, with a pool of blood by his side, enables us to see him in regards to the rest of the setting. The shadow down one side of him creates an eerie tone. and we wonder about his current state of living or death.
The gradual zoom out of the city landscape shot onto the police car on the road, gives us a perspective of the car, and where roughly they are. The quick sharp shots of the police car from all angles of the car journey, creates that 'chase' feel. As they are in fact driving at an impressionable speed. As the car reaches its destination, the camera follows the police officers at foot level, with the officer lying on the ground, so we can see two events happening at once. The panning shot of the police officers running, let us see the fear and determination they are putting in to rescue their fellow colleague. The cross cutting of both police teams as they shout at each other, ending with the man in a suit with a close up shot of his face, but his gun and finger out of focus, to make his face seem superior to the weapon and his finger. 

Mise En Scene:
The characters are all in formal dress, of a uniform, because they are police officers. The setting of the office, makes us realize this is set in a formal place and the change of location, from the office, to the flashback, to the city for the car chase, helps create the tension more, because so many settings to combine into one scenario. The day light helps to create an 'everyday' feel to it, because obviously the shooting took place at night, and now the realization of the attempted murder has been acted on the next day.

Sound
non diagetic sound of the walkie talkie voice over is the first thing you hear when watching the opening sequence which confuses the audience from the beginning, but as the face is revealed we understand why. The organ/piano music which is diagetic sound then plays over the majority of the next section with the flashback, to create fear/panic. The drumbeats are then included to create intense pace to the sequence, then followed by the ticking sound as both police groups meet, basically a sound bridge.