2. The opening begins with an extreme closeup on a mosquito sucking blood from a
human. We associate mosquitos with painful bites and we can relate to trying to go
out of our reach to kill them. This gives us a common bond with Dexter as this kill is
seen as ‘acceptable’. However the audience immediately see Dexter’s sinister
attributes as he is seen to be smiling as if enjoying killing. The fact that his morning
routine starts with murder helps to reveal his evil nature. The mid shot makes Dexter
appear dominant over the mosquito as this possibly hints that he is in a sense,
larger than life.
3. Even the title of the series shows murder as it is written as if blood has been
deliberately dripped into water. The blood resembles that he has left his trademark and
that everything thing about his personality is about blood. We don’t know if this is one
of his victims blood and we are compelled to find out more and see what action
happens next. The choice of the non-diegetic music is used to contradict the gory
images that are shown and go against the typical conventions that we expect to see in
a murder mystery
4. The next scene is Dexter shaving. The diegetic sound of the razor and the way in which he
prolongs the movement gives a very sinister feel. The slow movement hints signs of
enjoyment and pleasure.This shows that Dexter enjoys drawing blood and the way in
which he is holding his neck gives the impression of strangulation. The blood slowly
running down his neck portrays dexter as enjoying a slow death. When Dexter cuts
himself, he shows no sign of pain or anguish. The cleaning up of the blood and the
stillness and delicacy of his movements represent how unfazed he is by blood and gore.
5. How food is connected to killing
Visually there is a connection between food and killing. The director has used the food scenes to show that even something so mundane can
have a dark side to it. The cutting of the ham has connotations of slicing up a body and this continues to express Dexter’s obsession with
murder. The non-diegetic music becomes very distorted when he slices the meat to show his twisted mind/thought processes. The closeup of
Dexter slowly chewing the meat creates a very dark atmosphere as it implies that he is eating a body. The close-up helps to pick up every
detail from the slow chewing to the chewing sound and this helps to show how he likes to savour each part of a murder. The close-up on the
egg makes it look like he is maniacally slicing it up with the Tobasco sauce mimicking blood.The way in which he slices and squeezes the
blood orange gives the implication that he enjoys squeezing the life out of humans. He cuts the orange so delicately and accurately as if
enjoying the experience.The next image of the remains of the blood orange looks like human innards and this is how closeups are effective as
they make ordinary items appear very dark and evil looking
6. The next shots depicts strangulation by the way in which we see Dexter tightly
wrapping both the cleaning floss and the shoe laces around his fingers. The
closeups show this strangulation in strong detail as his fingers are white to
emphasise his strangulation of victims. The closeups are effective as we begin
to feel more intimate in Dexters daily routine as the sequence progresses.
7. Even putting on clothing depicts murder as the mid shot of Dexters slowing
putting on his t-shirt gives the impression he is in a body bag. When he
leaves his house, we see Dexter for the first time and our opinions of him have
shifted as we don’t connect the murderer to the male leaving the house. This
implies that anyone who appears innocent can commit murders and that no-
one should be trusted.