Graveyard
Productions
Harvey Gough - AS Media
Fargo:
Much like 'Shutter Island', the first shot is of a foggy landscape, from which a car emerges, which makes the audience wonder where they are seeing. This is accompanied by the names of the various important cast and crew. This slow opening shot, which lasts for around 2 minutes, works well as it forces the audience to question the destination of the car and what purpose its driver has.
The following shot is a long shot of the car driving down a long road. This road almost seems endless as the fog cuts off any horizon or destination. This emphasises the isolation of the area, which will then show how isolated the town is.
The lack of drivers also emphasises how few people are entering or leaving the town, showing how few visitors the town gets, again emphasising its isolation.
The first shot in the film is of these words. They tell how the film is based on truth. Whilst nowadays it is fairly easy to look this up and learn it is not true, when the film first came out in 1996, people were less certain about whether this film is purely fictitious. This added tension, as those who believed it was based on truth would have surely felt appalled at the actions of certain characters.
It also tells us that characters will die by saying 'Out of respect for the dead' and referring to anyone who lived as a 'survivor'. This adds tension as the audience is made to wonder which characters will survive.