The Ghost Writer- Set up

The first thing we see if the lights of the boats coming out of the darkness. This scene is very significant and sets the dark feeling for the rest of the film. The darkness and windy atmosphere gives the impression that the entire world where the film is set, is dark and dangerous. The lights on the boat stand out, which draws our attention to the boat coming into the harbour. These lights could symbolise the 'light coming out of the dark' and set the idea for the rest of the film, the idea of good emerging from the dark.

The next image we see is as the ferry opens up to let the cars out. As this happens we get a clear view of how bad the weather is, we can see the rain and wind and the effect it is having on the people. This also adds to the disequilibrium and is perhaps suggesting the effect this distorted world is having on people. 

The opening sequence adds an enigmatic feel to film. It gets the audience questioning what is going on. A brillaint enigma code in this, is when a single car is left on the ferry without a driver. This causes the audience to question why it is still there, where is the driver, why hasn't the driver come back for the car? This also helps build the tension in the set up sequence because all the security gather around and are trying to figure out who the car belongs to. Another element that builds tension is the low pitched, fast paced music that plays through out the set up and gives us the impression that something is going to go wrong or that something is already wrong.