In the opening five minuets of Survivors, we are shown the importance of families almost straight away in the opening credits. Opening with an extreme long shot of the earth as if from space, we are given an idea of the whole planet, its life, population and scope of landscape. We then cut to long shots of busy street filled with hundreds of people. This is to show the size of people on the planet and emphasises how many will be wiped out by the virus. It is also fast-forwarded to show indifference and similarity between thousands of people that will ultimately share the same fate.
The music is used to change the audiences feelings towards the characters we see in the opening. When the classical, orchestral music gets louder, the shot showing indifference cuts to a series of shots showing singe or couples of people. We see a medium shot of a just married couple standing by the doors to the church, smiling and throwing a bouquet of flowers followed by a medium shot of a couple laughing. This shows unity and singles out these families, lovers and friends by using slow motion contrasted with the sped up effects used to create the sense of everyone being the same. We also see a women dancing on a beach in a 180 degrees medium shot symbolising individuality and innocence.
An effect has been used in post-production during these shots to show the virus slowly creeping over parts of the screen. This could suggest how the virus will wipe out all of this love in the world and symbolising all the families lost. It continues to fill the screen and cut to the main titles . The credits have ended and it cross fades to a medium shot with a narrow field of focus showing faceless people walking by. Some slow-motion is also added to create tension. The out of focus people could symbolise the majority of the population that will be wiped out by the virus, and when one man, clearly in focus walks into frame and past the camera, this could resemble the survivors of the virus in its minute minority.
The story opens with a long shot of an airport walkway, then there is a cut away to a tracking shot of a couple walking alongside an escalator. The character 'Abbie' is shown through dialogue and emotions to be a protective worrying mother and it becomes clear to us that she will be one of the main characters in this series. the sequence then cuts to a middle class kitchen, we get a sense of Abbie's concern and caring nature towards her son who is away in holiday. Her partner and her are talking to friends and in this conversation we can tell the male character is very positive suggesting Abbie is over protective, we are shown the great difference of opinion when he says 'he's in perfect health'. The shot cuts to a over the shoulder shot Abbie looking down, with a shallow field of focus to separate the two characters opinions and emotions towards the child. This positive representation again will be contrasted later in the program as we see the loss of all the family, love and caring the world.
On a school field we see a teacher, father and daughter a wire fence covering the frame, symbolising the loss of life and dooming these few characters from the start. Being shot through the fence or bars, segregates these people and it gives the audience a predictable idea of these characters fate.
In the prison scene the use of low-key lighting and mise en scene with costume creates the sense of isolation. No families for these men, no love in their life, which is contrasted with the previous scenes and shots emphasising the love through families on the planet. The scene shows the gloom and depression of the send of the world, expressing again the importance of family at an apocalyptic time. The white uniforms worn by the inmates and the guard uniforms creates the contrast of virus deaths and the survivors as only a few guards can be seen in shot with the majority of inmates. This also creates the binary opposites idea from Levi-Strauss of survivors and the doomed percentage of the world who will die from the virus.