The Secret Window Thriller opening analysis (own choice)

As Part of our research and analysis we have to analyse a Thriller opening of our own choice. The Film I have choose to analyse is the Secret Window (2004), directed by David Koepp. The codes and conventions that make up a thriller include; dark or low lit settings, increased tempo in music, sinister upbeat music, threats, and a build up in tension and suspense. I will be looking at how the technical aspects like; camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene create the opening of the thriller.

       The clip begins with the Columbia production company logo, immediately as the opening starts the music begins. The editing is done very cleverly as the scene opens with a car (jeep) parked outside from what we can see is a house, this then fades into rippling water; this confuses the audience and makes them think about what is going on, it plays with our minds. The camera then pans up to an establishing shot to see the setting of a forest surrounding the lake with house situated at the middle (centre of the forest). There is then an edit where the scene fades closer to focus on the house; the camera is then slowly zooming into the house on a crane shot. Still on a crane shot the camera is swung around, zooming into a small window on the side of the house, the audience is left to think about what this is leading up to. The camera is then panned around to focus on a laptop at a desk.

       Still on a crane shot the camera zooms into a man sleeping in pyjamas on an old sofa. His dressing gown is ripped at the seam of the shoulder, we then think of him as of a lower class and tatty in the sense that he can’t afford to buy a new one. The camera is then left at a medium shot of the man on the sofa for a couple of seconds. There is then a black out as the opening sequence ends. The transition of cuts and editing flows nicely, the fading into closer shots of the house works well and effectively without disorientating the audience; instead leaving the audience work out what's going to come next.