The opening sequence is taken
from ‘The Secret window’ starring Johnny Depp and written and directed by Paul
Kepp.
It starts with a close up of
Johnny Depp in a car looking forward and then a voice says ‘turn around’. He
starts to turn around and then starts to drive towards to motel. He then rushes
in towards the reception and takes one of the room keys. He gets back in the
car and drives towards to room. He enters to room and his wife with another
man.
This film is a Psychological
thriller which follows the character of Mort, played by Johnny Depp. In
psychological thriller they make certain editing and sound techniques to create
suspense. They also set up many enigma codes to keep the audience interested. They
also show a taste of thing to come to make the audience keep watching. In some
psychological thrillers they try to create a false sense of security to create
suspense for the audience.
The opening sequence is made
of 3 main long scenes.They use camera
differently in each. It opens up with a medium close up of Johnny Depp face
using a direct gaze towards the camera. They use this to make 'Mort' look intimidating,
and to create enigma codes like 'why is he there'. This medium closes up last
almost the whole scene but at the end it goes into a long/establishing shot of
the motel, which Mort is driving to. They do this to show the audience where he
is and where the location is. Mort then walks into the reception to take the
keys. This is medium/long shot and continues all through the scene. It is a
medium/long shot for Mort walking in to the reception and it is the same for
the man when he walks out of the room. They also use panning for the camera
tracking to show Mort walking into the reception. The next shot is a medium
shot of Mort getting into the car and start to drive to the hotel room. We then
see a POV shot of Mort as he is driving towards the room the POV shot shows him
going to the room and opening the door. They do this to show what the character
would be like in this situation then as he is opening the door it turns into a
medium shot of the room and his wife in the bed. The camera then tracks back
out of the room to the outside and then fades to another scene.
In the opening ‘splash screen
of Columbia’ there is the diegetic sound of window wipers in the background
creating a sound bridge with the scene. Without seeing the scene the sound
could also be interpreted as heartbeat, which will create suspension with the
audience. After when Mort is in the car a voice tells him to turn around, they
make this dialogue sound like there is another person in the car to create more
enigma codes. They then show that the voice is inside his head because he is
the only one in the car. They add this to create tension for the audience. It
then plays the sound of the tyres driving across the floor. They have added
this to create suspense and to show that he is angry. The next sound would be
near the end; this is when Mort enters the room. It is a non-diegetic sound as
he opens the door to create a sudden and tense atmosphere for the audience.
When he is in the room the sound becomes distorted and blurs out the
conversations they are having. In all of that you can only hear Mort shout. The
blurred sound represents Mort's mind at the time, suggesting that he is having
a break down. As the camera leaves the room there is a similar non-diegetic
sound as it does when it enters. When the camera leaves it then begins starts
by playing one note with the orchestral music which sets the mood of what
happened, as the scene fades out which will leave the audience with an enigma
code of 'what's going to happen'
As far as the mise-en-scene
is concerned, the first scene one of the main things what stick out would be
the ring on his finger which suggests that he is married and that might be one
of the reasons why he is there. Another thing in the scene would be the window wiper;
it is one of the only things you can concentrate on so it creates tension for
the scene. In this next scene it shows him driving towards the 'Motel', the
motel sign is red as well as all the doors. This shows monochromatic colours because
they only use dark colours and red. They have made the motel sign red to
suggest danger and lust in the scene, they do this to show the mood of the
character or atmosphere, in this opening sequence they are setting the mood to
be depressing and miserable. In the next scene it shows Mort taking the keys
from the reception and show the audience that he want to go fast.Another thing in the background is the
weather, they have purposely made it cold and rainy to show the mood of the
main character. They have done the same with the time of day to show the same
reasons as the weather.
They use different editing
techniques in the opening scene one of which is juxtaposition. They use
juxtaposition by showing the outside to be harsh, icy and cold and inside the
motel to be warm and welcoming. They also use editing techniques such as match
on action. They use this when Mort is looking at the motel. He is staring at
the motel and in the same scene when the car is driving to it shows what he is
looking at. They also show a reaction shot when Mort walks in to the room where
his wife is.They pan out of the main
scene which is his wife I bed, to look at the reactions of Mort. The last
editing technique is the eye line shot. They show this in the first scene,
where Mort is looking at the motel sign. The sequence is cleverly editing to
make the audience aware and Mort’s erratic behaviour. In conclusion I think this is a typical
thriller opening, because it fits most of the codes and convections. One way
they did this is including lots of enigma codes. For example ‘Why he there ’and
‘what is he going to do’. They also meet all of the typical editing and camera
convections by including a list of shots and editing techniques such as
juxtaposition. They also make great use of sound in this thriller by making a
narrator and including sound bridges to create enigma codes
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