Coursework - Analysis of a thriller.

Recently in media we were set a piece of coursework to analyse a thriller of our choice. The film i chose was the secret window starring Johnny Depp. The five main sections we had to discuss were the music, the titles and text, the individual camera shots, the characters and locations & the effects. This is my essay :-

The purpose of an opening sequence is mainly to build up tension and atmosphere and to give clues to the audience of what will happen. In the open sequence for 'The Secret Window' there are lots of important key feautures used to create a frightening atmosphere. These main features are the music, titles & text, characters & location, individual camera shots and effects.

The music used in the opening sequence is very effective because it adds to the eerie feel of the film and makes the thriller seem more frightening. The sound you hear in the opening sequence is very simple but very effective. There is the use of a piana and the music is very slow and repetative. The music doesn't change in the opening seqeunce, it has the same speed and the same level of sound throughout. Therefore it is very simple. The use of the piano makes the music sound very mysterious and creepy and almost as if something unexpected in about to happen.

The titles and text is another very important key factor throughout the sequence. This is because all of the titles are shown in a simple white font, including the title of the film. However, the title of the film then changes from white into red, this is very important because it adds to the horror of the film. The use of the red font connotes blood and danger which makes the film seem more thrilling. I also think it is important how all of the other titles remain in a white font; therefore the title of the film is the only part that is red making it stand out and create more tension.

Another very important key factor is the individual camera shots. the opening sequence starts of with the image of the car with the one door open. This helps create an eerie atmosphere becdause it makes the audiencewhat has happened and makes them want to carry on watching the film to find out. This image then changes into the picture of a river and then you see a long shot of the house. The camera then slowly begins to zoom up into the house, and then slowly goes through the window. Then there is a long shot of the room and the camera spins around the room and zooms into the laptop where there is writing on the screen. The camera then leads downstairs and into the other room where you see the character lying on the sofa.

The characters and locations are also important in the opening seqeuence because they help add to the horror of the film and create the thriller genre. The main location of the house is set in a wide open space; you can only see the one house which is surronded by the forrest. This helps create a frightening atmosphere because there is nothing else around, therefore it is scarier because it helps to create tension. In the opening sequence for 'The Secret Window' the audience don't get a chance to get to know any of the characters. The only character the audience get to see is the man lying on the sofa, but we don't see enough of him in the opening sequence to understand about his character.

There are also a lot of effects used to add to the thriller genre of the film, for example the use of the fading effect when the image of the car slowly fades into the image of the lake and the fading from a long shot of the house to a close up. These effects helpto create the idea of someone getting closer to the house.

All of these key factors help to create a frightening atmosphere and add to the tension; therefore they are important in making the film more of a successful thriller and can help to keep the audience entertained and want to carry on watching. Therefore I think that the opening sequence for 'The Secret Window' is very effective and thrilling.

Samantha :) xx