Analysis of 'Secret Window' Opening.

For research we had to analysis the opening sequence of a Thriller film, I chose "Secret Window." There are many codes and conventions combined that make  a thriller film excellent and the Secret Window has sinister music, a fast pace and a dark setting. The Secret Window is thriller film about a writer called Mort Rainey (played by Johnny Depp) who is accused of plagiarism by a man called John Shooter, as Mort refuses he stole the story idea Shooter claims he took, Shooter becomes violent.
The opening sequence of the Secret Window starts like every other production with the company logo at the beginning, the Secret Window starts with the Columbia logo and this fades to black, from the offset we have a sound bridge, we hear a rhythmic thud, as the  black screen lights up we see a man in a woolly hat in a car, the colours are dark and monotone and it is clearly night time we see the windscreen wipers moving back and forth and we connect the rhythmic thud with the windscreen wipers, the man is staring just off the camera, he has very dark circles under his eyes which shows immediately to the viewer that he has not slept in days, a non-diegetic voice over starts, clearly of the man sitting in the car saying "Turn around, turn around, turn the car around and get the hell outta here, right now" as this voice over happens the main character puts on a pair of big rimmed glasses, the man puts his hands on the steering wheel and we see a very clear gold ring on his wedding finger, thus making him married. We are still unclear of his where-abouts as he turns the key in the ignition, the camera shakes slightly as if the viewer is in the car moving back when the man reverses and snow is visible on the wind screen wipers. Another voice over of the man starts "Don't go back" the car jolts to a stop, "do not go back there" as the man reverses his car back we are met with an establishing shot giving us our exact location, the only contrasting colours on the screen are the white of the snow on the road, the white/yellow of the care lights and the blood red "MOTEL" sign behind the reversing car the main character is in, this colour of the motel sign could represent danger, murder or passion.
The car is stopped and the man gets out of it, with a mid-shot he walks to into the motel reception, via a shot through the snowy window we see the man pick a pair of keys off the wall, the connotation of this scene is the freezing cold and monotone of the outside juxtaposed with the warm brightly coloured and lit room. He runs out of the room followed by a motel worker, back in the car he drives to a motel room with a blood red door again, we watch the scene unfold behind the window and the moving wind screen wipers, the man opens the door, a mid shot is used to show two people in bed, as the man goes in it is as if the wind outside increases into a roar and a scream/shout is heard, we are not 100% if this is diegetic or non diegetic sound the camera backs out of the room and the car in the snow fades to a dark blue lake, a piece of eerie creepy music has begun.
A crane shot of the lake, almost like a bird follow the lake, in white writing 'Columbia Pictures presents' a house at the edge of the lake is visible, more writing 'Johnny Depp' a big stars name is a definite audience puller, 'Secret Window' in white writing that turns to red implying murder, passion or danger, more actors names are shown and we follow the camera up to the house and a close up through a small, ("secret") window.
Inside the house we see an upstairs messy room, the music is non-diegetic and the camera shots pull in the audience making them want to see more of the beautifully located house, through the window we see a dog sitting on a green armchair, the house is quiet and no ambient sounds can be heard, the house looks unkempt and dirty but it's a dream house to look at. As the camera pans around the room we see a laptop with a word document up, what is written on the document though is unclear, the eerie non-diegetic music continues, the camera slowly swings past the the laptop and the messy desk over a banister and through a mirror fraomed by wooden twigs, through the mirror we are taken to a down stairs room that is large and in the middle of the room on a tatty sofa is a man with dishevelled hair and a worn out, holey dressing gown, this man has his back to the audience, making them wonder who it is. It is Mort Rainey.
It appears that editing has not been used greatly in this opening scene but continuity editing is used through out but where it has been used is in a clever way so that this opening sequence runs smoothly without the audience even realisingand it uses all the codes and conventions to keep the viewer/audience watching, tense and waiting for more, there is a fade from the Columbia logo to Mort Raineys face, the other fade used in the opening sequence is from the juxtaposition from the cold dark motel to the bright and warm looking house where the film takes place.
The mise-en-scene was an important part in pulling visual hints and tips forward for the viewer to have a clearer understanding of what is going on and what may happen through out the film, this is an important factor in a thriller film, especially in the opening sequence where most camera skills, edits, mise-en-scene, codes and conventions should be used to sell the film to the viewer/audience.