The document discusses the opening scenes and conventions of several thriller films: - Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock about a woman who steals money and encounters a strange motel proprietor. It establishes conventions like a female victim and uses of music, color, and camera techniques. - Misery (1990) directed by Rob Reiner, based on the Stephen King novel about a novelist rescued by an obsessed fan. It uses isolated settings and snow to set the atmosphere. - Secret Window (2004) about a writer accused of plagiarism who is haunted. It uses an isolated setting separated from civilization by water. - Se7en (1995) keeps conventions of unbalanced music to create tension and

1. PsychoFirst ever thriller movie made my Alfred Hitchcock. Created with the help of paramount.A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.Typical ConventionsA main victim, in many cases it being a woman

2. The use of the distorted classical sharp music

3. The strict uses of colour

4. The battle of the lines in the opening representing confusion of some sort

5. The black and white symbolism of danger vs. purity. SoundIn every thriller film sound is the one strategies used to open up to the audience the atmosphere that the director is trying to produce. Without the use of music you are unable to deeply capture each moment for what they signify, and during the opening few minutes of psycho the distorted quite disturbing music draws you in to what the rest of the film withholds in its hands. TitlesThe use of titles all used in a different font or size, creates a sense of instability already in the movies possibly implying many things at one time. Possible implying that this is portraying the mind of one character or many which is also a useful strategy used to draw the audience in. Something in the opening credits appeals to many different people at one time and Hitchcock suttily does this throughout the movie as well.

6. Mise en scene Camera TechniquesMid-shot panning Draws you straight into what the first person in the film is seeing.

7. You are still able to see the distorted lines to still project an image of unstableness throughout this persons mind that we still haven’t seen. Hitchcock is well known for his main technique of the use of windows which is a mise on scene strategy. By using the window its like Hitchcock wants to immediately pull us in to the scenario.

8. MiseryA famous novelist is "rescued" from a car crash by an obsessed fan.Misery is a 1990 American psychological horror thriller film, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes.Main conventionsIsolated place away from everywhere

9. Use of pathetic fallacy (use of snow)Mise en scene The collaboration of all of these items used in the opening scene sets an atmosphere that this guy is well off and lives a good life. However it doesn’t meet the main conventions of a thriller at this point. SoundMisery starts with the sound of someone typing, so immediately draws the suspense of who is writing and what about. It then leads on to many different items creating sound.When the title of the film appears it is all in the same font size and erupts the colour of red relating to some of the conventions normally used in a thriller. However it may seem that there is an identification with the pathetic fallacy side and the title the fact that the ‘white’ snow is in the back ground but the red in the title is dominate creates the battle again of possibly good and evil like the thriller conventions and then the other affect of the up beat soulful type music contradicts the title and the surroundings all together. So there is confusion in this one part of the opening of the film possibly relating back to a characters state of mind.

10. Camera TechniquesThere are a variety of camera techniques’ used from the opening of the film. From a mid-shot so the audience can get familiar with the surroundings'. To it doing a panning mid-shot of the mans movement. There are also many close-up used to show how the mans emotions changes which interlinks with the scenario change. Each camera technique used represents the change of something in this movie creating its own specific convention.

11. Timings0.00-0.02 (black screen) 0.02-0.09 (Metro Goldwyn Mayer

12. 0.09-0.12 (black screen)

13. 0.12- 0.21 (Columbia Pictures)

14. 0.21- 0.24 (Black screen)

15. 0.24- 0.36 (Castle Rock Entertainment)

16. 0.36- 0.38 (black screen)

17. 0.38- 0.42 (Nelson Entertainment)

18. 0.42- 0.45 (A Rob Reiner Film)

19. 0.45- 0.51 (Black screen)

20. 0.51- 0.55 (Cigarette & match)

21. 0.55- 0.59 (Champagne Glass)

22. 0.59- 1:02 (Bottle of champs, ice, holder)

23. 1:02- 1:08 (Type writer)

24. 1:08- 1:18 (Mid-shot of man)

25. 1:18- 1:25 (Close up of paper & hi, writing ‘the end’)

26. 1:25- 1:34 (Mid-shot of man)

27. 1:34- 1:36 (man again)

28. 1:36- 1:39 (Picture of man’s book & bag)

29. 1:39- 1:43 (Pops and pours champs)

30. 1:43-1:45 (Match and Cigarette)

31. 1:45-1:49 (Man and cigarette mid-shot)

32. 1:49- 1:50(picks up match)

33. 1:50-2:04 (lights cigarette, inhales and smokes)\

34. 2:04- 2:05 (Bag on car passenger seat)

35. 2:05-2:14 (Mid-shot of man and car)

36. 2:14-2:16 (Snowball thrown at tree)

37. 2:16-2:17 (Man smiling at target)

38. 2:17-2:28(Mans driving- Title ‘Misery’ comes up)

39. 2:28-2:34 (Man in car actors name ‘James cann’

40. 2:34- 2:37 (Man in car audience get outside view snow etc)

41. 2:37-2:40 (Actress ‘Kathy Bates’)

42. 2:40:-2:45 (‘Frances Sternhagen’)

43. 2:45-2:50 (& Richard Farnsworth as Buster)

44. 2:50-2:51 (Image of wheels moving)

45. 2:51-2:53 (Man in car)

46. 2:53-2:56 (Special appearance by Lauren Barcak)

47. 2:56-3:02 (Outside view ‘music by Marc Shaiman’)

48. 3:02- 3:06 (Costume design by Gloria Gresman)

49. 3:06- 3:09 (back to man in car)

50. 3:09-3:13 (outside view & casting by Jane Jenkins C.S.A Janet Herschensohn C.S.A)

51. 3:13- 3:17 (co-produce Jefrey Scott)

52. 3:17-3:26 (Man in car ‘snow’ Steve Nicolaides)

53. 3:26-3:30 (Norman Garwood production designer)

54. 3:30-3:34 (Film editor Robert Leighton) -3:30-3:34 (Film editor Robert Leighton) -3:34-3:40 (Director of photography- Barry (sonenfield)3:40-3:41 (places hand on bag)

55. 3:41-3:57 (based on novel ‘Misery’ by Stephen King’)

56. 3:57-4:30 (Screen play by William Goldman)

57. 4:30-4:34 (Produced by Andrew Scheinman, Rob Reiner)

58. 4:34-4:34 (Director by Rob Reiner  car crash!!)The use of timings really helped me to understand how each second in the opening in a film is crucial, and gave me a guide line of some of the factors that my group and I have to imbed in our film. Timings was a good way of giving me an idea of how each second of a film matters and how important they all are in the collaboration of film making.

59. Secret WindowA writer is accused for plagiarism by a strange man, who then starts haunting him for "justice."Main conventions isolated area

60. water is used as the separation between civilization and living alone.SoundTitlesThe use of music in the opening scene doesn’t stick to the original conventions of a thriller. It changes from the convention of the sharp classical music to a smooth more relaxed classical sense of music to open up a new sense of energy, creating a new convention defined under the thriller genre. The smooth music adds more tension because of the uncertainty of he audience at this point. The titles used throughout the opening credits imply many things in a short duration of time. The use of the sound collaborated with the different titles either contradicts or agrees with the music. The title of the film is in the same font but changes from white to red quickly possibly representing the transformation of purity to danger. The red of the title stays on the screen longer foreshadowing and portraying the danger dominance of the movie.

61. Mise en scene Camera TechniquesThe mise en scene of the mirror is an immediate action of the sense of reflection of the man and he is also shown in the reflection of the mirror turning his back on the audience possibly representing that he has something to hide. The use of the mid-shot panning the surroundings and the home places he audience in the eyes of the camera, and what they can see not hiding anything.First thing seen in the whole film, and extreme close up of the characters face, giving each person from the audience a chance to seek into the eyes of this man and come up with their own individual interpretation. This draws the audience and makes us wonder about his state of mind.

62. Sev7enConventions The conventions kept through se7en is the use of the off balance non – digetic music, creating a variety of atmosphere’s at one time and drawing in tension. Another convention kept the same is the use of dark colours.

63. Use of distorted writing in opening credits

64. Background is black with white writing, battle of darkness and purity. 1st item used in the opening scene mise on scene of the book possibly implying that he is in the middle of something. Mise en sceneUse of mise en scene is used a lot throughout the opening of f sev7en especially the use of shadow and ighting constantly foreshadowing each event that is taking place.