As a class we were shown Hitchcock’s film Psycho and the 2004 film Taking Lives to give us ideas. I found these films interesting particularly Psycho I wrote an essay on both films to look at the forms and conventions they use to build suspense and tension.
Describe and discuss some of the ways Hitchcock creates tension and suspense in Psycho.Alfred Hitchcock’s complex psychological thriller “Psycho” is described as the mother of all modern horror suspense films. It addressed serious social issues at the time of its release such as adultery and embezzling, which made the film stand out leading to its popularity. The sex and violence in Psycho was a new experience for audiences of main stream films.
The title of the film itself creates tension and suspense as the audience would be unsure of what to expect as it was seen by most critics as the first psychoanalytic thriller. The audience would define a “Psycho” as someone who is mad, deranged and dangerous. This strong title would create opinions and assumptions of what the film would contain, and the audience may interpret the “Psycho” as a basic murderer when really it was a mentally ill man with his dead mother living in his psyche as an alternative personality. This adds a twist to regular murder thrillers making Hitchcock’s “Psycho” a memorable film.
The shower scene which I personally see as the films pivotal scene was so affective because of the tension and suspense built. Hitchcock’s first effective technique was the use of close up and extreme close up shots in this scene. Only two medium shots are used and this is before and after the murder. The combination of close up shot and short cuts disorientates the viewers by making them uncomfortable as the scene feels uncontrollable.
The music vastly intensifies the scene, the screeching violins and other string instruments. The diagetic soundtrack is use later on in the film as well, this lets the audience know that something bad is about to happen.
Hitchcock throughout the film uses blurred imagery as a tension and suspense technique. This obscures the killer’s figure in the shower scene allowing him to keep the audience unaware of the murderer for a longer time. The killer can only be seen behind a shower curtain when first attacking, and with the wig Norman was wearing the audience speculates it is his mother.
The audience as given two options to speculate, either the killer is the son or the mother. But Hitchcock’s use of continuously misleading the audiences with ideas and snippets of information the audience are left in suspense unaware of who to perceive as the killer. This is a continuous and effective theme throughout the film.
I see the film being produced in black and white as another technique of suspense and tension. Although it is cost effective and may have been one of the primary reasons, the way in which black and white films are able to create an eerier atmosphere is an easy way to make a dimly lighted room have a sinister atmosphere. The use of shadows and camera positioning allows Hitchcock to take advantage of the black and white as darkness is more defined.
I see the techniques used here as depriving the audience of a clear image or with a clear knowledge of what is happening and this leads to tension and suspense due to the discomfort they feel. I saw Hitchcock’s quick cuts and use of extreme close up’s in the shower scene as particularly effective at discomforting viewers and catching the emotion of the actors. The film being in black and white added to the sinister atmosphere as it created shadows especially in the scene in which Norman and Marion share sandwich’s when she first arrives at the hotel. Hitchcock in this scene puts the camera low and points it up to Norman and the shadows make him almost unrecognisable and with the stuffed animals in the background he becomes a threatening character.
In what ways does "Taking Lives" conform to or subvert what you consider to be the forms and conventions of the thriller genre.“Taking Lives” was released in 2004 and is based on the book with the same title name by Micheal Pye. The film is directed by D.J Caruso who has directed many thrillers that have conformed to the typical conventions of a thriller. “Taking Lives” is a good example of a psychological thriller that has a degree of conformity to the conventions of a thriller, which are highly effective. But also the way in which it subverts with twists and elements is what makes it a memorable thriller.
“Taking Lives” conforms in a variety of ways beginning with the setting of the film. Ii is set in Canada and this conforms as thrillers are usually set in a different and unknown environment to the viewer so not America and England, but most thrillers do seem to have British or American actors which “Taking Lives” does too.
The constant suspense and tension throughout the film is a good example of what most thrillers try and achieve. The film makes the audience try and anticipate what is about to happen but with the tension and suspense they get a mixed array of emotions. Most directors try and make the audience feel like they’re on a rollercoaster in terms of their emotions throughout the film. With the effective thriller techniques with the good quality acting the audience become involved with the characters and the situation creating more intense reactions and emotions.
“Taking Lives” is full of misleading puzzles and red herrings. The audience believe that the puzzle is solved and another one occurs. The detective Illena see’s a pattern in the murderer’s victims, so it is a race against time to catch the murderer before he gets to his next victim.
The use of the main characters as a way to get more emotions out the audience than suspense and anticipation is an effective technique which in “Taking Lives” worked well due to the acting of Angelina Jolie who plays Illena. She is shown as a strong independent woman and in this day and age that is an inspirable trait, so girls and women watching the film will relate to her immediately. But just like in other thrillers, Illena has flaws and this makes her human to the audience not just a “hero”. For any film to work the characters within the film need to be believable and by giving them flaws the film achieves this. Illena’s flaw is that she gets romantically involved with a witness, which clouds her judgement and she tries to get off the case.
The use of a female lead in “Taking Lives” is on of the ways the films subverts the normal conventions of a thriller. Illena is independent and eccentric and doesn’t seem to have any flaws until she becomes involved with the witness who turns out to be the killer. She becomes the “hero” of the film, she shows her softer more feminine side by being hurt by the revelation of the man she was involved in being the murderer, but she over comes this and finds enough courage to kill this man at the end of the film. All good thrillers have strong but relatable lead roles, by it being an attractive female lead, male viewers are attracted to her and females viewers idolise her.
“Taking Lives” is based on the psychology and the emotions of events. The audience experience the confusion felt by Jolie’s character with her as she tries to uncover the murderer. The confusion of the situation is intensified with Martin the psychopath and sociopaths thought process. He is able to murder people with no sense of remorse or regret and the viewers feel that emotion on a daily basis so this is “alien” territory to them. The contrast of Illena and Martin as characters is a technique used and this shows the vulnerability of Illena and the immorality of Martin.
The climax to a thriller in most cases is the way in which the mystery is solved or the villain over come. In “Taking Lives” not only is the villain over come but he is killed, and the reasons behind why he did what he did are revealed that leaves the film with a tied off end leaving the audience calm and satisfied after there rollercoaster of emotions throughout the film.
Caruso’s use of conforming to the ideas of a thriller and use of subtle subverts like the use of a female lead role, pulled “Taking Lives” out of the classic thriller category and into a category of its own.
After writing the two essays above I became more interested in the way in which thrillers are put together, i decided to research further about the basic forms and conventions used to make a successful thriller. I brainstormed the ideas on the a seperate sheet of paper to take into school to show the rest of the group to help us plan our own thriller.
My basic forms and conventions brainstorm highlighted some of the techniques used in Psycho and Taking Lives that i didn't write about. As you can see even big budget thrillers stick to the basic forms and conventions of a thriller. This encouraged me to take into account the brainstorms when planning our opening to a thriller.
Thriller Directors
So far throughout my research i've only looked at Alfred Hitchcock and D.J Caruson as directors. In order to widen my knowledge i felt it necessary to look at a variety a successful thriller directors.
I researched on a search engine and found the top 10 thriller directors according to movie critics.I looked at them all but decided to research further into the top 3.
1) Alfred Hitchcock, who was born on the 18 August 1899 and directed over 50 films in his career.Hitchcock is considered the Best Film Director. Sixteen films directed by Hitchcock earned Oscar nominations, though only six of those films earned Hitchcock himself a nomination. The total number of Oscar nominations (including winners) earned by films he directed is fifty. the daily telegraph said in 2007 that Hitchcock is "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." I've already looked into the ways he can be classed as the best director in the research above.
2)Steven Spielberg, who is not only an amazing thriller director with films such a Jaws and action-thriller Jurrasic park which both achieved box office records, each becoming the highest grossing film made at the time. He is also a highly achieved director in other genre's. In Schindlers List he won the academy award for best director. I personally see him a such a achieved thiller director from my personal expierence of watching Jaws and the suspense and anticipation i felt throughout. I saw this as down to the music when the killer shark was attacking. This simple change from E to F has become a classic piece of suspense music and the composer John Williams said he music had an "effect of grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable."
3) James Cameron, recently released Avatar a sci-fi-thriller this is his first feature length film since his success with Titanic in 1997. Avatar is shot in 3D and is almost entirely computer generated animation. Cameron's initial idea that is now Avatar was announced in 1995, but he wanted to finish Titanic first then start a new project. He held back on making the film in till more advanced technology was made. Cameron himself co-developed the digital 3-D fusion camera system, a biographer described Cameron as half-scientist, half-artist. Cameron is one of the highest grossing directors of all time.
Target Audiences for Thrillers
When i researched this i found that there wasn't necessarily one certain group of people who enjoy thrillers but all the different genre's with hin thriller (e.g.horror-thriller) are appreciated by different people.
Horror Thrillers- as horror films target audience tends to be teenage girls, this genre's target audience is younger (17-25) and femal based.
Crime Thrillers- these are for a mature viewer.
Thrillers with BBFC rating 18- target audience is young males.
In terms of a generic target audience for a Thriller it would be for both genders but a younger demographic. (16-25)
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