Why have we chosen those acttors?

DR JOSEPH DAMIAN:In our film there are only two character the biggest reason is because we wanted to focus on the main character, Dr Joseph Damian who has been interpreted by Matthew Foster, a year 13 drama students, the choice was made based on the fact that none of our family members were available to do it and we had to choose a sixth form student, Matthew looks older enough to seems a doctor. He has been very kind and he immediately got in our character making our job much easier.


KILLED GIRL:I interpreted the role of the girl who was abusing of her body, smoking, taking drugs and alcohol, the choice ha been made after the photo-shoot of the murder scene, where I pretended to be dead and hidden in his basement by the main character. I agreed of being recorded because it was a easy way to finish the filming and to be able to start editing as early as possible.

Music and Sound possible

http://www.soundlagoon.com/soundarchive/psycho-thriller/

This are possible musics and sounds that fit our psycho-thriller genere.

Possible sound effects

From these clips, I have learnt that the stereotypical sounds for a psycho-thriller tend to be dark and eerie. You may experience sound effects such as screaming, wind whistling, creaky doors and high-pitch drum sounds.

Having looked at these, I would like to incorporate the intensity of volume into our film opening, as it will give tension and suspense to the audience.

Psychological thrillers and analysis

Through watching this montage of various psycho-thrillers, I can now tell that most films in this genre consist of dark lighting, eerie music, screaming, glitch editing/ effects and most importantly to emphasis a psychological aspect there is murmuring/ unusual behaviour amongst the characters.

Looking at other Pyscological- Thrillers

American Psycho font title analysis Sara Campeggi

American Psycho Nine frame

Audience Expectations of a Psycho-Thriller

History of the Psycho-Thriller genre

History of the Psycho-Thriller genre

1920’s

The psycho-thriller genre came on the scene. In 1926-1927 came the development of ‘talkies’ following experimental techniques begun in the late 1910’s.In the 1920’s the technology used was very limited, so the movies produced weren’t very clear or realistic as they are today.
The lodger’ was a British psychological thriller made in 1926 by Alfred Hitchcock, who is now famous for his use of thriller conventions. The lodger was a black and white silent movie, and the rating is a 12. This can show that it may not be as scary or thrilling, and due to the lack of technology the movie will not be as believable.

1930’s

 

‘The Most Dangerous Game’ was produced in 1932 by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack , which is a 78 minute movie. Keywords for this movie are “madman, escape, psychopath, slaughter” these are typical conventions of a psychological thriller, however the certificate rating of 12 show that only frequent violent scenes are used, therefore we are unable to see the emphasise on murders or horror scenes.

1940’s

"Rebecca" was a famous film made in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock, it is a black and white movie which doesn’t appeal to a younger generation, due a lack of technology. The music however flows with the genre because it creates the tension and suspense needed to make it fit with the style of film.

1950's

During the 1950 was WWII, what was witness from the war was reflected in their movies. ‘The man who cheated him-self’ was a movie made in 1950 by Felix E. Feist, The reviews for this movie say that the cinematography was good along with the editing, soundtrack and cutting, but there were a few missing frames. This proves that the technology is improving.

1960's

‘The sinister urge’ is a 1961 psychological thriller directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. there is no certificate rating for this movie, however the caption for the poster to this movie is “compulsive killer strikes terror” and “a psycho with the urge to kill”. This draws in the audience because it is showing advertisements in different ways.

1970's

‘Sleuth’ was made in 1972 by Joseph L.Mankiewicz, it is a colour movie. This movie is about a sleuth as told in the title, the title however doesn’t really link with the genre, which could potentially mislead the audience in what they are watching or going to watch. The keywords for movie are typically conventions you want/expect to see in a psychological thriller.

1980's

‘Brimstone and Treacle’ was released in 1982 but Richard Loncraine. It has a certificate rating of 18 this means that extreme violence is allowed to be shown, including blood and gore, also bad language, and even sexual scenes such as rape, which is actually part of the movie. The DVD cover looks very gothic and thrilling as there is a lady screaming and a man praying on a black background.

1990's 

‘Silence of the Lambs’ 1991 by Jonathan Demme. This movie includes a psycho villain and a Hannibal, and a certificate rating of an 18. The perspective of the movie is very good as it incorporate a lot of aspects needed that may not have been used in earlier films. For example it shows ripped of human skin being eaten.

Present Day

In present day psychological thrillers, the use of different types of technology and CGI. Recently I have realised that the technology doesn’t make the film scary it can be done by the camera shots, angles and how they cut the scenes. This is shown very well in “Black Swan”. The very fast cuts in this movie make the scene feel fast and scary.

Over Time

Over time many things have changed in a psychological thriller, the most is the technology, which is key to making the film as realistic as possible. Another thing is the certificate rating, over time the certificate ratings have gone up. This is probably because psychological thrillers have gotten al little bit more frightening but mostly they have gotten more gorier and sadistic.

By Rhianna Henson-Smith

history of psycho-thriller

Props evaluation

Props within Thriller Films

The Props generally used in many Thriller films consist of weapons such as guns, explosives, knives etc. These contribute to adding suspense and a lot of tension in a thriller film , especially in particular scenes. The use of weapons can establish to an audience who is the Antagonist or Protagonist, depending on the narrative.

Many other props within a thriller film uses aspects from other thriller films such as the shiny knife, the white shower curtain, the dripping bathroom/kitchen tap and blood (fake blood). Thriller films such as ' Psycho' , ' The Stepfather' and ' What Lies Beneath' borrow these aspects of from each other.

Cigarettes will be used within our film as firstly, it links to what Joseph Damien is against within the film, he believes in 'your body is a temple' therefore smoking would be going against the religious teaching he follows. Secondly we are going to have our Victim within the opening smoking as it links to why Joseph would want to murder her, showing her abusing her body. Furthermore it links the victim to her age range as a teenage girl who is trying to be 'cool' and fit in with others her age.

A gun is commonly shown within thriller films as  they are always being used to show importance to a character and are typical of any gangster/mafia man to be carrying around. Guns also have a way of showing empowerment of a character and are used to help create tension and fear. They also symbolize murder, crime and death which we wanted within our opening, however we decided to not use a gun as a prop this time. We did this because our use of a knife symbolizes what a doctor commonly uses inside a operating theater to save people, yet is also using the same sort of instrument to commit a murder.

A crucifix was a good prop to use within our film as it linked to our religious theme we wanted and showed that he believed in God. It also was a question to the audience of why is he committing murder if he believes in God? The prop was used several times throughout our opening, firstly when Joseph got out the photographs of his victim murdered, then hanging over his computer screen and then in the car it appeared hanging from the inside car mirror. This also shows the audience that he must find some comfort in this item as he appears to take it everywhere with him. Maybe it is to ask for forgiveness for sinning or he is doing what God wants him to do. A crucifix is common in psycho-thrillers such as Se7en, as there is always an underlying religious theme throughout.

A knife is yet again common in thriller films, as it represents death, murder and crime. We decided to use a knife within Doctor 6:19 as our use of a knife symbolizes what a doctor commonly uses inside a operating theater to save people, yet is also using the same sort of instrument to commit a murder, showing his dark sided character as well. We also used this is a prop because it takes a more physical and emotional act of violence with a knife to hurt and kill someone rather than a gun which could be used at a distance without a physical act. 

We used a bible within our opening as it portrays our religious aspect we wanted within our film, which most psycho-thrillers have. We showed Joseph scribbling onto the bible, which is abnormal to the audience and other people within the film. It also shows that his profession is closely connected to God, as he saves people for a living, until the audience sees that he in fact is not the hero in the film.

We used a rope within our film because within a thriller film it can symbolize death and murder. We used this prop within the scene when Joseph gets out the photographs of Sara, his victim and shows the rope laid over her. This shows that she could also have been tied up before she was murdered, adding to the tension of Joseph as a character.

Another prop used within films is fake blood, with represents themes of murder, death, punishment and crime. We used blood within our opening as it would portray these themes that we wanted. We used it within our titles, so linked with Josephs writing on the bible through the use of messy hand writing as well.

Particularly what we used as well in our opening

We showed Joseph in a dark black hoodie, which appears very mysterious as he walks out of the hospital and then in the night time scenes that follow. We did this as it contrasts with his suit and tie he was wearing while in his office and shows his two personalities. He is a well-educated doctor in the beginning and then appears to look like a gangsta-type thug in the next. 

Fast cars are usually seen within thriller films, in this case as ours was a psycho-thriller, we went more for what type of car our character would have, rather than the speed at which it would go. As Joseph is a doctor and would have quite a bit of money, I decided that he would have a bigger car than others. One of my parents has this car shown within the picture so we all decided it was a perfect match. The color black also looked mysterious in the night time scenes of our opening.

Rhianna Henson-Smith