Mis-en-Scene:
- Low-key lighting and shadows are used frequently in psychological thrillers. This genre is about the mind and mental in/stability therefore the dark lighting not only signifies but also emphasises the darkness of the antagonist. Sometimes it is the protagonist that is beginning to become mentally unstable, for example Nina in 'The Black Swan'. The low-key lighting also highlights how much darkness is taking over a character's mind.
- The location is normally set in very normal places to create a sense of realism for the audience, which makes everything more dramatic. It creates a slight worry amongst the audience because it highlights how much psychological thriller movies sometimes contain a narrative story that is not completely unrealistic, therefore they cannot rule out the possibility of it actually happening in real life. Like in 'The Strangers' or 'Se7en' that are based on a story about human murderers.
- Often the costume is usual clothing such as jeans and t-shirts, to again create a sense of realism for the audience, especially in films that have a far fetched storyline. 'The Exorcist' characters are dressed in the appropriate clothing for the era that it is set in because it is about a young girl who is possessed. The story line is not realistic therefore the sense of realism should be provided in a different way, costume is one of the ways the director created it.
- The antagonist is usually in a dark costume so that they are associated with the connotations of dark colours. These connotations being: evil, dangerous and mysterious. In contrast, the antagonist is usually put in light or bright colours to show that they are good.
- In films like 'The Black Swan' props such as mirrors are often used to show the reflection of the character's inner self in contrast with who they appear as to other characters. In the 'Black Swan' in a scene when Nina is looking into a mirror she sees a different reflection to what is happening in reality, Nina sees her darker side that is slowly taking over her personality. The contrast makes the difference even more dramatic, as you can see how different that the way they are represented is to their inner and real self.
Sound:
- Directors usually use eerie non-diegetic music to build tension slowly.
- Dialogue is not often included in psychological thriller openings. It creates more mystery because the non-diegetic music does not explain what is going on in the scene. Dialogue between characters usually helps the audience understand what events are occurring, however not having it leaves them to figure it out themselves.
- High pitched, screechy hyperbolic sounds are often used. 'Se7en' contains a lot of these sounds during the opening sequence. They make the audience feel very uncomfortable because these sounds make them feel on edge and are very difficult to listen.
- Sometimes there is moments of complete silence. In psychological thrillers that contain a supernatural antagonist, like 'Paranormal Activity' this is often used at the climax of an event that was previously built up. This could be when the supernatural being is about to strike, the silence makes the audience feel on edge because they are waiting for the emptiness to be filled, as it is odd for there to be complete silence in a film for no reason.
- Slow Motion editing is used to build suspense. The audience will feel on edge because they want to know what is going to happen next, but they have to wait because the moment is pro-longed.
- Face paced editing is used to distort and confuse the audience. It does not give them enough time to fully take in what they have seen so they will become confused.
- A montage is used in 'The Bone Collector' and 'Se7en' to show the audience what has taken place before the film in a short space of time. Although it may not be completely clear what is being shown in the montage, once the action codes in the film are shown they should be able to figure it out for themselves.
- Usually Todorov's narrative structure is followed:
- equilibrium
- distruption
- resolution
- new equilibrium
- David Fincher
- 'Se7en'
- 'The Game'
- 'Panic Room'
- 'Zodiac'
- Sir Alfred Hitchcock ('Master of Suspense')
- Psycho
- Martin Scorcese
- 'Shutter Island'
- 'Cape Fear'
- 'The Taxi Driver'
- Christopher Nolan
- 'Insomnia'
- 'Momento'
- 'Following'
Antony Hopkins
- 'Hannibal'
- 'Silence Of The Lambs'
- Leonardo Di Caprio
- 'Shutter Island'
- 'Inception'
- 'The Departed'
- Guilt
- Characters usually feel guilt for something that they had done in the past. In 'Shutter Island' the protagonist killed his wife and she drowned their two children. He felt so guilty for his actions that he created a story in his mind that gave him a new identity, allowing him to forget about the events that took place.
- Identity
- A character is on their journey searching for self-actualisation.
- Death
- The death of another character deeply troubles the protagonist and they blame themselves for mistakes they made.
- Obsession
- The character constantly has one thing on their mind and it drives them crazy. Nina in 'The Black Swan' becomes so obsessed with becoming Odile that slowly she literally becomes her.
- Mind
- The way the characters mind works. This challenges events that happen in the films, as the audience will question whether it actually happened or just happened in the character's mind.
- The repetition of all these elements when looking at Steve Neale 's genre theory creates enjoyment for the audience because they have some familiarity with the films of the genre. They do not like feeling stupid and therefore the repertoire of elements allows them to have better understanding of things and avoids making them feel un intelligent.
- Blumer and Katz suggested that audiences use media for different reasons, in this case it would be for entertainment. The film provides the audience with something to engage with.
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