Psycho is an important film in thriller history, and very different to a modern thriller like 'memento'.The main storyline of this film is that a man
Thriller films, conventions
It is difficult to state a clear definition of a thriller as they cross over many genres, however the single most characteristic of a thriller is the obvious one, it "thrills" the audience. The plots are scary, the characters are at great risk and the films are constructed in a manner that makes the watcher really want to know what happens next. There is no formula for a thriller, other that that most thrillers follow one of a few common narrative structures. For example, they may use the Todorov theory, where the narrative structure is comprised of three main parts: order and normality, then something happens where disorder occurs and finally equilibrium is restored, usually by a hero.
Thrillers can be divided into countless categories, i.e., action thrillers, psychological thrillers, millitary thrillers, spy thrillers, and the list goes on. It's easier to recognise a thriller than to describe it. There are some general characteristics that most have. They usually include a plot that concerns life or death issues, and thrillers unlike horrors have a real-life slant. Sometimes thrillers involve murder mysteries, and nearly all thrillers put the protagonist and other sympathetic characters in serious danger. Thrillers usually have a great deal of action, cinematic landscapes or cityscapes or interior "mindscapes".
On a more historical approach, thrillers have their roots in German expressionism and include some elements of gothic/Victorian novels. Thrillers have a relationship with horror, where a few similar features are shared, for example they both tend to exploit the fears of mankind where "sublime terror rests in the unseen", although thrillers are more realistic and horrors are surreal. Dependancy on dramatic music to engage the audience and build tension again stems from German expressionism. The 1970's saw a boom in horror films and excessive violence towards 'fragile', impure women, from this women are largely the victims in thrillers, and they need support and a 'hero' to save them. Both thrillers and horrors have a 'dark' undertone, with a lot of night settings as evil is traditionally associated with darkness.
There are three main periods in the build up 2 the modern thrillers. The first is wartime, 1941-46, where studio sets were rigid and not very realistic. The second period is post was realistic, where sets started to move to real locations. The 1950's and 60's saw a boom in film Noir and modern day thrillers are more associated with psychotic action and suicidal impulse.
On a more analytical level, the evil act in a thriller is generally percieved to be an act against the repression of society, inflicted upon the individual. 'The Birds' by Alfred Hitchcock is an example of how a normal aspect of nature turns abnormal and destructive. The birds represented evryday fears of the people, like threat of nuclear warfare, totalitarianism and automation. Frequently the evil act in a thriller depicts the horror of what society has become, for example more violent and repressed, and can often be said to represent a revulsion against these.
Audiences tend to enjoy thrillers due to the experience of fear, dramatic intensity and intrigue. The 'enigma' factor of the narrative is seen to be thrilling, as with the 'orange peel' effect the truth is slowly unravelled. There is a psychological element to it aswell as there is a kind of relief at the end in solving the problem. The audience oscillates between terror and again relief is felt when normailty is restored.
After analysing the basics of a thriller, I'm going to compare a thriller from the 1950's with a thriller from the late 1990's, using ...
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Audiences tend to enjoy thrillers due to the experience of fear, dramatic intensity and intrigue. The 'enigma' factor of the narrative is seen to be thrilling, as with the 'orange peel' effect the truth is slowly unravelled. There is a psychological element to it aswell as there is a kind of relief at the end in solving the problem. The audience oscillates between terror and again relief is felt when normailty is restored.
After analysing the basics of a thriller, I'm going to compare a thriller from the 1950's with a thriller from the late 1990's, using the codes and conventions of a thriller as a comparison. Alfred Hitchcock's thriller movie 'Psycho' was made in the late 1950's and since then it has become a cult classic all over the world. Janet Leigh plays the helpless victim Marian Craine who is brutally murdered in the shower by the psychotic Norman Bates. A lot of thrillers consider weather conditions, where rain drenched streets is in keeping with the 'doom' orientated narrative, and thunder and lightning builds tension. Psycho uses pathetic fallacy, as when Marian arrives at the small, isolated motel the rain is beating down so hard you can't hear anything, all you can see is the big old house with a shadow of someone in the window. This setting creates a terrifying atmosphere because it's so dark and quiet that you don't know what to expect.In the opening dialogue between Norman and Marian, he shows er to her room. She is the only guest staying at the Bates Motel. Norman underlines how isolated the motel is by saying that no one ever comes to the motel anymore, which immediately leads the audience into wondering why.
The house behind the motel is big, old and frightening, it is appropriate to the genre as it depicts a location the audience would not want to go to. When Marian is unpacking her things she overhears a conversation between Norman and his mother where the mother is shouting at him, saying that she doesn't want him seeing young women. This creates sympathy for Norman's character. When Norman and Marian enter the parloyr the camera draws attention to two stuffed birds. The dead birds symbolise death, murder, preying on other creatures. Marian comments that it is good for a man to have a hobby, yet Norman states it is more than just a hobby, indicating he is a loner.
The purpose of this extended dialogue between the two central characters is to get to know them better and within the conversation there are hints as to what is going to happen later. It starts to reveal a more sinister, threatening side to Norman. When Norman talks of his mother the angle of the camera focuses the audience on one of the birds, connecting Norman with murder and death.
As they talk, the camera zooms in up close on the two characters, cutting from one face to the other, conveying tension. The close ups of Norman's face show intensely staring eyes making Marian feel uncomfortable and nervous
The shower scene can be broken down into many different frames. When Marian enters the shower, the camera focuses on her washing, she is vunerable as she is stripped of her clothes and has no means of escape. The shots of her washing are extended indicating that something is about to happen. Dramatic irony is used where the audience sees a figure behind the curtain before Marian does, therefore we are alerted to the danger first. As the curtain is pulled back the music starts high pitched and tension creating noises. The camera flashes from the killer to the woman, Norman stabbing her and fear in her eyes. Norman runs away as she is reaching for the curtain, reaching out for help. The camera focuses on her blood running down the drain, symbolising her life being wasted away. We then see her eye still and lifeless. Foucault suppressed gags's structuration hypothesis.
Norman's mother is dead, yet is alive in his mind, dominating him. This manipulates the audience throughout the film as they are lead to believe she is still alive and could potentially be the killer.cofd fdr sefdfdw orfd fdk infd fofd fd;
The audiences sympathise with Marian as she stole money from her arrogant boss because she was in love and the only way she could be with the person she loved was to steal the money. The audience becomes frustrated when she dies running away from Phoenix, and the killing had nothing to do with the money. A technique is used where the audience can hear voices in Marian's head, creating an inside view and also has a sinister feel.
The first point of view shot in the film is when Marion is looking at the money on the table. This makes the audience wonder whether they would steal the money if they were in her position. Next is when the policeman is talking to Marion, making the audience feel nervous as thyey are interrogating her. A very important point of view shot is where we see the silhouette of the killer whilst he is stabbing her, the audience see themselves getting stabbed. Point of view shots allow the audience to identify with Norman, for example when he is in the jail we sympathise with him as it's not his fault that he's a psycopath. Hitchcock wants the audience to sympathise with the characters and encourages manipulation.
After Marion has been killed there is a close up of her open eye, which shocks the audience as it confirms her death, breaking codes and conventions as most didn't expect such a main character to die.
One of the most crucial shots in the film is the aerial shot over the top of the stairs, where we see the mother's body yet not her face making the audience think that the mother is definitely alive.
Psycho is an important film in thriller history, and very different to a modern thriller like 'memento'.
The main storyline of this film is that a man, Leonard, is on a mission to find and murder the man who raped and murdered his wife. Due to the attack he has brain damage where he can remember everything up until the attack but can't create any new memories. He learns to write notes, photo evidence and tattoo the important things onto his body, in order to help him.
In this film nothing is as it seems. It is an intricate thriller and a review for the BBC said that "film noir has never been so labyrinthine". It is a very original film that has a very non-linear structure, where the same sequences are seen from different viewpoints, so perceptions get mudddled up. It seems like a random lot of scenes, but when the last one fits into place, a surprise sets off all the intrigue again.
The entire film is told from Leonard's point of view and the scenes are arranged in a backwards sequence, so every scene shows what happened before the previous one and a more 'deep-background' is revealed as the story goes on with the audience becoming more aware of the ironies.
There are lots of enigmas throughout the film, for example who to trust. Is Leonard's self-appointed friend a true friend or a con man? Memento consistently confounds your expectations and the ending fits with the movie's disruptiveness.
Kevin Lally, a critic for Film Journal International says that "like The Usual Suspects, Memento is one of the those films that almost demands a repeat viewing". Ron Wells from Film Threat Reviews says that "if ever there was a fresh approach to one man's personal hell, it's this one", talking about the film.
Almost nothing about the film is predictable. The brilliance of the film is it's design, as I said before chronologically it begins at the end. At the beginning we see Leonard read one of his notes and then kill a man. From that point each scene reveals a bit more history, and we trace back in time to find out how many of the notes were made. At the beginning of the film the hero has lots of these notes to himself, what keeps him going though is the one tattooed across his chest sayingto avenge his wife and kill her murderer. Due to his condition he doesn't have any idea how much time has gone by since his wife dies and wouldn't be able to remember if he did exact vengeance, leading the audience to question the validity of his notes and friends.
It is a very clever film, and some argue that telling a story backwards allows you to watch a scene and the interactions between characters without any preconceptions, so your opinions aren't biased as of what you previously have seen.
The film is structured in short bursts that are roughly equal to Leonard's attention span with fractured narrative and constant repitition of scenes, where each repitition adds something that advances the story.
From this essay it can be seen that both thrillers are very different, yet have some simalarities. The structure of the films is very different, as Psycho has a linear narrative with an open ending, and Memento has a non-linear narrative with quite a closed ending. Both thrillers use music to build tension, complying with the convention of setting the mood using sound and instruments. Again, both thrillers use the good verses evil code, where one is fighting the other. In Psycho Norman Bates is the evil one and his victims are the good ones, in Memento Leonard can be said to be the good guy fighting against the evil one that killed his wife. Psycho uses the detective aspect to add depth to the storyline and is used as a kind of narrative for the audience. The thriller code and convention of using tormented, weak females as the victim is used in both films. In Psycho Marion is the victim and in Memento Leonard's wife is the victim. Both films use weather conditions to emphasise the narrative and fractured lighting to build enigma. In Memento, Leonard can be seen to be the hero, and he goes with the convention of knowing what he has to do yet he procrastinates about how to solve it. The most important code and convention that both films agree on is that there isn't always action but tension is omnipresent.
