History
The film that started off the Physcological Thriller genre was the 3rd silent movie made which was called The Lodger (1926), which was a Jack the Ripper story. The director of this film was Alfred Hitchcock who also produced films such as Blackmail (1929).Technical Codes
- A very important aspect of the genre
Many psychological thrillers have emerged over the past years, all in various media (film, literature, radio, etc.). Despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have appeared throughout the narratives. Some of these consistent themes include:
• Reality
• Perception
• Mind
• Existence/Purpose
• Identity
• Death
Music - is used to create a mood of suspense throughout a psychological thiller. Most of which will be purely instruments rather than including a singer.
Shadows and Low Light - are used as a convention of all thrillers, to again create tension. Low lights limits what the audience can see and therefore brings a sense of mystery. In a psychological thriller low light can be linked to the dark thoughts that the character is experiencing in the deterioration of their mental state
Quick Cuts, Obtrusive and Montage Editing - are used mainly in important scenes of psycnlogicical thrillers. The condense time and information given in these short editing techniques helps to build suspension.
Flashbacks - this convention is particularly useful in this genre as it helps give the audience an insight in the characters past without it having to be directly said. It ca also help to portray the mental state of the character.
Mirrors - and their reflections are used to allow a character to reflect on their 'inner self' and also portray and 'dark side' i which they may posses.
Mis-en-scene
- Majority of scenes set in busy places (citys etc)
- Country side not used as often
In our film opening we will be incorporating most of the conventions used in a psychological thriller, however it is difficult to fully portray the genre with only the opening (of a couple of minutes). This is because most psychological thrillers show a steady deterioration of a characters mental state, such as a development of a haunting memory, therefore showing this journey of the mind within the opening would be impossible. However we will still be able to portray the genre particularly through our use of Flashbacks. We are also defying the genre by using the country side for the vast majority of the film opening (scenic shots), an example of another psychological thriller that defies the genre in this way is 'The Shining'.
Quick Cuts, Obtrusive and Montage Editing - are used mainly in important scenes of psycnlogicical thrillers. The condense time and information given in these short editing techniques helps to build suspension.
Flashbacks - this convention is particularly useful in this genre as it helps give the audience an insight in the characters past without it having to be directly said. It ca also help to portray the mental state of the character.
Mirrors - and their reflections are used to allow a character to reflect on their 'inner self' and also portray and 'dark side' i which they may posses.
Mis-en-scene
- Majority of scenes set in busy places (citys etc)
- Country side not used as often
In our film opening we will be incorporating most of the conventions used in a psychological thriller, however it is difficult to fully portray the genre with only the opening (of a couple of minutes). This is because most psychological thrillers show a steady deterioration of a characters mental state, such as a development of a haunting memory, therefore showing this journey of the mind within the opening would be impossible. However we will still be able to portray the genre particularly through our use of Flashbacks. We are also defying the genre by using the country side for the vast majority of the film opening (scenic shots), an example of another psychological thriller that defies the genre in this way is 'The Shining'.
Important word to use when you're discussing montage and the passage of time in film: ellipsis. It means showing the passage of time though abbreviated editing... and it sounds like there'll be a bit of that in your opening :)
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