Wednesday, 16 December 2009

The Script

Script
Scene 1: Interior-Kitchen-Day
A new Kitchen, clutterd, filled with labelled boxes from moving in. It's a normal da, doing the school run.
Anna is finishing her breakfast in her school unfiorm.
The voice of her mother can be heard in the distance.
Mother
Don't worry honey, you'll settle in fine.
Anna then walks out the house, shutting the door behind her (carrying school nag etc.) and starts her journey.
Scene 2: Interior-Dark room-Day
A dark room with dim low lighting with only a desk light and desk can be seen. No natural light can be seen as the curtains are drawn.
A photo of Anna lies on the desk, plus a montage of photos on the wall.
The scene continues by cross-cutting between the dark room (where a shadowy figure can be seen) and Anna who is finishing school.
Scene 3: Exterior-Street-Night
The school Bell goes and Anna is walking home alone, she is walking down a dark alley.
We get the sense that Anna is being watched, Anna is startled by something, turns and looks around.
Scene 4: Exterior-Street-Night
A bag lies discarded on the street.

END

This fits in with the psychological thriller, as the 'strange character' adds mystery to sequence as his identity remains unknown. Therefore suspense is created in this sequence. Towards the end  of the sequence a 'cliff hanger' technique is used as the bag is left behind and the girl has disappeared, this therefore would create more suspense and enigma as the audience would want to know what happened to her. 



Friday, 11 December 2009

Synopsis Analyses

Synposis

The purpose of a synopsis is to explain briefly what the film is about. It provides a short input about the film and what the film is about.

Films such as '28 days later' shows this:


'A powerful virus is unleashed. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage.

Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realising that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them.'


However the sub-genre that we have chosen to do for our sequence is a psychological thriller, therefore synopsis from psychological thrillers such as 'Psycho', 'Single white female' and 'Silence of the lambs' would also provide good examples.


The synopsis of Psycho reads:

'Alfred Hitchcock's landmark materpiece of the macabre start Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quite evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) the ill-fated traveller whose journey end the notorious "shower scene". First a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) searches for he, the horror and the suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. It took seven days to shoot the shower scene, seventy camera setups for the forty-five seconds of this now famous footage-and not an actual bare breast or plunging knife is to be found in the final cut, just illusion through montage.'
 
This is our synopsis that we have made:

Anna is a college student, who is use to constantly moving schools to fit her father’s work. Beginning in a new school, she has no expectations a part form the constant reminder of being alone. However this time around, things are far from usual. Anna finds herself not as lonely as she first thought.


Our synopsis meets the conventions of a psychological thriller because we have included alot of enigmas to add lots of mystery of what is going on. The last sentence in particular adds suspense as the audience will be intrigued about what happens to this girl. This fits in well with the conventions of a psychological thriller because not alot is revealed, plus this also infers that something bad is going to happen or perhaps that she is being stalked as it plays on the word 'alone'. 


Subgenres

Action thriller

In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and also crime films but these elements take a backseat to action.








Scene from the Transporter movie starring Jason Statham released in 2002, evidently of the action thriller genre. Other examples include the James Bond Films and also the Jason Bourne films.

Conspiracy Thriller

In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes. The Aquitane Progression(novel) fall into this category, as do films such as Three Days of Condor, 

Capricorn One and JFK.


 

 






Kevin Costner in JFK released in 1991, again typical of this sub genre

 Moreover, with this subgenre we also see the extension to gaming, evident in the Metal Gear Solid series. The Metal Gear Solid series contains a shadowy group known as "The Patriots" who manipulate politics in America. There are also references to numerous conspiracies in the games. Many of the characters betray the main protagonist, as well as one another, creating a very paranoid atmosphere.







Crime thriller

This particular genre is a hybrid type of crime films  and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples include  Reservoir Dogs and the Inside Man.

 

 







Action scene from Reservoir Dogs released in 1992 and since has become the cult of an independent film and also showed the rise to fame of director Quentin Tarantino.

 Disaster thriller

In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster. Examples include the 1974 film Earthhquake

 

 






Scene from the film Earthquake released in 1974 directed by Mark Robson

 

Drama thriller

In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama films. These films are usually slower paced and involve a great deal of character

 development along with plot twists. Examples include The Illusionist, The Interpreter and The Prestige

 






Scene from the 2006 film, The Illusionist starring Edward Norton, pictured above.


Erotic thriller

Largely defined as a sexual thriller. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration. The genre includes such films as Basic Instinct, Color of the Night, Eyes Wide Shut, Fatal Attraction and Looking for Mr. Goodbart.

                                                                                  









Scene from the 1999 film ‘eyes wide shut’, produced by Stanley Kubrick also famous for satirical science fiction film drama ‘Clockwork Orange’. The film above can be classified as a neo-noir psychological thriller.

 The sub genre psychological thriller can be defined as  a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. Examples of these genre include the Talented Mr Ripley, Blue Velvet and the classic 'Suspicion' by Alfred Hitchcock.


09_talented Mr.Ripley.jpg


A scene from the film, 'The Talented Mr Ripley', starring Matt Damon and Jude Law, which was directed by Anthony Minghella.

 

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Audience for our sequence

Audience


There are many different subgenres in the thriller genre, therefore when considering what audience is suitable for our particular opening sequence, the subgenre is very important. This is because the different subgenres attract different types of audiences. For example an action thriller would attract more males than another type of genre.


Therefore when we are considering the type of audience we aim to target, it has a particular audience. The sub-genre that we have chosen to do our sequence on is a Psychological thriller.


The audience that we aim to attract is teenagers/young audience from around the age group of 16-25 and for both males and females. We have done this as our story consists of a teenager/youth. This therefore would attract a younger audience as it would star a younger cast. Plus the audience of this age would like pyshcological thrillers that would appeal to their sense of excitement and tension.


History of Thrillers

A history of thrillers

The thriller since the beginning of the genre has always included suspense this is what distinguishes the thriller movies from every other movie from any other genre.

The thriller genre was first used with books and it is noted that Greeks first used it when they made the books about the odyssey. Since then many books have used traditional forms of the thriller genre. There are various forms of thrillers but the first films to be classified, as thrillers were The Bat and The Lodger during the 1920’s. They were Psychological Thrillers, which in a way they are the original types of thrillers along with spy thrillers. These are the original thrillers and have since shaped the way thrillers have been written. The most famous thrillers since are psycho and the James Bond movies.

The first picture is The latest James Bond movie Quantum of solace. The movies are so popular that this was the 22nd James Bond movie. The first came in 1962.

The second picture shows the famous shower scene from the movie Psycho. This movie was probably Sir Alfred Hitchcock's most famous movie made in 1960.

The thriller genre has since been transformed and now has some of the widest ranges of subgenres that all use classic thriller characteristics but use traits of other genres such as horror-thrillers are very common nowadays. The reason why it has changed so much in the past couple of years is the changing face of technology so now thrillers that used to make very realistic situations from mass murders such as psycho can now be unrealistic but using the traditional conventions of the thriller.

The Godfather of all thriller movie directors has to Sir Alfred Hitchcock who has made some extremely famous movies. These include: Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. He actually started doing silent films in Britain before moving on to do thrillers in black and white with sound. He started working in the Islington studios before moving to the gainsborough pictures. He went on to work all over Europe before working in Hollywood. Hitchcock’s first finished movie as a producer was the pleasure garden. His first movie in America was Rebecca. His movies have influenced many moviemakers but we want to use some of his most famous techniques such as the use of the wrong man or the innocent blond woman. We also like the use of low level lighting during the movie to show the dark mysterious places we are fascinated by is what makes the James Bond movies so intriguing. Today’s more famous thriller writers include Tarantino, Spielberg and Mann.

This is another great Hitchcock movie called The Birds this was made in 1963 a couple of years after Psycho.

Purpose of an opening sequences

Purpose of an opening sequence


The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the mood, visual character of the film and setting the atmosphere, plus introduces:

Ø Characters


Ø Plot/narrative


Ø Location


Ø Theme

Ø Identify the subgenre



During the opening sequence of thriller films it is important to bring about enigmas and tension this will help to reveal what type of subgenre it is. Plus the use of opening sequences means that it can be linear, therefore it does not need to be attached to the rest if the film, and can therefore be shown independently and does not necessary need a direct link. For example, the Bond film ‘From Russia with Love’ (1963) shows the opening sequence independently and not actually part of the film. 

In this clip below an enigma is can be shown as a Bond mask is removed from another persona face therefore this shows that it was not actually Bond, the real reason of what they are doing can be revealed towards the end where this happens. This therefore shows that it exists separately from the main film.

The next shot below shows suspense and tension in the sequence as you can only see the antagonist's feet walking slowly, this here is when the tension raises.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHlc-EX_Jhk 

Despite all of this that is being shown, the titles of the film, production team, director and sometimes the key actors name will also appear on screen. These titles can appear at different stages of the opening sequence and in term of thriller they usually appear on a black screen.




Monday, 7 December 2009

BBFC research

BBFC Guidelines
In order to assess what classification would best suit our production and to know what needs to be done and not done in order to receive the preferred classification; I will give a brief description of each of the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) classifications.
U – UniversalUniversal Pictures, Images and Photos
In order for a film to achieve a ‘U’ classification it must “be set within a positive moral Framework” – (BBFC classification guide). This means there is to be no discriminatory language or behavior unless very mild and clearly disapproved off in the world of the film, no glamorisation of illegal intoxicants, unless for educational or anti-drug purposes. Scary sequences should be mild and unlikely to cause anxiety in young children; also there should be no dangerous acts which young children may mimic and no use of easily accessible weapons. In a ‘U’ film, there may be natural nudity scenes, but none that indicate a sexual nature and only very mild sexual behavior such as kissing, or references to ‘making love’.
PG – Parental GuidanceParental Guidance (PG) Pictures, Images and Photos
Much the same as a ‘U’ in classification guidelines, a ‘PG’ should be able to be viewed by a person of aged at least 8 by themselves without causing any disturbance. The film does not need to portray such a “positive moral framework” but any topics seen as socially wrong such as domestic violence, may be featured but should not be condoned.
12A/12 - The ‘12A’ category only applies for cinema works, no one under the age of 12 may see a 12A rated media without accompanied by an adult.12A Pictures, Images and Photos
The ‘12’ category has the same guideline for classification as ‘12A’ but only applies to video works. No one under the age of 12 can rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video. In order to gain a 12A/12 classification a film must not condone aggressive discriminatory language or behavior, also, Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give instructional detail. Moderate violence is allowed as well as then use of moderate language and the use of strong language (e.g. ‘fuck’) must be infrequent. Any sexual content must be brief and discreet.
15 – No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ rated film in a cinema15 Pictures, Images and Photos
The product must not endorse discriminative language or action and the showing of drug taking should not be glamorised, with no use of easy to obtain substances (aerosols, solvents etc). Strong language can be used frequently, however very strong language may only be accepted if it is justified in the context. Furthermore the use of sexual activity and nudity in sexual context can be portrayed in mild detail. Furthermore, violence can be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury.
18 – No one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ rated film in a cinema18 Pictures, Images and Photos
This is anything that excels the limitations of the 15 genre. This can include intense gore, more obvious sexual acts and nudity in sexual context.

After researching and analysing the BBFC classifications, I can begin to decide which classification our group would most likely achieve, and aim for. We have decided to aim for a classification of 12/12A. We believe the framework of the 12A classification is suitable and achievable for our production. It creates a more serious tone than that of a PG and allows for darker and more serious themes, such as the stalking and obsession within our production. Although we are only creating the opening sequence, our plans for the whole film would not include constant use of strong language and no use of gore. Furthermore, the film would not include scenes of a sexual nature and so the film would not be classified as a 15, nor 18.

Friday, 27 November 2009

Conventions of the thriller genre



Conventions of the Thriller genre

There are many noticeable techniques used in the thriller genre, which are constantly used within most thriller films despite what kind of subgenre or genre hybrid they are.  They include similar characters, plots, themes and camera techniques. By definition the main aim of the Thriller film to create ‘thrills’ if this is not done, no matter what subgenre it is, then the job has not been done.

 

A thriller film includes...

Ø  Suspense

Ø  Tension

Ø  Anticipation

Ø  Plot twists

Ø  Enigma

Ø  Intense excitement

Ø  Uncertainty

Ø  Anxiety

Ø  Realism

Ø  Red herring

Ø  Cliff hangers

Almost all of these factors are

 taken into consideration when making every thriller film. 

These are extremely important as the aim of the thriller film to create a ‘thrilling’ sensation for the audience. Therefore by include factors such as suspense and enigmas create this kind of feeling, which overall would produce a successful thriller film.  Thriller also progress with danger and excitement. One of the most important factor to consider is realism, this is because a lot of the factor can also be used in other film genres.

 However using this factor along with realism is what a thriller film is, therefore it is very important to include when creating the opening scene of our thriller.  For instance, thriller often get confused with horror films, the two are closely related but are still quite distinct. However horror will be more graphic and the audience will feel more fear and disgust rather than tension. Which is why realism is important, as thrillers creates a more real life situation than a horror film would.

Plots...

Strictly, a thriller is a film where a single minded goal is relentlessly pursued. Such as flightplan (2006)

flightplanposter.jpg

 where the main goal here was for ­protagonist to get her daughter back, no matter what it took.


Thrillers are essentially about the battle of Justice versus Injustice, good versus bad and protagonist versus antagonist.

Thriller films will also keep the audience on the edge of their seat as the plot builds towards an intense climax.  Plus they revolve around a hero thwarting an enemy rather than uncovering of solving an exciting crime, which thriller can often overlap with a mystery/ crime film.

Thrillers are often set in an exotic location such as in foreign cities, deserts, Polar Regions, or high seas.

Characters...

Main characters in thrillers are usually placed in menacing situations from which escape seems impossible. The protagonist is often an unsuspectingly placed in a dangerous situation. The menace is often abstract, uncertain or shadowy.

Therefore common character types include:

Ø  Criminals/ fugitives

Ø  Stalkers

Ø  Assassins

Ø  ‘innocent’ victims caught up in events

Ø  Police

Ø  ‘femme fatal’

This character types are used to create normality (which shows realism) therefore does not include characters such as zombies etc. Then these characters are placed in a situation for them to handle in which getting out of it would create tension.

Most protagonists tend to be ‘hard men’ accustomed to danger such as these spies and soldiers shown in the list. However they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident. Traditionally, the protagonists have been male however female protagonists are becoming increasingly common, such as in Alien (1979) Sigourney Weaver’s character is the protagonist.

Sigourney-Weaver-in-Alien-001.jpg

Themes...

There are many common themes used in thriller films as it is only certain themes that can give off the best suspense and anticipations. Themes are commonly based around society’s current fears and worries.

Therefore themes such as:

Ø  Terrorism

Ø  Political conspiracy

Ø  Espionage

Ø  Pursuits

Ø  Dangerous romantic liaisons

Ø  Psychological crime

Ø  Oppressive but unseen supernatural occurrences

These themes create a plot that exerts more tension in them for an overall tense film, as all of these themes already carry a lot of enigma with them, therefore expanding on these can become very useful in creating a thriller film. This would be a good consideration to uphold when making our thriller opening sequence.

Common camera and editing techniques...

The camera techniques used need again, need to create tensions and suspense, therefore techniques such as:

Ø  Extreme Zoom shots (forward or reverse)

Ø  Prolonged cross cutting : the longing wait would create more tension

Ø  Quick cut Montage: this would create confusion and therefore a tenser situation if the audience does not know what is happening, it would create a ‘grip’ feeling.

Ø  Use of profile or Silhouette: such as the ‘from Russia with love (1964)’ the antagonist was cast in a long shadow, which create are more mysterious feel.

Ø  Dolly zoom shot

Ø  Quick cutting: again this is similar to the quick cut montage, it would create confusing situation that build tension.

Ø  Use of ‘enigma code’ in the narrative: This is good techniques to use as the mystery would create anticipation which would leave the audience wanting answers. This need of ‘wanting answers’ is very good to build tension as the audience will long for the answer.

Sound and lighting...

The sound used plays a major role for creating suspense, or the absence of sound can also be effective. Both used in the correct way is perfect for building tension and anticipation of the scene. Such as when sounds is synchronised with an important action movements and when key changes occur. For example in psycho pleonastic sound was used for the shower scene to enhance the action, this would build more tension for the audience. Therefore dramatic, tense or foreboding scores are often used.

main.php.jpg

Lighting is also essential, especially with the use of shadows and silhouettes. This is used to give a ‘creepy’ feeling for the audience as they cannot uncover what is under the shadow for instance. Lighting tends to be dark and low key; however this is not often the case such as in Phone Booth (2003) where there are not shadows used to create this suspense.

story.jpg

Other...

Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies, as again different images and close-ups in mirrors can create tension and illusions and also add suspense.

 



What are the common techniques and conventions?

 

The Thriller genre is unique in the way it is made. It has its own unique score made especially for the movie the level of lighting is varying to demonstrate the effects of something that has happened or someone who is in the film. The thriller is also unique in the way that it creates suspense and its use of enigma’s and mystery are what makes this genre one of the most watched worldwide.

The score of a thriller film is what makes it memorable because in a way it is synchronised with the movements of the people in the film, for instance in James Bond the score starts as the person gets beaten up and this dramatic score carries the scene through and helps the audience understand that this is a dramatic and important moment in the movie.

The level of lighting is extremely important because it varies in places and people. It is used in all the thrillers do determine whether a character is an antagonist or protagonist or whether the place is mysteriously evil or just another ordinary building.

In the thriller genre low level lighting is often used to show the antagonist characters as seen in Psycho where the man who stabs the woman in the shower seen is covered up and you can’t see his face.

The one rule a thriller can not avoid is the rule of creating suspense. It is the most vital technique that attracts audiences to this genre of film. It would not be a thriller without the suspense, for instance in 28 days later, the suspense caused when the man walks up the stairs whilst calling out to see if anyone is alive really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The use of suspense is also helped with the use of enigma and mystery as to who the person is? Who killed him? Why did he kill him? What’s the object he was carrying in his hand?

The use of enigma is important because it keeps the audience interested, the movie with a lot of enigma was the copycat this movie kept the audience wandering as to who the killer was and how would he kill next or which famous murderer will he imitate next and how is he doing this.

A technique that was used and that created suspense was the technique of getting the audience to think that the wrong man was the killer as in psycho where the audience thinks the mother is the killer but actually it’s the man dressing up as his mother. In this sense Sir Alfred Hitchcock had many techniques that kept the suspense going throughout the movie and adding a shocking reality check to the audience each time.   

 

                        The audience

 

The thriller genre has one of the widest audiences in the film industry because of its many subgenres. In fact many who aren’t interested in thrillers in general could be interested in a comedy thriller or a horror thriller just because it will either make you laugh or scar your brain forever. The type of subgenre will also attract different age audiences such an action thriller is more entertaining for younger men than an espionage film because they like to be entertained and not muddled with a highly extensive plot.

The thriller genre is agreeable really to everyone in society its one of the few genres that actually reaches out to the whole of society. However audiences are more likely to be older than 14/15 to watch a good thriller because under that age they are more into comedy and animation films.The BBFC ratings are also usually rated at 15 + because of the content the thriller genre contains.

However it is hard to see a young man or teenager going top watch a political thriller because that also doesn’t appeal to that age group. It is necessary to realise that the type of thriller that is watched nowadays depends in what generation the audience was brought up in such as espionage thrillers were very popular, as well as psychological thrillers, back when television was still black and white. Today on the other hand people are brought up with fast pace action being the normality in everyday life so movies are pretty much the same in that aspect. The prime example is that a James bond today is hardly the same as the James Bond’s made in yesteryear. They had less action than today’s more appealing James Bond movies of fast, hard hitting action.

The audience has to finally enjoy having to sit on the edge of their seat to enjoy a good thriller or otherwise you won’t enjoy it.  

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Analysis of Opening Sequences

‘From Russia with Love’ was the first film in the ‘James Bond’ franchise to have an opening sequence prior to the titles. The opening sequence for this film shows that an opening sequence can exist separately from the main part of the film and is an excellent example of an espionage thriller.



The beginning of the film, before any action takes place there is a title of a company involved in the film. ‘United Artists’ is the film studio that made the film, a branch of the main makers of the Bond films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This is followed by the infamous Bond motif known as the gun barrel sequence. The sequence starts in an unknown location and contains many enigmas. From the beginning, there is just ambient sound, this creates suspense. The suspense is created as Bond can hear footsteps behind him, which gives the idea of stalking. We are given this idea through the cross-cutting between Bond and the Blonde male. This leaves the enigmas, who is the man? Why is he following Bond? And where are they?

from russia with love - footsteps

However, it is with these footsteps that non-diegetic score comes into the sequences. The pitch of the score changes with actions on screen and so is synchronous. The use of low-key lighting in the scene creates a more airy atmosphere and adds tension to the sequence as we can notice the characters shadows and they often appear to appear out of the darkness. As Bond is attacked and killed, there is clear violence, but not so much so that the film doesn’t loose its PG classification. The attack on bond creates anticipation as the audience is led to believe that the protagonist has just been killed in the first three minutes of the film. However, suspense is then created as the audience find out that the whole thing was some sort of training exercise and Bond is in fact, not dead. This epiphany creates even further effective enigmas such as, why was this training taking place? In conclusion, the opening sequence successes in making the viewer want to continue watching as it leads the audience with the thriller conventions of anticipation, tension and suspense.

Analyses of relevant key texts

The thriller genre is often associated with Alfred Hitchcock, 'The Master of Suspense' and so I find it fitting to analyse a scene of one of his most famous films in research of the genre of Thriller. I will be analysing the shower scene from his 1960 film, 'Psycho'.



Firstly, an obvious observation of the scene is that it contains no dialogue. This creates anticipation and tension as there is no explanation of what happens, a common convention of thriller films. The scene starts with the character, Marion Crane, flushes a piece of ripped-up paper down the toilet. This creates an enigma concerning what was it she flushed down the toilet? She is a young, attractive blonde woman; the audience does not expect her to die at this stage of the film as she is a protagonist. Her appearance also gives the idea of innocence and so there is shock and tension created when she is murdered. The setting of the scene, a shower is a realistic one that causes the audience to not expect an act of murder, as the shower is not a place you would associate with such an act. The silence of the scene is foreboding her murder as non-diegetic sound comes in as the killer does.

A common feature of the thriller genre, dramatic irony now takes place as the murder does. The audience can see the silhouette of the murderer as he enters the bathroom due to the low-key lighting which creates suspense as we can foresee the killing. Furthermore, the killer appears to be female, which we later find out to be male, this creates a red herring as it diverts the audience from the truth and plays with the hierarchy of knowledge. As the murder takes place, pleonastic sound enters to mimic the action of the knife; this creates suspense the sound can be confusing to what is happening. Furthermore, the use of the knife to commit the murder creates suspense as it leads to a slow death, not an instant one in the case of a weapon such as a gun, a common technique in thriller films. There is also quick edits between the killer and the victim during the murder, this creates anticipation and tension as we can see both views of what is happening.

psycho shower death

The death of Marion Crane is slow and non-diegetic orchestral sound replaces the pleonastic sound. This orchestral score ranges in pitch as the character slumps to the floor during the slow death. This creates anticipation and tension as the audience is left in shock of what just happened, the protagonist dying. The camera then tilts down to the drain with the implementing of graphic match between the drain and the character’s eye to connote the life leaving her; this creates tension as she has now died. The scene then ends with the camera moving from bathroom to bedroom, which can be accepted as the killer’s movement from the murder scene. Also, the camera zooms into the money that Marion Crane stole. These two features create anticipation and suspense as we can see the killer has not taken the money, which suggests this was a random murder.