Psychological Thriller Editing.

Psychological thriller editing

Flashbacks are often used in psychological thrillers to give the viewer an insight of a character’s life and, more importantly, the roots of their present distress. This could feature them happy or alternatively, them in danger.

In addition slow motion or speeding things up could be used to either confuse the viewer, adding tension by either elongating a scene or speeding it up to show passing of time.

Quick editing is also common in psychological thrillers, as it creates a sense of the unknown to the audience and builds tension

Editing can also be used to create a montage of happier times of a character or past events to alert the audience of how these events now effect the mood currently in the film.



Sound and Music in Psychological Thrillers.

Sound and Music of a Psychological Thriller.

Sound is a huge factor for the success of a psychological thriller, as without it much of the tension and build up so crucial to the plot of a film would be lost.

Much of the music featured in psychological thrillers would also commonly appear in horror films, for example using instruments such as strings to create a mood instead of using computer software. The most memorable are often high pitched, as they shock the audience and almost put them in the position of the character

An iconic example of this would be a scene from Psycho.

Film clip;

Psychological thrillers may also contain diegetic sounds (sounds that are related to the occurrences on the screen.) Examples may be heavy breathing of the characters, screams, the sound of footsteps running or breaking glass. Certain sounds may also indicate a sense of the emotion in a scene e.g., slow, creeping footsteps for tension or heavy rain for tragedy. 

In this clip from Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling in trying to catch on armed murderer in pitch black. Here frantic, heavy breathing heard put more emphasis on her desperate race for survival.

Film clip;

Overall, music in psychological thrillers create a normality while also building up a tension of something about to happen, creating an eerie, unsettling  imbalance for the audience. During dialog, music  is often not used at all, to capture what relevant infomation to the film or the personality of a character.

Psychological Thriller Locations.

Psychological thriller locations

Psychological thrillers tend to have quite standard and very normal locations, fitting to everyday life. This could be in a very urban area, maybe in a city or centred on the work place of a particular character, perhaps a police department or office. Unlike horror films, they are often not set in a countryside or any other sort of rural area where it is obvious to the viewer there will be surreal occurrences. Instead, Psychological thrillers provide a sense of realism in there settings, to make the storyline seem even more unexpected and thrilling.

An example might be Sixth Sense. Despite featuring stereotypical factors that could be associated with horror films, the film still is obviously recognisable as a psychological thriller which is aided by it’s normal, urban setting, set in a family home in the suburbs. It is not the setting, but the distress of the character that brings an eerie, surreal sense to the film.

Film Clip;

THRILLER CONVENTIONS- Similar Films and Iconography

THRILLER CONVENTIONS- Storylines and Characters

Costume

Costume

Alice office, beginning scene

·         Baggy stained jumper, worn with leggings, wearing glasses, earrings and a watch.

·         Sparse makeup, glasses, untidy matted hair.

Alice Garage

·         Turtle neck, worn with a skirt and tights, heels, no glasses, earrings, no watch.

·         Slightly tidy hair, wearing visible makeup, mascara is smudged down her face.

H garage

·         Skull makeup, hair is slicked back.

·         Dark navy blazer and trousers and white shirt, a flower is worn in the pocket, skull tattoo on wrist.

Alice finding flowers on doorstep

·         Jeans, sweatshirt, slippers, untidy hair, glasses worn, no earrings, no watch, sparse makeup

Alice being stalked on street

·         Black jeans, heels, jacket, tidier hair, glasses worn, carrying a bag.

Gang members

·         All wearing dark clothing, all with skull tattoo on wrists.

Tortured victim

·         Wearing a t- shirt and jeans, messy matted hair, blood on neck, no makeup.

Alice office, end scene

·         As above in beginning scene, however she reveals a skull tattoo on her wrist.

 

Prop List

Prop List

Office

·         Pin board, with papers on it pinned up. (pins)

·         Desk

·         Desk Light

·         Houseplant

·         Photo frame – with family photo in

·         Record player

·         Vinyl’s

·         Glass with alcohol

·         Bottle of alcohol

Garage

·         Hanging Bulb / Spotlight

·         Chair

·         Rope

·         Glasses

·         Knife

·         hammer

Flashback to H’s stalking

·         red roses (bouquet)

Flashback of torture victim

·         Knife

·         Fake blood

·         Rope

·         Chair

·         Hanging Bulb / spotlight

Characters in Psychological Thrillers.

Psychological thriller characters.

Characters in psychological thrillers often have been through good or bad experiences that often influence the state of their erratic emotions or mental states. Usually, they come across something in there life that will psychologically haunt then, and the events of the film will be them dealing or coming to terms with this.

One type of character in a psychological thriller may be someone who influenced or is being manipulated by a situation or another character, causing them to act in certain way. This person is usually vulnerable, and the plot of them film involves them gradually becoming more distressed after becoming wrapped in the world of the character than has a hold on them.

EXAMPLES

                                                        Clarice Starling- Silence of the Lambs.

                                                       




Nina Sayers- The Black Swan.

     Daniel Gallagher- Fatal Attraction.  

A second character that may appear in a psychological thriller is the character that may manipulate the first character, or be the cause of their distress. This person may take the form of a serial killer or an extremely dangerous and ruthless individual that lacks empathy and enjoys over powering people.

                                            

EXAMPLES

                                                      Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs.

                                              Tyler Durden, Fight Club.

                                                                 

      

                            Martin Burney, Sleeping with the Enemy.

A final character that may appear in a psychological thriller is someone who has lost a hold of reality. Similar to (and sometimes will also take the form of) the first character, this person is incredibly vulnerable, even if they don’t realise it. The individual, usually due to trauma suffered previously, will usually be living the role of a completely different character in the figment of their twisted imagination, until there final identity is revealed to the audience and themselves near the end of the film in an exciting twist.

                                                           

EXAMPLES

                                                 Malcom Crowe, Sixth Sense.

                                                                       Tyler Durden, Fight Club

                                                                    Teddy Daniels, Shutter Island

Title Sequence Analysis- Fight Club.

Title sequence analysis- Fight Club.

    1- With regards to mise en scene, the lighting here is purposefully dark, adding a sense of mystery  as the audience is not fully aware of what they're looking at yet, building up a sense of suspense that is often used in psychological thrillers. The music is fast pasted and building, in rhythm with the movement of the scene shown to the audience, adding tension and capturing the audience's attention. 

2- More lighting is revealed in the scene, slowly revealing to the audience that they seem to be looking from a very surreal perspective- from the inside of someone's mind. The fact that the audience are looking at the inside of someone's psychological being hints strongly at the genre of this film. The lighting still remain very low lit, used often in psychological thrillers to remind the audience that all is not clear.

3- The scene continues to move seemingly move through a brain, revealing what seems to cells and parts of the nervous system, but the audience still have to make a lot of assumptions on what is occurring, keeping a strong element of mystery and not revealing anything directly. The music and shots remain fast pasted (again, not revealing anything for too long that could give clues to the rest of the film, and adding to the suspense of the unknown.)

4- The pace of movement and sound in the scene finally but not significantly seems to slow down. The shot begins to reveal more to the viewer than ever, zooming out to show sweat clinging to a person's skin (though still not revealing the identity of this person, and still using murky lighting.)

5- The iconography of the sweat tricking down is typically used in psychological thrillers to represent someone is in danger or distress, but we are yet to know who. Finally, the shot seems to pan down towards another object which is first unclear (capturing the curiosity and therefore the attention of the audience.) The shot is zoomed out until it is finally reveal to be a gun (another piece of iconography commonly used in thrillers.) Finally, the music slows down and fades out dramatically like a siren, and a close face of a terrified man (the man that the audience have seen the inside's of his brain, and sweat) is shown. The title sequence fades as the dialog enters, having already set up what type of genre the film is  as well as the expectation of the film. 

SHOT LIST.

SCRIPT

Storyboard.

Character Profiles.

Character profiles;

CHARACTER ONE

 Name: H

Age: Unknown, roughly early 20s

Occupation: Leader of infamous gang, Syndicate. Known for causing mayhem and going against the system and social normalities.

Photo

Appearance: Tall (around 6ft 2) and slender with brown, tousled hair and piercing blue eyes. Tends to constantly dress smartly, usually wearing sleek, navy, pinstriped suits and smart brogues. He always seems to look immaculate, excusing the stains and rips featured on his clothes. When in disguise, H will be wearing his signature skeleton face makeup to hide his identity alongside the rest of his gang, a Stanley knife will usually be kept in breast pocket. He has a signature skull tattoo on his wrist, marking him as a gang member.

Personality

K is a cynical, intelligent and ruthless character. He will not sympathise or take any prisoners, and has a very antagonistic and aggressive persona, meaning that if he betrayed or crossed, he will certainly seek a very gruesome yet carefully designed revenge. His acts to anyone but him are extremely random, yet for someone who has been diagnosed as clinically insane, he is very aware of his own actions and everything little movement or scheme is impeccably planned out. He is also a very high-cultured person, with an artistic interest which can be seen through the actions of his gang and the memorable appearance of his gang. Despite his brutal attitude, he is a strong leader, giving and expecting full loyalty to Syndicate.

  

What they do- H a gang leader, he leads them into committing dangerous and unethical acts to oppose those in charge. He is capable of breaking both people and functions of normal society, and spends the majority of time carefully choosing how to do this, for the sake of the ‘greater good.’  

CHARACTER TWO

Name: Alice O’Brien

Age: 22

Occupation: Psychologist

Photo

Appearance- relatively tall (around 5ft 7) and slender. Alice is pale and tired looking, despite only being young, dark circles and her exhausted persona make her seem beyond her years. Her bright, green eyes are hidden behind a pair of glasses. Her hair is long and dark with a full fringe- it is untidily kept. It is clear that Alice is not an appearance focused person, she wears little makeup and she wears reserved clothing that could be described as too old for her, often wearing blouses, skirts, pinafores and turtle necks- perhaps to make her seem professional and to be taken seriously in the work place despite her gender and age. 

Personality- Alice, on the surface, appears quite a strong willed and determined character, set on proving herself as worthy of her profession and as good as or better than her colleges. However, Alice is cripplingly insecure and hard on herself despite her extreme intelligence, therefore her self-critical and obsessive personality makes her easy to manipulate, seeking reassurance from others. She tends to wear her heart on her sleeve, and is much more obvious than she may believe, meaning she willing to open up to those she’ll feel listen and can have a warped view on a particular person, seeing them as good and a person to confide in when in fact they’re  not to be trusted.  

What they do- Alice is a leading psychologist and often deals with people with severe mental illnesses or motives which could harm others. She works particularly with criminals, and spends a significant amount of time in her office analysing case studies- she does very little but work.