Edit - Sound

Costume and Prop

Ayaan (1) from pomegranatestudios

Target Audience Research

Representation of Gender in Psychological Thrillers

The females in the thriller films are very significant because they have no stereotypical role in the genre, this is because in some films, they play the cold hearted and emotionless. Females in thrillers can be also portrayed as the damsel in distress, who needs saving by the protagonist, which is usually the male as he is portrayed as mentally and physically stronger than females in thriller films. On the other hand it is quite common for the females to be the survivor in thrillers and horror films, which could also subvert to this stereotype, they are also portrayed as very charming and glamorous due to mise en scene such as clothing and make up.

The men in thriller film are portrayed as both the protagonists and the antagonists; The males are often portrayed as the strong hero, who saves the day by figuring out the enigma which is usually given to the audience at the start or middle of the film.They are usually mentally and physically strong and shows there strength and independent. The males are also the antagonists which is the villain, there is usually a background story to why the male wants to do evil, due to previous situations which may include the protagonist which could link into any of the key themes.

Job roles-Production Designer

Job Roles - Camera Operator

A camera operator  is a professional operator of a film or video camera. The camera operator is responsible for physically operating the camera and maintaining composition and camera angles throughout a given scene or shot. In narrative filmmaking, the camera operator will collaborate with the director, director of photography, actors and crew to make technical and creative decisions. A camera operator is part of a film crew consisting of the director of photography and one or more camera assistants.

Important camera operator skills include choreographing and framing shots, knowledge of and the ability to select appropriate camera lenses, and other equipment (dollies, camera cranes, etc.) to portray dramatic scenes. The principles of dramatic story telling and film editing fundamentals are important skills as well. The camera operator is required to communicate clearly and concisely on sets where time and film budget constraints are ever present.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_operator

Job roles -Sound designer

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Research summary

Additional Research

Sound 

There are many sounds that are used in Psychological thriller movies. That's way they are chosen by the situation that the movie is based on. Although there are many different situations in every movie of this genre so we need to be more careful about the soundtracks as there will not always find the sound that the movie makers may need. Many of this soundtracks can be used in other genres for example horror, but it also depends on instruments to make some of the sounds which can be self made. I did some research about thriller movies soundtracks of a psychological thriller, it was very realistic but also less disturbing so it grabs more attention of audiences so they can also be more engaged with the movie. Which mean the soundtrack will be more tense which allows the audience to reflect with the movie more. 

Directors

Directors

Job Roles - Director

Ah, the director. Arguably one of the most important and certainly one of the most recognised jobs in the film industry. Their job is to transform a script into a movie, with their artistic envisionments. Now, that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to be the director - being the writer, I kind of knew what I wanted to do and how to portray things in my head. That’s not to say that the director is also the writer. In fact, that’s quite uncommon. Then again, according to Auteur theory, the director is considered the “author” of the film.

But anyway, what does the director actually do? Well, according to Wikipedia:

“Film directors create an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of film production, as well as directing the shooting timetable and meeting deadlines...Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew...Omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating.”

Which I think sums it up quite nicely.

The skills of a director also holds vital importance.

• Good communication skills are necessary to explain to the cast and crew their ideas accurately.
• Being able to cope with stress is very important. A director is one of the few roles that have a direct involvement in every process of the film’s creation, and often there are long hours.
• Strong teamwork, leadership skills and the ability to make tough decisions, not to mention self motivation and being able to motivate others holds a project and it's contributors together.

Directors

Directors

One director known for psychological thrillers is Christopher Nolan. Directing films such as Inception, Insomnia and Memento, Nolan is known to often focus on the themes of personal identity, memory and the construction of time, as well as exploring morality, and philosophical, sociological and existential concepts. His use of metafiction, a term that links to the relationship between fiction and reality, allows him to emphasise the psychological aspect of the film, so that it affects the audience as much as he proposes to. Auteur theory states that the director and his or her style influences the film as if he or she were the author. He shows this through his use of nonlinear storytelling. Putting a film in non-chronological order can change a film’s response from the audience considerably because it can change the significance of particular events as they can be arranged much closer together or further apart, for example. His protagonists are also known to be psychologically damaged, such as Dom Cobb in Inception, due to the suicide of his wife, which can reflect how particular events or objects can affect people.

His use of mise-en-abyme in the film Inception is one of the most well known in the modern era of film. In film, mise-en-abyme describes the idea of “a dream within a dream”. This emphasises the psychological aspect of psychological thrillers as it leaves the audience with a dark feeling that everything around them may not be real. Other ideas that Nolan uses that can affect the audience is leaving the protagonist’s fate ambiguous, meaning the absence of a happy ending, and unreliable narrators and switching points of view, so the audience doesn’t know fully who to sympathise or empathise with.

Target Audience Research

Story and Narrative

Story & Narrative from SoniaTryphenaPal

Target Audience

Target audience slide new (1) from pomegranatestudios

Representation – gender

Most psychological thriller movies have females and males actors. Sometimes the male characters are seen as evil, but also as main characters, this can be stereotyped as the female characters are less likely to have the main role. For example, in the movie "Secret Window" the main character was a [powerful man, this was showing the audiences stereotypes but also making  women looking less powerful as the movie went on, this was shown by giving a high-level expression which were making other surrounded him less powerful and also scared of him.

This all links to the target audience, mainly are male audiences, as this type of genre will be more about crime, horror, etc. Also, as males like seeing them very selfs strong and dependable. But on the other hand, this will discourage female audiences to watch the movie as it will be seen as stereotypes, also as the film will be making them look weak which will look wrong and discouraging the female audience to watch the film.

Representation of Class in Psychological Thrillers

Poster Research

In the past few decades, it has become more the norm to market movies by their director rather than genre. For example, Alfred Hitchcock may have his own section in a film store, rather than a section for psychological thrillers with many Hitchcock films in it.

In the 1990’s, it was popular for psychological thrillers to be crossed over with crime thrillers, like The Silence Of The Lambs, for example, and in more recent years, the horror, fear, and brutality aspect of psychological thrillers has been emphasised. As we can see above, dark colours are often used in marketing such as posters, post-2000, possibly because they make the film seem scarier and elicits anxiety and fear in the audience. We can also see that the focus is in the middle of the poster, such as the house in Misery and the post-it note in The Machinist, while the rest of the background is a block colour and/or not much is happening. This could emphasise the idea of being trapped and isolated that often appears in psychological thrillers. The title of the film is also in capital letters in all three examples, which could be coincidence, or it could mean that it is common, possibly due to it highlighting the "extreme" feel of the movie, that it is pushing the audience's mind to the limit, or even simply to emphasise the meaning of the words, or what they could symbolise.