Psycho Case Study/ Essay

Psycho, which is a US film made in 1960 is one of the best known films ever made. The director of the film was Hitchcock, Hitchcock was a well established film director and the film psycho demonstrates  how he liked to have experimental or unexpected elements in his films, for example killing of the main character, which is represented in psycho the famous shower scene. Hitchcock's reputation for his twists was also a product of the TV stories that he directed and also introduced in his jokey style with its seam of black humour, "we all go a little psycho sometimes" used in psycho is a perfect example.

Hitchcock's films from the 1920's onwards contain voyeurism, the theme of guilt, especially where a character takes on the guilt of another, such as Norman clearing up for his mother in Psycho, & where the audience might become involved in the guilt as well like how we want the car to sink as well at the end of the shower scene. Hitchcock also liked to add in his films notable scenes where there is very little dialogue, a character who seems normal, even respectable, but who is not, and the importance of the past or the dead. All three elements fit into the shower scene in Psycho as not much is said, Norman (man who owns hotel) seems normal and the fact that Normans mother is dead is the whole real reason for the twist in the end of the film.

During the shower scene in the film Psycho, Hitchcock uses a lot of the genetic thriller aspects to built tension and suspense which grabs the audiences attention and keeps the scene flowing and gripping. The film is shot in black and which which adds a noire lighting which con-notates artifice, fear and unnaturalness. Hitchcock uses brilliant tilt shots in this scene which connotates  disorder, disorientation and also adding aesthetic interest for the viewer, like just after Marion Crane, the main character, played by Janet Leigh is killed, while the shower is still running, which builds tension to the scene, the camera is in a place which shows what it would be like to see the end of the scene from outside the bathroom, with a tilt shot and Marie's hand being the thing of Marie in side the mise-en-scene which brings disorientation and fear for this character, while also using chiaroscuro lighting connotating surrealism but also adding aesthetic interest to the mise-en-scene.

Editing; this is the most often discussed aspect of the scene. Hitchcock emphasises the brutality with fast cutting, 'in the shower scene as Marie is getting stabbed the camera keeps cutting to different angles' which adds to the helplessness of the audience. The different angles such as mid shot, close up and high angle shot all used in the shower scene make the killing all the more incomprehensible. Shadow is used to conceal the killer from us during the attack, the use of a shadow in the film Psycho reinforces connotations of a nightmate or a sense of a mysterious presence, which is also represented in other thriller films such as the Third Man where this thriller aspect is also used.

                                           ^ The Third Man

                                            ^ Psycho

Mise-En-Scene; The scene can be related to others in the film, such as the windscreen wipers going back and fourth like the knife going in and out of Marie, also in the scene just before the importance of the birds with there sharp talons and beaks which also refer to the knife, and also to Marie's surname and Normans obsession with birds.

 The soundtrack is composed by Bernard Herman who only uses strings in this film and which in the shower scene, provides the screeching sound that is essential to the frightening nature of the scene and which seems to be the voice both Marion and 'Mother'. Also the slashing chords support the stabbing of Marion, adding suspense and tension.

The audience which psycho appeals to is generally a niche audience of both male and female variety, with the use of brilliant camera shots and gripping scenes means it appeals to both genders. But the dark lighting and noire based scenes the films appeals to the niche audience. This film is appealing to the audience as it has a very strong psychological aspect, with a story line that could happen to anyone, as the audience feels empathy for Marion Crane, but also fear and disgust at the idea of her death.

The film Psycho has some but not many secondary advertisements, as most is filmed in a motel, but this brings secondary advertisement to small motels in america as people might like to visit places which inspired Hitchcock's thrilling scene.

 The film Psycho uses a lot of traditional thriller aspects, and is the inspiration for other films with its eye catching camera work and gripping soundtrack. The use of the shower is a classic scene for a thriller as its using claustrophobic spaces, connotating entrapment. As Marion has her back turned this claustrophobic space you see a shadow popping up from behind her, so she has no whereto run. AS used in films like The Third Man where Harry ran to the sewers, a claustrophobic space with no escape, another thriller aspect is the use of shadows, leaving the audience as helpless and confused as Marion. 

Psycho uses representation in his film with aspect views of real life, like the policeman being corrupt, when the detective on the case goes missing, the sheriff just presumes he had a hot case and wanted all the glory, when in fact the twist was he had been killed by the killer who was who he was looking for, he just didn't know it yet. Which could offend policemen because as we all saw the detective was just trying to solve a case, and after his murder he was accused of running away. With a representation of a genuine nice guy, who is in fact the real killer (Norman), with the ideology of a helpful lonely man. In reality not all lonely men are psycho's but the twist element in this film is what allows the representation of gender; Marion being a victim. Psycho has quite a lot of 60's America cultural signifier s, the old ford cars, the desolate lonely motel, all things that could be associated with the 1960's America, bringing peoples attention to the country at hand.

The shower scene in Psycho is probably the most well known of Hitchcock's filming career, with a lot of thriller conventions thrown into one scene. The use of someone creeping behind someone else and then popping up is a classic aspect of a thriller film, being used in such films as Witness, where in the toilets a man comes up behind the policeman and starts to strangle him. 

Psycho has won such awards as Directors guilt of America (1961) for outstanding directional achievement in motion pictures and the Edgar Allen Po Awards (1961) won the best Edgar motion picture.

Reservoir Dogs Case Study

Director - Quentin Tarantino
Characters- Harvey Keital , Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and Lawrence Tierney

Proffesional review (BBC films) - 4 out of 5 stars
User Rating - 5 out of 5 stars

"Reservoir Dogs" is a supremely confident debut feature by writer and director Quentin Tarantino. And just like his follow up "Pulp Fiction", it generated the type of hype that it should struggle to justify. But it remains as shocking, perversely funny, and stylish as upon original release." (BBC Review)


This is another Quentin Tarantino film and was originally submitted for film classification in June 1992, and it gained alot of notice in a mix of film festivals. Its compilation of criminal behaviour, cool style cultures and exciting story of a bunch of thieves who fall out after a botched robbery, the story brang excitement and addrenaline to the viewers.




In this scene Tarantino uses alot of dark humor, which he uses in alot of his films. By saying things like "i hope you enjoyed that as much as i did" and saying "now dont you go anywere, even though the man was tied to a chair, all of this humor is seen as dark humor which is defined as a sub-genre of comedy and satire in which topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in a satirical or humorous manner while retaining their seriousness. Synonyms include dark comedy, black humor, dark humor, and morbid humor. which tarantino uses very well in this films. How one man is dancing along to very happy cheerfull music as he is about to kill another man, brings a horrible sense of reality and adds a sick twisted nature which is played so well by his character (Mr Blonde). As you cant see the police mans ear being cut off, the scene is made visual by just the sounds being made by the person in pain, which  How he is dancing and singing while throwing petrol on him about to burn him to death, as if he was mocking him, as if to say i'm so happy with the crime im about to comit.

Although strong, much of the violence in the film, such as that which occurs during the robbery, happens off screen or is limited to the climactic shootout at the warehouse and the strength of such ‘gangster’-related violence had been precedented in films such as Goodfellas.

 

This scene can be referenced to pulp fiction as they both start in a diner, and both have inter scene references.

Case study The third man

The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed  its a visually-stylish thriller - a paranoid story of social, economic, and moral corruption in a depressed, rotting and crumbling, 20th century Vienna following World War II. The striking film-noirish, shadowy thriller was filmed expressionistic within the decadent, shattered and poisoned city that has been sector-divided. 






In the title sequence is a full screen shot of a cultural signifier with a zither (Austrian instrument) straight away showing its in Austria, The opening theme is an instrumental written and performed by Antos Karas, The producers wanted a theme which would be appropriate for Viena. The theme is called 'The Harry Lime Theme' while the main character is called harry lime, so the music connotes the type of person harry lime is, sharp, sophisticated, and attractive, that is what the music connotes harry lime to be like.




The film starts off with the main character, Holly Martin, arriving in Viena trying to find his friend Harry, who wrote to him. He starts off walking to find the hotel where Harry was staying and walked under a ladder, which was a great use of black comedy, as walking under ladders is seen as bad luck, and at the beginning of the film, it shows how much bad luck will unfold through out the rest of the film.





Then when Holly gets to the building he is walking up the stairs with a big shadow behind him, with un natural light, as if he is being followed, then a caretaker man, starts talking to him in a different language, but there is no sub titles, to show that Holly doesn't understand what the man is saying eather, leaving you in the shoes of Holly. In a country which seems very strange to him, where he cant understand what anyone is saying. With the Stair case scene, it shows Holly at a high angle shot, while the man was speaking, which puts Holly in a position which is making him look small and insignificant. It also represents the post war Vienna, with lots of different nations came together, as it was split into 4 sections, speaking many different languages.

This film is based around wet shiny streets, connoting a sense of a nightmare/unreality with lots of winding streets, and darkness. with the wet shiny streets its also use full for reflecting low levels of chiaroscuro lighting, which is correlating surrealism whilst adding aesthetic interest to the mise en scene.





How characters are introduced in this film, is done amazingly, as Holly and the caretaker are arguing a ball bounces into the room, without it being noticed by Holly or the care taker, and a hand comes out from behind a door, and then slowly a face of a small child comes out from around the door, this little kid later on in the film becomes an annoyance and says it is Holly who has murdered a man, so a mob chases him. Using more black comedy, as two adults are running away from a child and eventually the child's shadow looking like a very large man chasing them.

At the near end of the film Holly is standing in the street, where he see's a man in the shadow, where you cant see the rest of his body apart from his shoes, and a cat is sitting next to it, when he starts yelling "step out in the light and let me look at ya" and some more black comedy saying "cat got your tongue?" because he cant see any of his body except his feet with a cat next to him, which gets the attention of an austrian woman who turns on a light and then 'the Harry Lime Theme' starts playing and the light shows you Harry lime's face, as he shows a smug look which  is connotative to the music in the background to go along to his personality.

Harry Lime is running from the police and living in the sewers because he has been selling hospitals watered down drugs which has led to the death of many children, him living in the sewers is connotative to him being a rat, but the sewers is also a very dark place with lots of winding passages and narrow path ways. But its in the sewer where Harry Lime eventually gets shot by Holly. 

At the end of the film it goes back to Harry's funeral which shows a repetition where Holly hasn't got any were since the begging of the film.

Beautiful shot of Holly walking into nothingness

New version on a femme fetal

Femme fetal's have changed quite alot in modern day cinema, as they are becoming more of the main characters in films, but are still femme fetal's they are mysterious and seductive.

Case Study Kill bill 2

(Coffin and Trailer scene)

This is a classic example of a Thriller film, with the headlights on a car coming towards you, almost blinding you and leaving you disorientated. This is the beginning of the whole Trailer, which straight away adds a mysterious feel, as if its all abit of a dream, (nightmare).








Lighting
The first light in the scene is what i talked about before, the car headlights, which leaves you disorientated and mysterious. With a dark outlook in the Mise-en-Scene it con-notates the dark personality of the Bill's brother, and gives off the personality's of a Noir film.

Camera angles
To begin with there is a good high angle/bird's eye view shot which shows how desolate and isolated the trailer is, with no one else around for miles. And as the car approaches the trailer it brings mysterious and a surreal landscape dream world, with there being a whole huge landscape it makes the trailer seem very insignificant and small, which shows just how small and isolated anyone in that environment would be.
The camera then comes into a close up, to show the look of suspicion and concern on bill's brothers face, as if someone is watching him. Then the camera follows him, as if someone is actually following him.

Sound
The use of sound in this beginning clip is mysterious as the camera angle and lighting, as it gets more tense as the scene does. But its not just what your hearing which is tense and eary, its what your not hearing which is also very tense, as we dont know what is going to happen next, and what is waiting behind the door of the trailer.





The coffin scene in 'Kill Bill' is an amazing piece of camera work and general tension. The classic thriller scene eather has claustrophobic spaces, or very large areas. with a common factor in both, there is no escape. 






The music while she has just been shot, is the same music as the "the good the bad and the ugly" as in kill bill there is also a good, a bad and an ugly character. Tarantino is not just playing this music to con-notate the good the bad and the ugly, but to also show respect to the director Sergio Leone.
                                                                           
  GOOD

Ugly

 Bad

Good ^

Bad

Ugly

 

A Noir Film

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression,

Some could argue that the film Sunset Boulevard (1950) is one of the top Noir films, because It is so brilliantly shot (in that stark black/white that only nitrate negative could achieve), has a witty, clever and extremely well-written script, features some of the best acting in film's history, acrobatically balances the main plot/subplots with expert precision.

Storyline

The story, set in '50s Hollywood, focuses on Norma Desmond, a silent-screen goddess whose pathetic belief in her own indestructibility has turned her into a demented recluse. The crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion where she lives with only her butler, Max who was once her director and husband has become her self-contained world. Norma dreams of a comeback to pictures and she begins a relationship with Joe Gillis, a small-time writer who becomes her lover, that will soon end with murder and total madness.

the meaning of a femme fetal

A femme fatale  is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations, The phrase is French for "deadly woman". A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. Typically, she is exceptionally well-endowed in addition to possessing these qualities. In some situations, she uses lying or coercion rather than charm. She may also be (or imply to be) a victim, caught in a situation from which she cannot escape; The Lady From Shanghai (a 1947 film noir) is one such example

An example of a Femme Fetal, from the film Gilda



This woman is essentially seen as a femme fetal, she is a provocative dangerous woman, who is also very vulnerable. This film is also an example of a Noir film as it has very dark lighting, and is in black and white