Casting for Thriller

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.

Costumes for my thriller

In our film we are using hoodies because then you cannot see the actors faces at all, and it adds a menacing sense to it which brings a certain darkness to the scene. Another reason we picked hoodies is because people can relate to people wearing hoodies and tracksuits as causing mischief and being a menace to society. With the look of someone who is anti-social, brings out a sense of reality but also connotes the feel of a nightmare, not being able to see the persons face, and not being able to know what there really thinking, facial expressions show alot about someone, but when you can bearly see the face of an actor it shows how synister and mysterious the character really is. Hoodies hide the identity of the wearer which brings a criminal aspect to the character, if the hood is up it seems asif they are up to something. The hoodie has become a social steriotype which is not always true, but people judge people as misfits even when not. One film we used to reference for our film is the film 'Kidulthood' which shows an image of kids going around causing trouble, dressed as the common steriotype of kids up to no good. The actors in 'Kidulthood' are just like the characters in our film, but in our film the characters are not really given the chance to show there personalitys apart from a brief encounter with the main female character.

The character who causes the crime, of attacking the female character is going to be wearing a suit, a suit represents someone with sophistication and authority, as it has traditionally been worn by people with power, and is there for associated with success and wealth, World leaders are generally seen in suits. A suit is also seen as part of a higher class backround as they are expensive, where as a hoodie you can pick up for cheap as its multifunctional and durable, but a suit is for people who need to be seen as smart and important. The twist is its the man in the suit is the real one that is causing the most trouble, which people would most likely associate with the people wearing hoodies, not the respectable looking man wearing a suit. A film which also uses people in suits which are causing trouble is 'Reservoir Dogs' were a bunch of gangsters looking sophisticated go and cause alot of trouble indulging in a big crime job which eventually gets them in trouble.

The genre of our film

The genre of our film is a mix between, drama and thriller expressing aspects of both genre's. We used refrences from films such as Witness and The Girl With The Dragon tattoo, as they go over the same thriller and crime drama conventions as us. We switched between the boundaries of genre's and shifting to become more permeable.
Audiences would enjoy watching our thriller because it shows a gritty reality in which people could relate to, our storyline is something that could happen and isnt to un-realistic, in our thriller we picked locations which seem gritty and grimey areas which people can relate to as there common area's in England, which brings the audience a look on the reality of these desolate discusting areas. Another reason the audience would enjoy our thriller is the fact that the girl in our film judges two boys for there appearence, when in reality they were not the ones she needed to look out for, and i feel the audience would be able to relate to that as lots of people judge others for what they look like, when in fact it could be anyone who has the sick twisted mind which enroll's into our thriller.


Our thriller has a good narrative pleasures, as there is a big twist in it, and also a mystery which is yet to be unsolved. Another thing our thriller brings is visual pleasures, but has a twist on that, as the visual pleasures are not always pleasant, but they show a gritty image, with a harsh reality on grimy areas. It also might add psychological pleasures as people could relate to some of the characters, like our character 'Stevie' who is always getting stereotyped for what he wears, I'm sure a large group of audience could relate to that which would give them a psychological pleasure as they would know what 'Stevie' was going through and in turn would make them feel great empathy for this character, also some female audience could have overprotective fathers who do not like them seeing certain boys, and when people can relate to a film they could enjoy it more.


Our thriller 'Fathers Day' would be more related to Indie films rather than mainstream as it has a low budget and not big name actors, the sort of film company's which would be interested in 'Fathers Day' would be 'Warp' and 'Working Title' as 'Fathers Day' has a unusual genre which is not really seen in such cinemas as Vue or Odeon, But more likely to be shown in more independent cinemas such as Cinema City. Unfortunately  'Fathers Day' would not appeal to all Indie audiences as our film does not have a brilliant niche factor to it.


Our thriller 'Fathers Day' would be more indie production based on other films like it such as Kidulthood and Adulthood, which would bring audiences more to our film with the success of other films like it. With hopefully the funding from some were like film4 or the UK film council, which are more likely to accept and deliberate with Indie films.


Our thriller adds a lot of different sub cultures into one including Mystery, Psychological and Realistic. With a twist at the end which keeps the audience interested and wanting to know the reasons why a father would attack his daughter,  so i would list our thriller as a Psycho realist thriller. And as it has a wide range of sub cultures and genre's it would apply to a wide range of audiences.

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.

Preliminary Task

Thriller location

     With a tilted camera angle down an alley way, it gives off a feeling of a dream.                                         

The Use of an alley was gives off a chlaustrophobic feeling

The graffiti on the wall shows how grimey area, where kids run around doing what they please

With the dark alley way, getting inspiration from the film 'the third man

With the bars connotating prison, no escape

With the wet floor, giving an effect of cold and gritty, with the inspiration of the sewers in 'the third man'

The long roadway to show how desolate the scene is, and how people could just fade into the background, like in 'The Third Man' when Harry's girlfriend was walking down the long road after his funeral

The grimey walls and shady parked cars gives off an effect of crime and poverty, getting insperation from the film 'kidulthood'

With the shut shops showing that there is no one arround, and the scene is desolate and bleak.

With the bars connotating prison, like from the film 'Essex Boys' where jason and billy are going through a tunnel and what looks like bars shadow across the windscreen.