With reference to Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ (1960) and at least two other thrillers you have studied, as part of your wider research, discuss the thriller and its forms and conventions.
Conventionally, a thriller usually consists of many things, including suspense, tension and excitement which are some of its main elements, although many thrillers use different methods to convey these elements to their audiences, the general conventions used are more or less the same throughout.
For example, usually a thriller consists of a protagonist battling out (through physical or mental means) against an antagonist, this usually means a typical good vs. evil battle. And usually this confrontation or struggle leads to a climax which the film has been building the audience up to for the entirety of the film. Unlike other genres (such as action) which rely on this, in thrillers, the protagonists are often very normal people with whom the audience can more readily relate. In this build to the climax, all successful thrillers will keep their audiences on the edge of their seats while putting them through a rush of different emotions such as exhilaration and excitement when the various climaxes are reached as well as suspense in the build up to these climaxes.
The 'thriller' genre includes many sub genres including psychological thrillers, which emphasizes on the psychology of its characters and in some cases their unstable emotional states, crime thrillers, which as the name suggests focuses on the lives of criminals and mystery thrillers which usually focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator, or even an amateur detective in their efforts to solve the mysterious circumstances that have unfolded, these along many other sub genres, make up the 'thriller' genre.
Among the many elements vital in a thriller, there is none more so than suspense. This is a crucial characteristic in the genre and gives the viewer a feeling of apprehension, tension, uncertainty, tension and anxiety among other emotions.
A pioneer in the thriller genre is Alfred Hitchcock. His films and techniques used are renowned all over the world to have drastically changed the outlook of thrillers and his work is a benchmark for most thrillers made even today. One of Hitchcock’s most successful films ‘Psycho’ was revolutionary in its own way too. This film uses a range of techniques to provoke feelings and suspicions in the audience. For instance, the psychotic character and antagonist of the film Norman Bates has his sinister attributes forewarned to the audience to suggest that all is not well. This heightens the suspense at an early stage. One realises that the Janet Leigh’s character could be in jeopardy and the tension is racked up by degrees throughout the first section of the film.
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One instance of this is when the initial protagonist Marion- a character the audience sees as themselves- first meets Bates at his motel. He seems like an ordinary, if not a socially awkward, man. But when Marion eats with him in the parlour we as an audience start to see telling signs of Norman’s darker character. Hitchcock uses props very effectively to do this, in the parlour; there are many stuffed birds on the wall, something Bates describes as his ‘hobby. In one shot, when Bates is talking to Marion, there is a side-on shot of Bates and just above him on the wall is a stuffed owl with its wings spread as if it’s swooping down on its prey, this perhaps is to show a dangerous or at least menacing side to Bates.
As well as the birds on the wall in this scene, there is also a painting of a naked woman getting attacked. The woman has no clothes on showing vulnerability, similar to the vulnerability of Marion in the film, and the fact the woman in the painting is getting attacked suggests a foreshadowing to Marion’s safety also.
Finally, in this scene as well as the props Hitchcock uses to provoke an effect he also uses shadows and low key lighting to give an unsettling effect. For example, while in the parlour scene Marion’s face is always in the light and never darkened by shadows, Norman’s face is almost always darkened by them. For example, while he is talking to Marion, chiaroscuro lighting is used on his face; this perhaps shows the two sides of Norman’s character, which is the heart of his insanity.
In another scene from ‘Psycho’, we see an example of Hitchcock using suspense and tension in the audience to build up to a sudden, shocking climax which satisfies the audience’s emotions of tension and excitement. In the scene where the detective Arbogast enters ‘Mothers House’ the tension is already building as soon as he goes in as the audience knows he shouldn’t be there and that he is a highly dangerous space. While the detective approaches and enters the house, there is non diegetic music of a subtle, foreboding nature, this soft but constant tune increases the tension and suspense within this scene and gives the audience the impression that something significant is going to happen, therefore creating Hitchcock’s desired effect.
When Arbogast enters the house, Hitchcock plays with the audience probing at these emotions. For example when Arbogast shuts the door he flinches when it makes a sound, this makes the audience nervous for Arbogast as they don’t want him to be discovered or harmed. Also, when he is looking over the house, he first looks to the downstairs room, which has a lamp on and is full of light, and then it cuts to the upstairs, which is in shadow, and, through the angle of the shot, not fully in shot due to the stairs making up half of the shot. This adds a sense of mystery and although the audience don’t want the detective found, they want him to explore to reach a satisfactory resolution for the audience to end the suspense of mystery. As Arbogast slowly walks up the stairs there is a slow, steady retreating shot of him adding to the tension. After this shot, there is a low angled shot of a door slowly opening as Arbogast his walking up the stairs, this again heightens the tension as it suggests Arbogast might be in danger. As Arbogast reaches the top of the stairs Hitchcock reaches the climax and the music suddenly changes to a constant, jarring, high pitched tone when the camera cut s to a Birdseye view of the ‘mother’ holding a knife attacking and killing Arbogast. The sharp change in music and shot, as well as the sudden escalation of events excerbates the variety of emotions the audience is feeling and creates a feeling of adrenaline and excitement as well as fear among the audience.
‘Seven’ (1995) is David Fincher’s thriller containing crime and horror elements. This film, as well as psycho, uses a lot of thriller conventions to create varied emotions with its audience. For example, the use of the protagonist and the antagonists are used to full effectiveness through the acting performances of the characters. When Joe Doe turns himself in and is leading the protagonists, Detectives Mills and Somerset to an unknown destination the acting performance especially of Doe’s and Mills character builds tension for what is to come.
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First of all, the fact that the two detectives don’t know what awaits them at the end of their destination again is an example of the use of mystery and expectation in a thriller to create suspense. While they are driving, although Doe is initially the character who should have the least power as he is a prisoner in handcuffs in a police car, however, in this scene Fincher shows us that in fact Doe is the one who holds the most power in the car and that he has another twist for left for the detectives. We can see this when Mills and Doe are talking Doe is almost completely still while Mills is fidgeting and is agitated, Doe only moves when he leans forward in taunting Mills about their earlier confrontation in the film when Doe spared him. At this point Mills resorts to yelling confirming that Doe is the most powerful character.
Another scene which I believe demonstrates the conventions of a thriller is the ‘Sloth’ scene. For example at the start of this scene the mise en scene’ is of a very dour, grey city where it’s raining again showing us the bleakness of the city. The first shot pans down to a bleak looking block of apartments where the scene takes place. When the SWAT team enters the apartment after breaking down the door the audience is given a handheld shot from the view of the SWAT leader, this shot gives the audience the same perspective as the protagonists meaning the viewer is experiencing similar emotions to what they are feeling in the scene adding to the sense of jeopardy of the situation as well as the suspense and tension already created in the scene. Set in context the audience is waiting for the next terrible thrill, horrific moment – the same pattern has been played out before which instead of decreasing the tension adds to it – a common practise in thrillers. The detectives have already been through this ‘game’ twice before. `When the protagonists enter the room of the crime the audience gets the climax it has been waiting for when they pull off the sheet and the gruesome body of the victim is revealed showing us the horror elements of this particular thriller.
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No Country for Old Men (2007) directed by the Coen brothers is a neo-Western thriller. In the coin toss scene in the film, we see the psychotic serial killer Anton Chigurh talking to the owner of a petrol station, in this scene, the tensions between the two characters continue to build as they are talking leading to Chigurh asking him to ‘call’ which side the coin he flipped landed on. One element which makes this scene more intriguing is that it is in an ordinary situation-unlike the other two thrillers- which escalate to a very tense exchange between the two characters. It starts when Chigurh enters the shop and the owner tries to make idle small talk with him. When the owner starts asking questions about where Chigurh is from Chigurh quickly turns hostile towards him. In the scene, Chigurh is dressed completely in black, this perhaps suggests his dark character or that he represents death as it is the colour of the grim reaper. Throughout the conversation the Coen brothers use a series of reverse shots to convey the conversation. When the two men are talking the only sound in the background is the diegetic sound of the wind, however, when Chigurh flips his coin, a non diegetic, slowly building tune starts. As the tune is slowly builds, so does the tension in this scene as the viewer prepares for the climax which h is being built towards. When the shop owner finally calls heads Chigurh lifts his hand from the coin, when it reveals the owner got it right, the tune stops, being replaced again by the wind, diffusing the situation and leaving the audience feeling relief.
Also, this film ties in with the thriller convention of taking an ordinary person-Llewelyn Moss-and placing him in extraordinary circumstances, in this case finding the suitcase of money and being tracked down and hunted by the mysterious and deadly Chigurgh. Chigurgh is portrayed in the film as unlike any other person and to an extent almost inhuman. He is shown to have no desires or basic human emotions and is instead ruthlessly carrying out his job. The use of the coin demonstrates this as he can’t draw on his own personal feelings for guidance and is instead guided by fate and chance, this again reduces his humanity and makes him an effective villain as he is unpredictable and un relatable to the viewer.
Conventionally in thrillers, the three I have analysed being no exception, there is a lot more required from the audience themselves in comparison to other film genres, for example action adventure of fantasy films. For example, in Psycho, what appears to be the main protagonist Marion is killed off by Hitchcock halfway through the movie, whereas in another genre the protagonist would stay as the lead character that the audience would root for in this the audience has to re adapt. In Seven has an intricate, clever plot where the main premise is of the detectives finding clues to lead them to the killer, this requires the audience to stay with this complicated series of events. And finally, in No Country for Old Men, the plot follows three different story arcs, which intertwine throughout the movie. Again in No Country for Old Men the main protagonist-Llewelyn Moss-is killed off.
