Conventionally, Thrillers use all elements of film;
mise en scene, framing, camera movement, sound etc to create a tense atmosphere
that is manifested in audience reactions and emotions. The thriller genre is
seen to be a specific adaptation of cinema that focuses on not only generating
fear in the audience but also generating excitement, making audience predict
future events. Its also common for a thriller to not offer a satisfactory happy
ending to maintain audience tension and fear of a possible reality of the film.
Often, characters that are portrayed in Thrillers are depicted as curious and
often seek answers, its common that these characters often die during the
story. The fear conveyed in the audience through thrillers is made due to the
characters and how often these characters are just ordinary characters in
extraordinary situations, creating a relationship between the audience and the
film, increasing the fear of the possible reality of the situation depicted in
thrillers. The Thriller genre can split off into sub genres. For example
psychological Thrillers such as “Pyscho” and “Shutter Island” (Martin Scorsese)
and Crime Thrillers such as “The Departed” (Martin Scorsese). These are the
films I will be studying in the essay.
Hitchcock effectively creates a great thriller
through the many conventions that he initially invented and that are still
impacting audiences today, some of the conventions are character portrayal. The
central characters that appear in “Pyscho” are deemed to be ordinary, creating
a feeling of relation between the audience and the character. However the only
difference is, is that these characters are in extraordinary situations as
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is seen to be stealing a large sum of money and is
on the run. The sense of the characters being ordinary highlights to the audience
that it could be “you and me” so to speak, elevating the fear of the possible
reality of the situations portrayed in the film.
“Pyscho” is based on a true story written by Ed
Gein that documents the life of an American Serial killer, propelling the fear
of the audience, highlighting the great scripting of Joseph Stefano. The script
for “Pyscho” manages to maintain fear as the audience is introduced to the
character of Norman Bates. Stefano manages to quickly introduce the protagonist
to the film – Marion Crane who is depicted as having made a decision to run off
with a large sum of money. A common human decision therefore relating to
audience and how their minds work in terms of temptation and imperfection,
drawing the audience into the story. However we, as the audience, soon realize
that Marion is a false protagonist, as she is murdered quite soon into the
film. This demonstrates the genius of Alfred Hitchcock as “Pyscho” breaks all
the conventional rules by killing off the main star of the film yet still
manages to maintain interest and fear throughout. That’s what makes “Pyscho” a
masterpiece.
Stefano discreetly refers to private traps due to
his script writing, suggesting traps in life and a struggle to escape – shown
through the character of Marion Crane who is clearly portrayed through her
facial expression and body language to be tired of the life she lives and the interminable
cycle she experiences every day, therefore leading to the eventual catalyst of
the narrative – as her decision to steal the money eventually lead to her
fatality. Its clear that Hitchcock understands the audience and knows that
money and power drive their motivations and that this greed in life an cause a
downfall.
Another convention to “Pyscho” and most good
thrillers are the plot twists in the films. These plot twists are essential in
a good thriller as they maintain audience interest through diverting from the
inevitable and creating an unpredictable twist for the audience. They
effectively bewilder the audience and create something that they lease expect,
preventing the audience to attempt to foreshadow events of the film. Hitchcock
does this well in creating a false protagonist, Marion Crane and generating a
fake villain that turns out to be Norman Bates in disguise, creating surprise
and twists in the story, maintaining the interest in the film from the
audiences perspective. The drastic change in storyline keeps the audience in
suspense even though the main character has died. Hitchcock draws the audience
in due to their overwhelming intrigue as there are many unanswered questions (a
key concept in thrillers) and they want to find out more.
Hitchcock
effectively uses Mise en scene, framing, camera movement, sound and overall
cinematography to generate the suspense and tension in “Pyscho” – this is vital
in Thrillers. These aspects generate the “thrill” for the audience. We see
Hitchcock focus on the eeriness of the dark house in which, the audience are
lead to believe, Norman Bates and his mother live. The mysteriousness of Norman
Bates situation and the house instantly generates alarm in the audience,
creating fear and making the audience expect future events and predict what
actually goes on in there. Similarly Hitchcock uses the unkempt Motel to link
in with the house, the desertion and lack of activity in both buildings creates
fear and anxiety.
Hitchcock
builds the several different shots together in a sequence for an effect for
example he slowly builds up the story about the policeman’s suspicion of Crane
and how he follows her and finds her car etc, this is possibly a factor that
leads to Marion Crane eventually changing her mind and intending to return the
stolen money which would be morally correct, however she still dies, this
raises questions in the audience “should she really die?”. Hitchcock uses this to break the rules and
raise the fear in the audience through the unexpected outcome of her death.
Hitchcock uses editing and sound as cinematic manipulation to
create a carefully thought out horrific and iconic murder scene resulting in
cinematic magic and perfection. Hitchcock uses a combination 78 shots in the
short scene to contribute to the thrill and fear. He initially uses the editing
in a slow pace. Using a very steady cut rhythm making the audience feel
comfortable, as reflected by the high angle shots reflecting water dripping
down from the shower to show the normality of the scene. He then uses continuous
quick shots in succession combine to display the horrific murder in a frantic
motion. The shots range from extreme close ups of Leigh’s unaware and
supposedly relaxed state convey to the rising tension and eventual surprise of
the murder. Before Janet Leigh’s character is murdered the audience witness the
shadow of the figure nearing the shower curtain before they attack her thus
building suspense and reinstating the unawareness of Marion Crane. Hitchcock
uses extreme close ups of Marion’s hand and body to convey her defenselessness
against the mystery attacker. He then uses a “Shot-reverse shot” when the
camera repeatedly transfers from the woman to the murders point of view to
emphasize not only the brutality of the murder but the fear and quick heart beats
of the viewer. Hitchcock pans across the bath tub floor towards the plug
causing the audience to focus on Marion’s downfall, then a fade transition is
used of the plug whole that merges into Marion’s lifeless eye in a rotating
motion. Followed by a track shot from her gaze to the bedroom directing the
audience to the money therefore possibly suggesting that her downfall was
deserved due to her greed. Hitchcock expresses the moral liability. All the
editing of the scene can help portray the overall feeling and emotion of the
scene. In this case fear, tension, inevitability and suspense.
The iconic shower scene is further intensified through the use of
music and the mise en scene. As the audience we are convinced that Marion Crane
is being stabbed and violently attacked in the shower yet we never witness the
sight of the knife entering the woman’s flesh. Hitchcock cleverly uses the
sound effects, editing and the music to convey this sense of stabbing, this
timeless and violent scene is entirely left up to the imagination of the
audience, again demonstrating the genius of Hitchcock and cinema. As Hitchcock
realizes that imagination has no limits and is the best catalyst for horror and
thrill. Therefore, even though Hitchcock has only exposed the audience to 45
seconds of non-Stop violence yet he didn’t show any on screen, the audience
still envisages this horror in their mind. The blood in the scene is also
highly effective for displaying horror. It is clearly darker and thicker,
making it stand out, causing the audience to focus on the slow flowing of blood
making the audience realize the brutality of the murder.
The music also contributes to the suspense of the scene as the
musical score expresses the fear through the sharp strings of violin and cellos
creating an intensity that leads to her inevitable death, thus creating a
chilling disturbing atmosphere. This musical genius is now and still extremely
iconic and recognizable and still has the same effect to that of when Hitchcock
originally used it in 1960. The sound and music can evoke a reaction from the
audience. Hitchcock simply uses the diegetic sound of the domestic surroundings
such as the shower then slowly builds up sounds to suggest a potentially
dangerous intruder through the use of footsteps, the pulling of the shower
curtain and of course eventually the use of animalistic screams and shrieks to
suggest the pain and ruthlessness. The music intensifies during the fast cuts
of stabbing to emphasize the fear and madness of the situation. This breaks the
suspense that had originally been created with the silence and slow paced
editing.
