Genre Research

The psychological thriller genre is not one to be widely incorporated into a mass variety of films as much as the "thriller" genre, but when the art of a thriller is combined with the reality of human psychology, it can come down to create some of the most impactful films featuring topics of importance while creating suspensful storytelling. The type of storytelling that can challenge our perceptions and engage us on a deep emotional level. While the genre is not as popularized as comedies, romances, horror or action films, the psychological thriller genre is still remains to be a vital and evolving component of film and television, captivating audiences with it's exploration of the human condition. So what exactly is a psychological thriller and how does it differ from what we would call a "regular" thriller genre film? A psychological thriller is a sub-genre of the thriller category, emphasizing the unstable emotional or psychological state of its charaters. Unlike thrillers, that rather prefer to rely on physical challenges or external adversaries and present the viewers with content contaning high-stakes; this sub-genre mainly focuses on a conflict that is often internal, rooted in the mind. When watching a film that falls under this category of genre, you might begin to ask yourself, how to differ and identify the two, but the answer is quite simple. The main factor that distincts the two is if the film focuses more on a deep dive of the minds of one or multiple characters; as they face challenges while the film progresses and we begin to see how their perspective on certain aspects becomes compromised in some way. By making those important observations, we can begin to see how these are the basic characteristics that make up a psychological thriller. The way this sub-genre is able to gather it's specific target audience is by using certain production techniques to incorporate topics that might spark interest in certain age groups by presenting content that contains realistic conflicts we can be faced with, and turning them into something artistically unsettling and tragic, or even in some cases depending on the film, tragically beautiful. So exactly what tecniques need to be incorporated into a production in order to create a remarkable film that represents our genre? Pychological thrillers typically incorporate content that includes, mind games (when characters often engage in manipulative or deceitful behaviour to gan the upper hand), internal struggles, psychological disorders (often exploring conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia or depression which play a crucial role in the storyline), isolation, reality vs. perception, moral ambiguity, and dark themes. An example of media that does an overview of the topics listed periously, are movies like American Psycho (2000), directed by Mary Harron. It is a film where we are driven through certain plot twists which make us question things on broader aspects. The prescence of heavy narcissim and manipulative behaviour is present within our main character Patrick Bateman, as well as many other psychological issues that our character is faced with like psychopathic behaviour and identity disorder; character traits like lack of empathy, superficial charm, and violent tendencies are also very crucial part of this film that have found themselves to be well portrayed. This film can also give the audience the message of the effects of a materialistic society and how it slowly begins to affect mental health. In order to create a well made production, we have to remember it is important to not only know how to manage content and how it is portrayed to successfully embody our genre, but we have to make careful observations; the way the technique of a production is handled, plays a very important role into what is the final result of a film. Certain production techniques include, cinematography, sound design (eerie, suspensful music that can heighten tension), narrative strucure, character development, and visual symbolism. These techniques work together to immerse the audience in the psychological tension and mystery, making the experience of watching a psychological thriller both engaging and unsettling. And as important as the content and production techniques are in our films, what makes them get recorgnized in the first place is marketing these movies. Genre is marketed by using techniques like viral marketing, online trailers and teasers, cross-promotions, etc. The target audience of this sub-genre is typically adults with ranging ages of 25-45 years old. More examples of psychological thriller films that explore themes of the previously discussed information, are films like "Black Swan" (2010), "The Shining" (1980), "Psycho" (1960), "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), "The Guilty" (2021), "Us" (2019), and "Get Out" (2017) which successfully delve into the complexities of the human psyche. These films employ a variety of techniques to create tension and suspense, from the unsettling atmospheres and haunting soundtracks to the intricate character studies and shocking plot twists. Each movie uniquely explores themes such as identity, paranoia, addiction, and societal issues, leaving impact on the audience. By creating something that blends both psychological depth and thrilling narratives, films like these will continue to captivate and provoke thought, solidifying their place in the genre's legacy.

Representation

Analyzing the representation patterns in the film, "Dead Poets Society". The 1989 coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Weir and originally written by Tom Schulman, gives us a beautiful yet tragic view and representation of growth, standards and expectations, the importance of finding your voice, and most importantly the pursuit of passion, even thought that is already a wide spectrum of real-life experiences, there is more to this film that we are able to deep dive into and uncover. In this film, we are presented with various forms of social groups each containing their differences with how they view life as they know it. We are presented with what it is to go through certain transitions in life as our characters start to learn how to pursue their deepest desires while in the process of turning it into art day by day. On the other side, there is the other group who are represented to be more conservative, with certain idealistic standards as they push themselves and others to strive for ultimate success; giving us an insight on what perfectionism can do to a person, especially if they are attempting to strive for something not because it is something the character feels is worth striving for but in order to meet certain expectations. Most importantly it provides us with a social movement which grows to become as we know, the memebers of the Dead Poets Society. To provide more profound insights, our film introduces one of the main character leads professor John Keating at an all-boys preparatory school that is known for it's ancient traditions and high standards. He uses unorthodox methods to reach out to his students, who face enormous pressures from their parents and the school. With Keating's help, students Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, and others learn to break out of their shells, pursue their dreams and seize the day. The film surrounds itself most importantly around these three main characters; along with Neil's father Thomas Perry who is the epidemy of the conservative and high standardized views which cause a drastic evolution of problems throughout both beginning and end of this film. In the beginning of our film we are introduced with representation #1. The school's traditional views of what success, discipline, and education "should look like". In the film we are provided with a close-up shot in the opening scene that focuses on a banner which displays the word "Tradition", which we learn to know that it is one of the four pillars of the school's philosophy. "Tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence." This already give us a representation of our first social group which is the school and it's staff along with parents etc. This is what they expect from their growing boys who we as an audience, think these are only teenagers who are still on the verge of trying to figure out life as a whole, but this is proven otherwise as we are given representation #2. The second representation is simply giving us the insight on real-life scenarios where parents tend to plan ahead for their child. This means, choosing the extra curriculars they are going to perform, choosing their life/career choices and even sometimes at extremes making choices of who their child is going to marry; making them marry into wealth, etc. This group of boys we are introduced with as of right now have no idea what it is they are truly passionate for, they only know the picture in which their parents have sketched out for them throughout the course of their entire lives. This film gives a really good representation of what that looks like for the people who have gone through those experiences. Representation #3, following along with the school's and Neil's father's expectation of excellence, we have a specific character who contradicts these views and acts upon his views in an inspiring way. In a scene where he is teaching his english class the poetry section of the book, he asks someone to read aloud, the reading sounds dull and doesn't enchance the true art that literature can contain. Keating is well aware, he uses different techniques than the rest of the professors at the school which is what makes his character so remarkable. Which represents what breaking the norm can look like. He goes on to perform an excercise of his own by making the students rip out the pages of their text-books in order to teach them what literature truly consists of. Here we see a moment of enlightment with Neil as Keating goes on to recite the iconic dialogue that follows after they rip the pages. (presented below). https://youtu.be/-7OE6bDfM2M?si=jC9qhH0x4LkdbJM7 (link to specific scene of the film) Professor John Keating, our former inspirer in this film as he opens the eyes of seven boys for the pursuit of passion. Not only talks about poetry in a realistic persective, but incorporates the poetry into real life. This is when the boys not only learn what they love, but learn to come out of their shells, to become men, and most importantly to seize the day. There is many more representations I can cover but as of now I am going to lastly cover one of the most important forms of representation of this film, and it is passion. One of our main characters as we know him; Neil is a good example of what this can look like but most importatnly what it can do to a person,if things were to go not as planned. Neil dreams of being an actor, we see as he desires to audition for a play but is not able to because of his father's conservative views. He feels as though an acting career will provide nothing but failure in his son's future. In a rush of achieving something he truly feels will fulfill his heart, he decides to audition for the play behind his father's back. Later on in the film, as his father gets an idea of the situation, he proceeds to make drastic decisions which will alter our characters final fate in a way we would've never imagined. A tragic act of passion, the representation of what it looks like to become consumed in your art, to want to not only perform it but to want to embody it, to become it. Not discussing furthermore the ending events of this film, I now say that this film is a well made representation of the male youth in the late 1950's with the following themes consisting of certain education standards, conformity and success, rebellion and passion, and men, women, and love. This coming of age gives us an insight of an artistic view of things, but also gives us a realistic view of the struggles and tragedies we can come to experience at some point in our lives. It is a perfect film that serves as a timeless reminder that conformity stifles creativity and hinders personal growth. It encourages one to pursue desires that can result in the means of love or success and challenge the norms that restrict our individuality. "Dead Poets Society" isnt't just a film about poetry, but a film in which we can all learn something from, which is to find a sense of fulfillment and discover our true purpose in life.

Sound Project

For my third project of the semester, we learned not only how to work with shots and camera angles and how they can convey a meaning in a story, but we also learned the most important part when it comes to creating a film. We learned how to work with sound, we learned how foley's are made and how we can even create our own. This taught us how to really put our creative skills to the test, so now I will present what was created. Our objective was for us to learn how to tell a story using only sound effects and other auditory techniques, we brainstormed ideas and put them down in an outline. As we went through with our ideas, in order to organize them and merge them into a successful piece of work, we were asked to create a 1-2 minute sound sample that tells a story, with the option of having seven words included in the audio. We needed to create an audio recording of a scene using sound effects from online databases and everyday objects, with no video allowed just a black screen or still shot. At least four of the sound effects must be created using random objects on a "foley stage," and we should video the process of making these sounds. We needed to submit three files: a fully edited sound file of our scene labeled with the group members' last names and period, a video file of the four foley stage sounds edited together and similarly labeled, and 1-3 images of the editing timeline showing all audio layers. During our brainstorming we listed audios that you would hear in a restaurant and in a home. The story line demonstrated two friends who were on the way to a restaurant to have dinner; shorlty afterward as they headed back home for a sleepover, they unpacked their bags and ended off their night with a movie. We incorporated these sounds in the appropriate matter in order to create a satisfactory project. The outline helped us organize our story line and allowed us to figure out the order in which we would be producing these sounds as well. The outlines are a great source for students to organize their ideas in a efficient matter. When we began to create our sound project, we made sure to incorporate editing techniques, and we used the adobe editing tool. Improvement that could've been added to my project would've been if we were able to produce a sample that allowed us more time in order to include the remaining piece of the story that we initially wrote down in our outline, but since we ran out of time, we were only able to include the first half of what was planned. In other aspects, I think we did a pretty good job. The final product will now be listed here: Sound sample: https://youtu.be/N0mz46UTyY0 Foley stage: https://youtu.be/24NR0LuDfV8