A Case Study Into Psychological Thriller

   What is Psychological Thriller?    

Psychological thriller is a sub-genre of the thriller genre. Therefore, to define psychological thriller, it is best to first define what a thriller is.

Thriller films look to create high levels of suspense and anticipation in the viewer by creating intense, complex, and plot-twist-ridden stories. These films often have darker themes and visuals, and can even at some points blur the line between mere suspense and horror.

Psychological thrillers build off of this foundation laid down by thrillers. Psychological thrillers tend to share all of these aforementioned qualities, while having an emphasis on the psychology (the mental state) of the main character and those around them.

    Content Commonly Seen in Psychological Thriller

A defining characteristic of many psychological horror films is the use of an unreliable narrator. What do I mean by this? Many psychological thrillers make use of protagonists who are not psychologically sound without the viewer discovering this until later in the film or without it ever even being revealed. This can lead to many of the main events being twisted through the perspective of the protagonist. A good example of this is with one of the protagonists of the film The Sixth Sense (1999), Dr. Malcolm Crowe. We the viewer see the story unfold from Dr. Crowe's perspective and are led to believe that he is a child psychologist who is treating a young boy who claims to see ghosts. However, it is not revealed until the end of the film that Dr. Crowe is actually deceased and is one of the ghosts that the boy sees.

Malcolm Crowe and Cole Sear, The Sixth Sense (1999)

The use of an unreliable narrator can lead the viewer to question many aspects of the plot. However, another common trait of psychological thrillers that can achieve this same questioning is the tendency to make the viewer uncertain about the truthfulness of other characters in the film. For instance, the main character of Vertigo (1958) is mislead throughout the film by his love interest, leaving the viewer to question everything they witnessed throughout the film, along with the main character.

Lastly, a staple of the psychological thriller genre is a good plot twist. Psychological thrillers love to spin the story around on the head of the viewer, changing their whole perception on their viewing experience hitherto. Plot twists in psychological thrillers are often developed and hinted at throughout the entire story, and often occur near the end of the film (in order to change the meaning of the ending and therefore the entire story so far) or near the mid-point (to change the meaning of the film from that point-on). Common twists in psychological thrillers may include the change of perspective of the protagonist based on realizations of their mental state or the discovery that something that was thought true is actually false.

    Techniques Commonly Used in the Production of Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thrillers tend to have darker tones in both the story and visuals. To achieve a darker visual tone, these films tend to make use of low-key lighting, which emphasizes shadows and high contrast to bring out the darker aspects of the story.

Use of Low-Key Lighting in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The editing style is also distinct in psychological thrillers. Fast-paced editing may be used in some instances where a character feels mentally unstable or disconnected from reality. Or, perhaps, slower paced editing, with longer and more drawn out shots may be utilized to build suspense during key moments. 

Psychological thrillers also tend to use more avant-garde elements, such as experimental visuals to represent how a certain character is feeling mentally, or to represent a key idea in the film. An example would be in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), where the experimental spiral visuals are representative of disorientation, both in the sense of the protagonist's vertigo and his confusion regarding the truth, and his obsession with his lover, evident in the hypnotic nature of the spirals.

Opening Credit Sequence, Vertigo (1958)

Marketing 

Most psychological thriller movie posters make use of dark and muted colors, reflective of the darker themes and moods associated with this sub-genre of film. Specifically, the color back can be attributed with mystery and fear, drawing the potential viewer in to what will be a film full of suspense. This can be seen in the film posters at the end of this blog post.

Psychological thrillers are often geared towards people aged 15-30, and of either genders. However, they specifically appeal to those who love suspense and exploring the mysteries that lie within the human mind. It is for viewers who want a film that will leave them thinking when they leave the theaters.

Analysis   

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Requiem for a Dream follows four main character, assessing the idea of addiction throughout each of their stories. Protagonist Harry, and his best friend Tyrone both become entrenched in the life of heroin dealing and use. Harry's girlfriend decides to chase her dreams of being an artist, and his mother becomes addicted to diet pills after watching TV advertisements. What makes this film a psychological thriller is its in-depth look at the characters' psyches through experimental visuals and editing, painting a horrifying depiction of their spiral into addiction.

Nightcrawler (2014)

Nightcrawler follows Lou Bloom, an ordinary man turned freelance reporter, selling footage of violent crime scenes and accidents to news stations for profit. However, Bloom becomes enveloped in his work, losing all sense of morality (if there was even any to begin with), pushing the boundaries of the role of an "observer." This film earns its place as a psychological thriller as it gives insight into the psychotic mind of Lou Bloom, and puts the viewer into the stressful situations that he carelessly meanders into, and sometimes even creates. This film involves the viewer, as Lou Bloom is written to be a hated character. The disgust and loathing the other characters feel for Bloom is also felt by the viewer. It is the ultimate form of a psychological thriller.

Other Psychological Thrillers    

Memento (2000)

Vertigo (1958)

Pulse (2001)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Prisoners (2013)

Seven (1995)

 Representation In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

What is representation?

      

        Representation is the way that media creators choose to portray aspects of society. Creators may choose to represent different races, ethnicities, or cultures through characters, or represent perceived social groups, gender, or sexuality. Creators may also create their own representations of historical events.

So, what representation do we see in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?

        

        To begin to answer this question, it is best that I first explain what JoJo Bizarre Adventure is all about. JoJo's follows the Joestar family through multiple generations, with the protagonist of each new part (season) being somehow related to the Joestar bloodline, and somehow having the nickname JoJo after rearranging their name. In each part, the protagonist, regardless of their final goal, end up face to face with a villain of immense power. I could go on and on about this series, but this will have to suffice for now. 

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Protagonists Parts 1-9

        JoJo's began as a Japanese manga series, with the first part first being serialized in 1987 and the 9th and final part currently being written. For the majority of the series (parts 1-6), Hirohiko Araki, the author of the series, released his series under the Shonen Jump magazine and publishing under Shueisha. With the Shonen Jump magazine's target audience mainly being adolescent Japanese boys, Araki was subject to strict guidelines for his manga. This pretext is highly important for our first character.

Jolyne Cujoh

        Jolyne Cujoh is the protagonist of JoJo's sixth part, Stone Ocean (1999-2003), and the first representation of a female protagonist for the series. It was clear Araki had been wanting to implement a female protagonist into his story, as the previous and fifth part, Vento Aureo, was intended to have a female protagonist. However, Araki was struck down and told by his editor that a female protagonist would make the manga unsellable under Shonen Jump due to its target audience. The ownership of Araki's manga stopped him from writing a female protagonist into his story for nearly 12 years, which ended with Stone Ocean. However, this would not be the first time the ownership of JoJo's under Shonen Jump would stop him in the making of Stone Ocean. Jolyne Cujoh was also originally written to be lesbian, which would be the first LGBTQ representation for a major character in the series thus far (the only representation of the LGBTQ community in JoJo's so far is in the most recent and ongoing part, JoJoLands, in which there is a transgender character named Dragona Joestar). In fact, Anasui, the character Jolyne was to marry by the end of the part, was even drawn in the first chapter he appears in as a woman. While Araki could not achieve everything he wanted to do with Jolyne as a character, he still made leaps and bounds in female and what could have been LGBTQ representation in Japanese manga meant for a younger audience.

Jolyne Cujoh

Anasui's first appearance as a woman vs. his appearance throughout the rest of Stone Ocean

Johnny Joestar

        Johnny Joestar is the protagonist of JoJo's seventh part, Steel Ball Run (2004-2011), and is the first JoJo to be physically disabled. Johnny is paralyzed from the waist down and must learn how to ride a horse without the use of his legs in order to participate in the Steel Ball Run, a cross country race from the west to east coast of the United States. This was the first part where Araki was able to switch to releasing under Seinen Jump, which targeted a more mature audience. For this reason, Araki was able to take more risks with a more diverse character. Johnny Joestar, by the end of the part, ends up becoming one of the most powerful JoJos, and one of the most powerful characters in the series thus far despite his disability, giving hope to those who are crippled. Additionally, we see Johnny's character as less masculine (both physically and personality-wise) than any other past protagonist, having a more androgynous appearance and personality, potentially showing readers that you do not have to pursue masculinity as a man. However, Johnny's character is exocitized in the sense that he represents the stereotypical American culture in the late 19th-century. Keep in mind, this story was written in Japan for a Japanese audience, so Araki tends to appeal to the more dramatized and stereotypical aspects of American culture. We also see this in Stone Ocean, which is set in Florida.

One of Johnny's first appearances in Steel Ball Run, showing him in a wheelchair

I love JoJo's <3                                                               -Jd    

 Soundscape Project

Sound is an aspect of film that can make or break the viewer's experience, yet it often goes unnoticed. The sounds we hear on screen, music included, all work together to immerse the viewer into another world. Sound design in film is a hidden art that includes many techniques that provide context, texture, and realism for the world in which the film takes place in. Foley sound effects, created sounds that are added into the work in post-production, are essential to painting the canvas that is the film, with each sound a brush stroke in the overall painting, the soundscape of the film. This is what we sought to explore in our Soundscape Project.

For this project, we were to create a soundscape of a scene of our choosing using a combination of foley sound effects recorded ourselves along with sound effects from online sound databases if needed. The true challenge of this project was that we could only use sound to tell our story. What instantly popped into my mind when we were given the instructions for this project was "alien abduction." My partner had no qualms with this choice of scene, so we began as soon as we could on planning.

The idea was for a man to be walking through a field at night and hear a sound in the sky. After an exclamation of confusion, the character is left to ponder on what he has just heard. But the hum of what could only be an alien spacecraft approaches, and the man yells as he is taken into the ship by a tractor beam. The ship flies away, and the only thing that can be heard is the sound of nature. 

This scene allowed for a combination of both Foley effects recorded by us and sound effects from a sound database to be used. For the Foley sounds, we chose to create the footsteps, wind, rustling of the grass, and the dialogue of the character. The rest of the sounds would be found online. It was important to plan this ahead of time in our outline as it would streamline the recording process.

The recording process went exactly as planned and we were able to record and gather all the sounds needed for the project in one class period. For all of our sounds, we made sure to get numerous takes so that we could select the best one.

One thing I find while working on film projects is that when filming on location and reviewing footage, many mistakes often go unnoticed and are only realized in post-production. For this reason, getting multiple takes and recording more than you have planned is essential to the creation of any film project. This is one thing we did extremely well on. I also believe the sound effects we recorded and selected for the scene were perfect and gave a lot of options on how I could edit the final project.

The only weakness in our project was that there was background noise in most of the Foley effects we recorded. In a school environment, you cannot control for external sounds like that of the wildlife and the cars driving by on the road. We controlled what we could control for; doors opening, people talking, the sounds of students in classrooms, etc. However, there was only so much we could do. For this reason, the background sounds in our Foley effects had to be incorporated into the soundscape of the scene. However, this ended up being a gift to post-production jd as it allowed for even more texture in the soundscape.

I ended up using GarageBand for Mac to edit the project as I am more familiar with it when it comes to editing sound. GarageBand is a powerful program, despite what many people might think. For being a free program, it has a lot of great tools such as complete EQ control, automation for different effects, panning, the ability to use plug-ins, etc. Also, as a musician, I have used GarageBand to make all of my music, so I felt more comfortable bringing an audio-only project into this program rather than Adobe Premiere Pro. I strongly urge anyone with a Mac to experiment with the program as it is totally FREE!!!!!!!

So yeah. Major success in my books. I am very thankful to have been paired with my partner as his vast knowledge of TV production combined with mine in audio and film production allowed us to take this project down with no problem. I am extremely satisfied with how our project came out!

Listen to it ---> here!

-jd