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Monday 3rd November
Thriller Film Opening 7 - Psycho
My seventh analysed thriller opening is from the film 'Psycho' directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1960.
Mise en Scene
There are no images used in the opening scene of Psycho. It’s just white text and grey lines on a black background. This makes the audience anticipate what’s going to happen because of the simplicity of the opening scene, it also makes them feel nervous because nothing interesting is happening, this makes them lower their guards so it’s easier to frighten and unsettle them later. We think we’re going to use something a little more complicated than just text and lines in our opening.
Mise en Scene
The colour scheme is very dark, there’s only three colours used and they’re very plain and dark. The lack of colour makes the audience less interested in what’s going on and makes the clip less interesting because of this. It can also make the audience feel somewhat bored because nothing’s happening on the screen yet. We think we’re going to use colours in our clip but put a dark lens on the clip so it looks darker and creates a creepier atmosphere because of this.
Mise en Scene
Grey lines and blocks are used consistently in each shot; however the way they move varies. Sometimes they move horizontally and sometimes they move vertically. These changes keep the viewer interested in what’s happening on screen, subtly creating effects and swaying the audience’s opinion. We don’t think this is something we’re interested in using in our thriller opening.
Editing
All transitions in the clip are wipes. This creates consistency in the clip and makes the audience feel like they can keep up easier because of the wipes. It means the audience can easily keep track of the movement of the shots and feels settled by this. We don’t think we’re going to use wipes in our thriller opening, we want to create a different effect that this does.
Editing
The editing in the clip is fast paced; this means the audience may miss some of the text on screen. This can unsettle them because they don’t know if they’ve missed anything important because they didn’t see it. This puts them at a dis-advantage because they’re less knowledgeable than somebody who saw everything on the screen; this makes them feel vulnerable because of their lack of information around the subject.
Editing
Parts of the text are disrupted, they’re layered in. Some marks will appear broken up on the screen and then more marks are layered on top of them so that we can see the words. This confuses the audience as they don’t see the words or figure out what they say until they’re given the full picture, this foreshadows the film and also makes the audience feel undermined because information if being withheld from them.
Titles and Credits
The credits are in a sans serif font; this makes it look less serious and more informal than a serif font. This makes the audience question why, this is atypical of most thriller films all other film openings I've analysed used serif font. This makes the audience more relaxed and feel more comfortable. I think we may use a serif font depending on what kind of theme we decide on.
Titles and Credits
The text is in a bold, white font. This makes it more visible on the black background so the viewers can see it. This means the audience can see it more clearly and can read it properly; this makes the audience feel more relaxed and lighten up a bit. I think we're going to use a darker font so people have to focus to see it.
Titles and Credits
The text is placed at different positions on the screen and in the shots. This makes the audience focus more on the text because they don't know where it's going to be next. This puts them on edge because foreshadows the unpredictable nature of the film.
Sound
There are a lot of high notes in the clip, it sounds very sinister and makes the audience feel frightened and alarmed at the volume and pitch of the music. This puts them on edge because of the tone of the music. We think we're going to use a lower pitch to frighten and scare our audience.
The music in the clip is in major key, it sound very happy and bouncy. This heavily contrasts the dark screen and tones of the clip. This makes the audience feel fear because of the contrasting elements; this confuses and frightens them because of the mixing tones. We don't think this is something we're going to do.
Sound
At the end of the clip there are multiple crescendos then a very sudden low note that halts the high notes. This makes the audience anxious and unsettles them because of the sudden end. It also alerts the viewer that the credits are ending. The sudden end to the credits and the music shocks the audience and makes them feel distressed. We think this is something we'll do in our opening to distress and unsettle our audience.
Sound
Events, Themes, Characters
No events are shown in the clip however we can assume the plot is going to be a fast moving plot because of the fast pace of the editing and the fast music that backs it up.
Events, Themes, Characters
The themes are implied through the Mise en scene. The dark colour scheme connotes the bleak nature of the film; this could possibly represent death and themes of violence. The fast music featured in the clip connotes excitement of the films events but also represents the underlying tones of sinister events and mystery.
Events, Themes, Characters
There are no characters featured in the clip at all. This scares the audience because they don't know anything about who or what's going to happen in the film. The audience are afraid of the unknown because the less they know the less powerful they are. We don't think this is a technique we're going to use; we plan on showing our characters in the clip.
Camerawork
All the shots consist of the same thing, white text on a black background. There's not much camerawork used in the clip, they're all the same thing. This makes the audience feel comfortable because the same thing is happening, it makes them feel relaxed. We plan on using a range of camerawork in our thriller opening for different effects.
