Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

Key Concepts

• Codes and conventions of mise-en-scene (everything within the frame e.g. costume, location etc)
• Representation of particular social groups and ideology (values and messages)
• Audience - Every media targets a specific audience
• Institutions - film, place of exhibition (i.e. cinema, dvd)

Generic feature of a thriller is entrapment. Thus claustrophobic spaces are a key generic signifier in thriller.

Flightplan, Snakes on a Plane, Phonebooth, Kill Bill 2 and Panic Room all have claustrophobic spaces and a sense of entrapment

Flightplan - location - plane

Snakes on a Plane - location - plane

Phonebooth - location - phonebooth

Kill bill 2 - location - buried in a coffin

Claustrophobic spaces such as:

• planes
• coffins
• under water
• boot of a car
• elevator/lift
• walk in freezer
• tube trains
• white van
• small room
• car
• prison cell
• narrow alleyways
• multi-storey car parks
  
  

Lighting

• Noir - very dark
• Chiaroscuro - light against dark - creates a sense of illusion, nightmare whilst also being aesthetically pleasing.

Original Designs For Cosmetics Advert

Guidence Day - Single Shot Filming (SSF)

Single Shot Filming (SSF) is where a scene or seciton of a film is taken all in one with no cuts or edits.

Techniques Required For and Created by SSF

Challenges

• Keeping the camera steady
• Choreography can be difficult
• Finding inspiration
• Reflections of camera in windows
• Avoiding hazards
• Avoiding the public
• Planning - Timing, Props

Advantages

• Impressive
• Demonstrates technical skills
• Stylish
• Can tell a story in one shot
• Creates a sense of 'real time' - adds immediacy and impact

Advantages of Different Viewing Mediums

DVD Viewing

• Can watch as often as wanted
• Can pause whenever wanted
• Special and bonus features
• Cheaper in the long run as it's only paid for once for as many viewings wanted and by as many different people as wanted
• Wide choice of films
• Can be watched whenever wanted
• No distractions
• No age restriction for watching though there is when buying
• Can turn it off if you don't like it
• You have the choice of subtitles
• You can rewind and fast forward
• No adverts in the middle of the film

Cinema Viewing

• Big screen
• Surround sound
• Cinema food
• Comfortable seats
• The atmosphere
• It's sociable
• The darkness creates a mood
• Cupholders!
• Exclusivity
• Spacious

Film 4

• Shows films that you may not usually chose to see
• Shows films that have never been released in the cinema and are hard to come across on DVD

Internet

• There's a wide range of films
• You can watch films that aren't out in cinema yet
• Theres no age restriciton
• It's free

There are specific problems to internet viewing such as it's illegal, the quality is generally awful, sometimes it is separated into different parts such as the film being split into ten short videos, the streaming is time consuming, it's not reliable, they don't always work, the screen is often small.

Sky Movies

• It's free
• There's a fairly wide range
• There are different geres for different people
• No adverts during the film
• can be paused and rewound (with sky plus and anytime)
• Can be watched whenever you like (with sky plus and anytime)

Film Advertising and Reasons for Success of Films

Different Mediums of Film Advertising

• Newspapers (Ads and Reviews)
• Magazines (Ads and Reviews)
• Internet (Ads and Reviews)
• Cinema Websites (Ads, Reviews and Film Times and Outlets)
• Previews and Trailers in Cinema
• TV advertising (Trailers and snippets)
• Radio (ads, voice overs and plugs from actors/directors etc.)

How Films Are Made Known

• Interviews
• TV
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Word of mouth
• Premiers
• Location interest
• Celebrity
• Publicity stunts
• Fly posting
• Soundtrack

Selling Points

• Actors
• Genre
• Prequel/Sequel
• Bestselling book title
• TV series adaption
• Released during peak viewing season
• Music/soundtrack

Audience Expectations of the Thriller Genre

This is my second set of primary research where i have created a questionnaire and given it to ten people to find out what they expect when watching a thriller and what they found in the most recent thriller they watched. I have created this research in order to help me establish what i need in my thriller opening that is going to appeal to as many people as possible as a thriller.

Within my questionnaire i had the following questions:

1. What do you expect to feel when watching a thriller?
2. What was the last thriller you saw?
3. Why did you see this?
4. What scared you about the thriller i.e. gory detail, unexpected actions?
5. Was the film a conventional thriller or did it have something unusual about it?
6. Was the film black and white, in colour or both?
7. Was the film in chronological or non-chronological order?
8. Was the film in a lavish or a grim and tatty setting?
9. When you think of a thriller what is the first thing that comes to your mind and why?

Here is an example of a filled in questionnaire:

This is what i found from my results:

All the films except from Psycho are very recent films and Saw 4 has been evidently the most popular of the lot. This shows me that people are more interested in watching new films, older films such as Psycho have become dated, and people today are more interested in the gore and the action within the genre, i think the interpretation of the meaning of the thriller genre has been perverted since technology and CGI has become so advanced and people have forgotten, or even the younger generation are oblivious to what thrillers were like when they first came about, and now only know the blood and violence packed types there are around today. This is evident by the fact that people have classed Saw 4 as a thriller rather than a horror, though there are thriller aspects within the film, Saw should technically be classed as a horror as the storyline is set to scare rather than thrill.

i can back up this statement with my next set of results, which are from the final question on my questionnaire. I asked what first comes to mind when people think of a thriller. Here are some of the different answers people came up with:

'Blood, guts and death because they are death films'

'Espianage - due to the secret nature of this activity and the opportunities for plot twists and double crossing etc.'

'Boo! - as i think of being scared'

'Trembling'

'Blood, gore, shocks'

'Tension, death and danger'

'Violence beacuse thrillers always try to scare you with violence and gory details'

These are all fair opinions and are apparent in thriller films - but not all thriller films. Peoples views of thrillers have been steered towards 'blood' and 'gore' as that is what is generally evident in todays thrillers, but when you look at Hitchcock style thrillers you don't need these characteristics to make a thriller successful, some people would even argue that these characteristics makes a thriller less effective. When you look at Hitchcock's Psycho he does have death in it but there is no gore, no guts whatsoever, yes there is blood - but not how people would expect to see it in todays thrillers, people would expect blood all over the killers face and sprayed all over the walls and the floor but with Psycho the most blood you see is being drained down the plughole with water from the shower. All the violence and death is implicated but not shown as it is left to the audiences imagination which is a very powerful tool and by doing this he managed to make the film renowned for his clever use of leaving the death to the audiences imagination.

Someone also put 'espianage' as the first thing that comes to mind when they think of a thriller, this is just one style of thriller, not all thrillers in general, which shows that this persons mind has been steered towards one type of thriller and their mind has been closed to all other styles.

People have also put 'tension' and 'trembling' and 'being scared', these are fair opinions, and tension is key in a thriller, it's key in alot of genres, but it is one of the main features used in a thriller in order to make it effective, but to be scared to the extent of trembling is a bit over the top, you don't go to the cinema to watch a thriller and 25 minutes into the film the entire room is shaking. Some thrillers may scare people so much that they tremble with fear, and this is probably more apparent in horror style thrillers but not all thrillers are made to scare people, some are made to psyche out the viewer/ mess with their head, some are set out to cause tension, some are set out to create adrenaline. Every thriller is different and my question was very genralised, i knew i was going to get a broad range of answers but i didn't do it to say every one was wrong but to find out how different people generalise thrillers because this is how different audiences are created, and this type of research helps people to establish what their audience want from their film.

When i asked whether the last thriller people had watched was in colour/chronological order/in a grim setting, i was thinking about general thriller conventions and whether they are still used often and whether the audience pick up on these aspects. Here is what i found.

Two people didn't circle some which tells me that not all people do notice these aspects, either that or the film didn't make it clear enough for the viewer to identify making it a poor thriller in that aspect.

It suprised me to see how many thrillers never set their storys in a lavish setting, they are always run down areas.

Finally, when people go to see thrillers they expect to feel different things, these are the different feelings i collected from my ten questionnaires.

shocked x1
scared x4
jumpy x2
engrossed in the story and compelled to watch x1
tension x1
excitement x3
adrenaline x2
fear x2
nerves x1
anticipation x1
unsure of the ending x2
suspense x1
surprised x1
entertained x1

This shows me how varied audiences are, and how many different feelings thrillers are expected to create. With my thriller opening i have to create a film that is going to meet as many of these as possible without overcomplicating or confusing the storyline.

Top 10 Films 2008 (information from The Times Online)

I have collected from The Times Online's top 50 films of 2008 the top ten films in order to find out how popular the thriller genre is in comparison with other genres.

10. Body of Lies - Ridley Scott directs Gladiator star Russell Crowe and popular Norman Lamont lookalike Leonard di Caprio in a CIA drama adapted from the novel by David Ignatius.

9. Star Trek XI - Taking place, in the increasingly complex Star Trek universe, during the period after ‘Enterprise’ but before ‘Star Trek’ this movie introduces new actors in the well-loved Kirk, Spock, Scott and McCoy roles as it explains how the classic crew came to be. If anyone can pull off that extraordinary feat of cinematic cheek it’s JJ Abrams.

8. Speed Racer - A hyperkinetic 1960s Japanese cartoon series provides the source material for the next sci-fi hallucination from Matrix creators the Wachowskis.

7. Hancock - Superhero comedies can be as knowingly funny as Mystery Men or as plain silly as Condorman. Hancocks’s secret weapon will be the perennially likeable Will Smith in the title role as a super-powered crime fighter who creates almost as many problems as he solves.

6. Sweeney Todd - Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bohnham Carter conspire in a dark plot of pies and hairdressing. Spectacular somgs from Steven Sondheim are the icing on a wonderful, sinister, cake.

5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of th Crystal Skull - Transformers star Shia LaBeouf pops up as the son of the world’s hardest-working archeologist in what must surely be the final Indy adventure.

4. Iron Man - Next up from Marvel’s collection of flawed supermen is Tony Stark: Former arms dealer turned terrorist captive turned armoured avenger. To critics who suggest that movie fans aren’t ready for a moody alcoholic superhero Iron man has one response: Talk to the hand. The glowing metal hand.

3. Bond: Quantum of Solace - After a shooting schedule more secretive than the ageless super-spy, Bond 22's title has finally been revealed.It's not a title that offers too many clues as to the storyline, but it looks as if the adversary from Casino Royale, Mr. White, is going to be replaced by a no less sinister Mr.Greene. The suggestion that it continues almost immediately from the end of Casino Royale, and in much the same vein, is all the advertising most movie fans will need.

2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - The vast regiment of Potter fans will already know what they’re getting. Despite Guillermo del Toro’s pleas this instalment of the boy wizard franchise will be directed by David Yates, who everyone except Guillermo seems to agree made a decent fist of Order of the Phoenix.

1. The Dark Knight - The hype machine is almost up to full speed now for The Caped Crusader’s next outing. Great notices for director Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and an irresistible trailer make The Bat the boy to beat in 2008.


After finding the top ten i researched each film on IMDB to find out what genre they fall into, each one fell into more than one genre so i used every category that they fell into to create this graph.
This has shown me the variety of genres there are out there and how popular each one is, thriller of which being one of the more popular genre. Action though was the highest ranking genre with 8 out of the ten films being this genre. The thriller genre was apparent in half of the top ten films of 2008 which shows it is a very popular genre and is in alot of films. The highest ranking film of 2008 though was The Dark Knight which is a thriller showing me that people love going to the cinema to get those thrills, and to be put on the edge of their seat, it was also an action film which shows that The Dark Knight is a film that consists of two of the most popular genres showing its set out to reach a large audience and tried to give them what the want from the cinema experience, and they have succeeded.

Questionnaire: Films Over the Summer Period

i have created a questionnaire asking people about films they have seen over the summer period. I did this in order to find what type of films are the most popular and why. Also, i made the questionnaire in order to find out where people prefer to watch their films and how well they can identify the origin of them.


Questions:
1. Name three films you have seen over the summer?
2. Where did you see them and why?
3. What about these films appealed to you? 4. Do you think they were English, American, other?
5. What made you think this?



Here's an example questionnaire

I got back a total of 12 questionnaires and here is what i found...

From my results the most popular film from the questionnaires was Mamma Mia, which comes as no suprise as it was the blockbuster of the year, i feel this is appropriate and fits in with my results due to most of the people i questioned being female, not out of bias but thats just how it was, on the other hand, i did ask a range of ages and it still came out on top so this shows that Mamma Mia is a film that appeals to all ages. People said that this appealed to them because of the music, the actors, the storyline and one came back with "nostalgia"!!

The second most popular films viewed over the Summer were Sex in the City and King Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda only came out as the second most popular because my parents were forced to watch it on the plane, so that doesn't really count to be honest. But people liked Sex in the City because either they watched the TV series or it had good ratings, and reviews.

The most popular viewing medium was through Cinema, most probably because of the 'cinema experience' and the exclusivity. DVD viewing came in second, this is a popular form of film viewing because it has no advert interruptions and can be watched as often as the viewer wants without having to pay and they can watch it whenever they want and pause it if they need to pee or something.

TV ads were probably the most effective form of advertising because people watch TV alot and adverts for films are often shown during prime time television and especially around 9pm where any adverts for films of all ages can be shown. Trailers are often on the beginning of DVDs and at the beginning of films in the cinema and these trailers can't be skipped. With DVD and cinema being the most popular choices for viewing films, alot of people are going to be drawn to the adverts especially when they will be for films that have a similar target audience as the one the audience has payed to see.

The majority of films viewed were thought to be American, most of the reasons people gave for backing up this answer was because of the big budget, the setting, the actors or the production company. People did get confused over some films where the setting was in England but the actors were American which led to some people choosing not sure as their answer.

Creating My Own Cosmetics/ Perfume Advert - Neon! by Kryptonite

For my choice of advert I have decided to make an advert for perfume because as I have been analysing different adverts I have found it easier to analyse a perfume advert over a cosmetics advert. Due to this I felt I would get a better final piece if I created an advert that I would be able to analyse better.
The advert that I have created is for a perfume called ‘Neon!’ by a company called ‘Kryptonite’. I decided to design this advert to target a younger audience ranging between the ages 14 and 28. As the advert is not the typical ‘glam’ advert with the pretty female oozing sex appeal I feel that it is aiming to people that are not in the general mainstream, it’s targeting people that aim to be different and stand out from the crowd which in a model of audience segmentation would be classed as the ‘individuals’.

I think the cold black, white and blue colour scheme along with the shadowy look on the girls face creates a sense of mystery therefore implying that if the consumer buys this product it will give them a mysterious air about them, also I think the facial expression especially has a sexy and confident stare which may also indicate that following the purchase of this product the buyer will gain sex appeal and confidence.
I chose the names of the product and brand with intention, not just because it fit the picture. I chose ‘kryptonite’ as the brand name as it refers to Superman, maybe connoting that the buyer of this brand will have a certain power that they didn’t have before, not a super power such as being able to fly but a new found confidence and/or a more powerful effect on the opposite sex, this also links in with my next point. As kryptonite is Superman’s weakness it may connote that buying from this brand will make the buyer irresistible, as they are the opposite sex’s kryptonite, they have the power to make anybody fall at their feet.
I chose the name of the product to be ‘Neon!’ as neon is a strong, bright form of colour, it doesn’t blend in, therefore it will make the consumer of this product stand out from the crowd and catch other people’s eye. I worked my advert around this, not the other way around.
With the brand logo I chose an upside down triangle, the same shape as Superman’s logo as it will help the audience establish the link between this product and Superman. There was no particular reason for the pattern on the logo, I stumbled across a website the night of designing the advert and found inspiration from this clothing website called ‘Kathmandu’.


I made the logo from scratch using photoshop, it started off as a 2 dimensional shape, but by using Photoshop CS3's liquify tool i could use the 'bloat', 'pucker', and 'tweak' tools along with 'smart filters' and other blending options to make the logo look professional and 3 dimensional.
Original Photoshopped




For the bulk of the advert which is the picture of the girl I chose to use an eye-level close up and then I cropped it so only half the face was visible, I did this as I feel it adds to the mysterious effect, with only half the face being on show and none of the body it leaves the audience to imagine about their ideal complete version, it creates a sense of mystery, as if there is more to find out, maybe if they buy the product they’ll find out…
<--- This is the original picture i used. I made it the vivid chiaroscurro black and white by altering the RGB in black and white.

As well as creating a sense of mystery I think having a close up that is eye-level allows the audience to see the detail in the expression of the face – mainly the eye as there is not many other visible features on the face to create expression - which is why having a close-up is so important as it focuses on the eye which I think is one of the focal points of the advert.
I have used the eye as a focal point because all eyes are beautiful and it gives the audience a chance to see the simple beauty of the eye and the complex emotion created by it. The emotion would be interpreted differently by different people in the way they want to see it.
Also, by not showing many features of the girl the advert is not offending anyone or putting them down for instance if there was an advert of a beautiful skinny girl advertising this perfume it may put the curvy women off as they feel this perfume isn’t going to do anything for them because there is no way they can be anything like that. So the beauty of an eye is something anyone can relate to and think “yeah, I can be like that”, therefore the eye gives hope and opportunity for anyone which means that ultimately it will appeal to a wider audience.

With representation i think my advert represents the younger females like i said at the beginning, also as i was saying when i was explaining the importance of the eye i think this advert represents women that aren't all gorgeous and skinny but can still be mysterious ans sexy by the use of not showing off, or drawing attention to the body or any facial features other than the eye.

With the aid of photoshop i did alot of editing to the eye to make it look more 'crisp' and 'clean'. I have a picture here of the eye before and after

Before After

I think the picture after edit looks alot more professional and is more to look at. With the starry sparkle in the eye, the darker richer blue in the iris, the whiter eye and the thicker, more even eyelashes the eye looks more beautiful and more of a focal point. To me, it also looks more magical and creates a feeling of wonder and hope.

The bottle was another item i made from scratch using photoshop. I simply used a K in my desired font as the outline for the shape of the bottle; i then worked around that using tools such as the brush tool, the smudge tool, the burn tool, and the eyedropper and paintbucket tools. I then played around with the blending options until the bottle looked like an actual bottle, it was time consuming and took alot of trial and error, especially as i have never used photoshop before, but i eventually got the look i desired.

I then copied the logo and the Neon! sign and shrunk them to fit on the bottle.

With the neon! text, (and also the Kryptonite writing and the K for the bottle) i found a website on the internet that was a text generator and had lots of different fonts for me to choose from, the website was http://www.textspace.net/ I chose my desired font and typed in the word and generated the text, i then print screened this and copied it on to photoshop. By using selection tools and layering i managed to pick out the word from the print screened picture with no white background, this was very time consuming and fiddly and probably the hardest thing for me to do on photoshop, but it was worth it as the website had better fonts than photoshop. I spent alot of time zoomed in around 600% erasing tiny squares and filling others in with the brush tool until the text looked neat. As the text was a picture all along i didn't have to convert it to a smart object like i would have to with normal text on photoshop, but i used the blending options again to make the picture look more 3-D and have shadows and depth. I also changed the opacity to 75% so that it was slightly translucent, it gave a good effect and reflected a neon type style with the bright blue against black.

I finally had the chance to start putting the whole thing together, i had in the end 20 layers and 2 pieces of text ( 'from' and 'parfum' which i played with using blending options to make them stand out more), but after spending hours working on photoshop CS3 through trial and error i managed to find it quite simple and the large amount of layers didn't phase me. I made the final picture look more professional by adding the shadows of the bottle and the logo, by doing this i copied the layers and changed the opacity to around 30% and moved the layers beneath the original layer so that they were behind it. I also used a star shaped brush tool to add neon effects to the background. I finally used the brush tool to add sparkle effects like to that of the bottle cap and used the smudge tool to touch up anywhere that was necessary and wallah! :)

My final piece has changed slightly from my original design, but when i put the logo, bottle and name at the bottom it looked too cluttered so i changed a few things but tried to keep it as similar as possible. I tried to maintain the rule of thirds, having the logo on the left, the eye towards the centre and the bottle and name on the right.

Case Study: Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock

Research Into Conventions of the Thriller Genre
Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock


Institutions
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Production Company: Shamley Productions
Released 16 June 1960 USA
Made in USA
Critical Review by Colin Jacobson, The Hollywood News
Often it's hard to see why older films like 1960. Psycho made such an impact, especially when they come from such an overdone genre as the slasher flick. Psycho has been liberally stolen from over the years, and it'd be easy for it to lose its impact compared to the more graphic films that have come since 1960.
Happily, such is not the case. I won't say that Psycho hits the viewer the way that it did when it first was released, because society has changed too much; what was once intensely shocking now can be shown on broadcast TV at three in the afternoon. Nonetheless, Psycho remains a pretty intense and powerful little film. Although it doesn't work the same way it did in 1960, that doesn't mean that it's devoid of impact.
Actually, the film continues to pack a nice little punch. While it doesn't seem shocking, it remains creepy.
While it clearly lacks the tremendous impact it boasted almost 50 years ago, Psycho remains an enduring and fascinating tale of someone who just goes a little mad sometimes.
I think this review is relevant and helpful for planning my thriller opening. Even though Psycho is a classic thriller and has great thriller conventions such as the shower scene, it is now quite dated and doesn’t have as much of an impact on todays audiences. I need to plan my film in a more modern way than Psycho so that the thriller conventions aren’t as obvious and ‘in your face’ as they are in this film.

Audience
Via box office returns the film has made a total of $50,000,000.
On IMDB the average user rating for this film is 8.7/10 for males and 8.6/10 for females. The highest ratings have come from users under 18 at 9.2/10 and the lowest ratings at 8.4/10 from females aged 30-44. This shows me how little difference there is in ratings from all ages which tells me that this film is aimed at an audience of all ages over 15 (in UK) as the certificate is 15.
Quotes from User Comments and Ratings
10/10 “I cannot hide my enthusiasm for this movie. It is wholly unlike the overblown, over-budget, overlong fluff spewing all-too-often out of Hollywood today. "Psycho" is simple, well-crafted and just the right length.” This shows me that in planning my thriller I don’t need to go over the top, in order to get the best results I’m better off keeping it simple.
“Hitchcock's genius was in his ability to 1) frighten without gore and 2) leave his indelible mark on the movie without overshadowing his actors” This adds to the idea of leaving the plot simple, I don’t need gore to make it a thriller, I can go without, even if I do have a murder, sometimes what’s not there is better than what is.
Codes/Forms and Conventions of the Thriller Genre
Filmed in black and white – Tribute to noir filming in the early 40’s

Opening Scene
With the soundtrack violins are used to put the viewer on edge as they have a sharp, almost shrieking tone and are certainly not easy listening music – not in this case anyway.
The opening shot is an aerial view which is used to establish the location; this then pans right and changes into a point of view shot and zooms into the window of a hotel bedroom. The point of view shot is used to bring the audience into the action, this also emphasises cinema viewing as a voyeuristic experience.
Hitchcock uses a lot of close ups as it shows emotions and expressions and engages with the character.

Marion Crane – Femme Fatale
In the beginning of the film (2.40 minutes) she is wearing white underwear, this indicates purity. Further into the film (10.40 minutes) she is seen wearing black underwear and black is associated with deviance, which connotates that her moral code is sinking and she is falling into crime, this is backed up by the fact that she has the illicit money on her bed proving that she is doing something shady and corrupt. The camera tracks out from her to the money she’s stolen indicating the connection between the two. Throughout the scene she keeps looking at the packet of money and the camera flicks to a close up of the money each time, this accentuates her guilt and her nerves. At this time the violin soundtrack that was played at the beginning of the film is playing, building tension within the audience.
A close up of Marion packing her suitcase shows she is running away with the money. A tilt shot is used on the suitcase, this makes it seem as though Marion is in a hurry, and also that she is in an uncertain and awkward position, the tilt shot alongside the soundtrack emphasises the idea that what’s happening is not okay.
About 12 and a half minutes into the film Marion is shown in a car driving away with the money – reference to Kill Bill 2 opening.
Whilst driving in the car Marion has narrative flashbacks of some sort, she hears narratives of other people in her head. But they are talking about her not to her so I think it’s just what she thinks people are saying about her. This reflects her guilty conscience.
Generic Thriller Signifiers
Marion is being followed by another car; this is a generic thriller signifier.
Another generic thriller signifier used is that of a woman (Marion) reading a newspaper, maybe to hide behind, maybe to check if there is any press on the missing money.
Thirdly changing appearance, Marion is changing her appearance in a toilet; this is also an unglamorous, claustrophobic space. Here she is vulnerable due to the claustrophobic space; this is another generic thriller signifier.

Bird – Significance
Bates says “Birds are passive things”, at the same time he enjoys stuffing birds (taxidermy). Ironically Marion’s last name is Crane and as the crane is a bird maybe this signifies that Bates is going to treat Marion like he treats other birds. The fact that the birds are dead and stuffed anticipated Marion’s fate.




Shower Scene
The use of close ups engage the audience more closely in the action and emphasise the reaction.
The diagetic sound of the curtain being pulled adds to the detail and makes the audience feel more involved and more like they are there. The pulling of the curtain signifies Marion closing a door and leaving her in the shower which is a claustrophobic enclosed space, naked and vulnerable. The generic claustrophobic space is highlighted adding to the tension.

The diagetic sound of the shower and the rain outside suggest washing her sins away. Also this could suggest drowning.




The shower scene is the murder scene. Extreme close ups are used throughout. A good example is the shot of Marion’s eye after she’s been stabbed. The extreme close up shows the emotion and terror in her eye which connotes that Marion dies in terror, this adds to the violence of the killing.



The camera then zooms out from the eye and cuts to a low angle shot of the shower. The camera pans to the right focussing on the money suggesting she brought on her own doom.
The fact that the stabbing isn’t actually shown, just her expressions, body language, different shots of different parts of her body and blood down the plug hole gives the audience the opportunity to imagine their own version of her death making the scene more powerful and terrifying.

After The Murder
When Bates discovers Marion’s dead body he steps back and accidentally knocks a picture of a bird on the floor adding a trace of irony.
Bates uses the shower curtain as Marion’s shroud when he is disposing of her body. He also seems calm and knows what to do when cleaning up the murder scene which indicates he has done this or something similar before.
Also when disposing of the body he puts it in the car boot, this is another generic thriller signifier.
Another form of irony is when Marion died for the money but Bates didn’t even notice it.
Finally, when Bates disposes of the body he drowns it in the car in the lake, which relates back to the idea of drowning during the shower and with the rain.

Diagetic sound used
Shower curtain ripped off
Doors opening and closing
Lights switched on and off
Car engine
Pushing the car in the water.

The car number plate is shown clearly in a close up when Bates drives away from the motel in Marion’s car. This is key as it could be used in a later date to identify the vehicle and the owner.


Representation
Compared to today where anything is expected and all the blood and gore and nudity is shown on great detail, in 1960 when this film was released it would have been both terrifying and shocking watching a naked woman in the shower getting stabbed would have been alarming and shocking as viewers would have experienced nothing like it before.
Marion is first introduced at the beginning of the film in a motel room in her underwear with a man implying she has just had sex, this already creates the impression that she is a bit of a tart. Also the very first shot has her on the bed looking up at this man, as she is below him looking up it is almost as she is literally beneath him connotating that women are the inferior sex. But there is nothing in this film that strongly portrays any certain stereotypes, and I think this is done for a reason as this keeps the film un-biased and un-political making it as inoffensive as possible to every viewer so that everybody can enjoy the film without raising any issues about it.

Analysis of Calvin Klein Advert

This advert for the Calvin Klein perfume ‘Secret Obsession’ implies that the purchase of this perfume will give this buyer sex appeal and ferocity; it also gives off a sense of want and yearning, as well as beauty and confidence.
The advert consists of two naked women covered with bed sheets with long, untamed hair and looking at the camera. This picture is black and white with a bottle of the perfume in colour at the bottom centre of the picture with the words ‘Secret Obsession, a new fragrance by Calvin Klein’ on it. The two women are both very revealing yet beautiful and I think this is to show that with nothing but this perfume the person that wears it will look beautiful, they also have a very seductive, inviting look on their faces which invites the audience into the frame with them, this will attract the male audience and give the female audience the false hope that they can be like these woman and attract a male audience like them, therefore this advert is selling sex appeal to the audience in the form of a fragrance. These two women are both very confident in all their naked glory, which again adds to the sex appeal and gives the hope that they can be this confident too. The way women, especially the one on the right is positioned with one hand to her chest and the other hand to her throat gives the impression that she is holding her throat out of a yearning/need for something which I, as the audience, automatically assume to be the fragrance. This fits in perfectly with the name of the bottle, ‘Secret Obsession’, it’s like she needs this fragrance, it is calling to her, so if the audience wore this fragrance maybe they would have the same effect making the opposite sex feel an attraction, nay, a need for this person, a need so strong it’s an obsession. The contrast of the rich amber coloured bottle and shiny gold writing against the black and white picture makes the bottle really stand out, and it also looks very luxurious and warm, the warm feel of the bottle adds to the sense of attraction as warmth draws people to it, and you need heat to live, which adds to the obsession and need for the perfume. The luxurious look of the bottle and writing and the brand name shows that the product it meant to appeal to people who are esteem seekers, people who are looking to impress and want a taste of the luxury and the high life. I think the choice of camera angle helps to not only invite but lure the audience into the picture and the product. A high medium close up is used of the girl on the right; this allows the viewer to see the inviting expression on her face along with her sexual, lusting body language but it doesn’t reveal everything which makes her seem mysterious, this will capture the male eye and also make the female eye long to be her and aspire to be like her. The woman on the left is a bit more exposed by the use of a low medium shot making her visible down to her thigh exposing skin-but not too much skin- to add to the mysterious sex appeal whilst still looking dignified and classy and making the look seem effortless. The angle of the shot makes it seem as though the viewer is there with her at the bottom of her bed, it makes the advert seem so much more real making the female reader believe more easily that this perfume will make her achieve a sex appeal as great as the woman in the advert and make the male reader believe more easily that he can have this woman or a woman beautiful and mysterious as this.

Analysis of Dior Advert

The advert I am analysing is an advert for a Dior Mascara. I think this advert suggests beauty, glamour and status.
The advert is an internet advertisement on the Marie Claire website which already shows it is a product that’s about glamour as it’s advertised in a glamour magazine or at least its online site. Since the advertisement is presented through the medium of the internet it shows that the product is being aimed at an audience with internet access which might reflect their lifestyle and personal wealth. As this advertisement is on the Marie Claire website it shows that it is aiming to interest those that are fashion extroverts that will go that little bit further to see what’s going on in the world of fashion and make-up because people visiting their website will be the readers that are so interested in the magazine that they want to find out even more. Also, maybe they feel like they are getting that little bit more exclusivity as if they have an account with the website they will get exclusives on the next issue and new products etc. Therefore the product is aiming at people who aim to be the fashion elite.
The advert is of a pair of beautiful eyes surrounded by darkness that are revealed to be a beautiful woman who is looking directly at the reader. There is also a picture of the mascara wand and case. The beautiful eyes surrounded by darkness creates a sense of mystery and sexiness, the eyes are beautifully made up with thick eyelashes and pale shadow on clear pale skin which is really set off by the black background. The eyes come off as glamorous due to the twinkle in them and the perfection of the make-up. Also the white writing on it mentions high definition; the word high suggests connotations of upper class and high social status.
In the second third of the picture the beautiful woman is shown to be wearing sparkly clothes which stand out next to her face and echo the sparkle in her eyes. This sparkle adds to the luxuriousness of the product and gives the reader a feeling that this mascara can give them the chance to feel this luxury. As the woman’s face is revealed completely to show a beautiful face it also gives the reader the chance to believe that if they buy this product they can look this beautiful. Also, at the bottom it gives the reader a chance to get their own “Dior Iconic trial size” which gives the feeling of exclusivity which adds to the suggestion of glamour and status, as not everybody is going to get this exclusive offer or have this opportunity.
The third part of the advert shows the picture of the product. The end of the wand is white which is quite unusual which adds to that exclusive feel and sense of high status because not many people are going to have a mascara wand with a white tip. Also the bottle that the mascara comes in is a shiny silver bottle which has an expensive, glamorous look about it. Especially against the black background the product really stands out.
I think this product is aimed mainly at a female audience as it is a female orientated product and it’s there to persuade them to buy the product for themselves so that they can aim to look like the model. On the other hand, I think the advert does appeal to men simply because of the seductive mystery in the eyes on the left which could appeal to the male audience making them buy this product for a woman if they wanted her to look anything like this woman. With personal aspiration I think the advert is aiming at the aspirers that want what the ‘beautiful people’ have, people that are looking for a well known brand with a reputation for its high status and connection with wealth and beauty.