HOW DOES THE MICRO ELEMENT OF SOUND

INFLUENCE A FILM , IN THE THRILLER

GENRE, FOLLOWING THE CODES AND

CONVENTIONS WHERE APPROPRIATE.

BETH POULTER

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS QUESTION?

I chose this hypothesis because I firmly believe that films of the

thriller genre are mainly noted on their gripping storyline and

outstanding plot twists, however I think that the element of sound

plays a substantial part when conforming to conventions of the

thriller genre. Therefore I have chosen particular pieces of

research to help prove my hypothesis to be correct.

I have chosen 3 focal films to focus on how sound is used in

the thriller genre and the importance of it. I tried to choose

films all from different epochs of the genre, with Psycho

being from 1960, Red Dragon from 2002 and then Taken in

2008 and how the use of sounds changes yet still remains to

the thriller genre.

HITCHCOCK, ALFRED. 1960.

PSYCHO. SHAMLEY

PRODUCTIONS

This is my main focal film for my research

portfolio, as the director- Alfred Hitchcock is

labelled as the 'father' of the thriller genre, a lot of

his stylistic elements being replicated and used in

various other more modern films of the thriller

genre.

RATNER, BRETT. 2002. RED

DRAGON. UNIVERSAL

PRODUCTIONS

The second of my focal films, Red

Dragon, was released 52 years after my

main focal film, the huge time gap

between the two films will help to

distinguish the type of sound used as

time has passed and how it has differed,

using it as a comparison as to what

works best and which best suits the

genre.

MOREL PIERRE. 2008. TAKEN.

EUROPACORP.

The third film of my focal films is the

most modern of the selection, this

again will help me to compare and

distinguish how sound has influenced

thriller films as the years have

progressed.

HOW MY FOCAL FILMS

HELPED MY

RESEARCH…

After choosing my three focal films, I selected a clip from

each and analysed them to seek how they fit into the thriller

genre. Each of my focal films used sound in different ways,

so this gives me a variation to study and more option as to

what fits to the thriller genre to the best standard.

PSYCHO – CLIP ANALYSIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WtDmbr9xyY

Alfred Hitchcock originally envisioned the shower sequence as

completely silent, but Bernard Herrmann went ahead and scored it

anyway, and upon hearing it, Hitchcock immediately changed his

mind.

Alfred Hitchcock was so pleased with the score written by Bernard

Herrmann that he doubled the composer's salary to $34,501.

Hitchcock later said, "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the

music."

Unknown Author. Unknown Date. Accessed at 9:30am on the 30th of January

2015. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

In this quote, Hitchcock himself highlights the importance of sound, with it creating ⅓ of the effect

in Psycho. I have created a survey to see if sound still has the same amount of effect as it did in

Hitchcock’s eyes.

RED DRAGON- CLIP ANALYSIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiDj6vJfug

TAKEN- CLIP ANALYSIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOywn1qArI

CHANDLER, DANIEL,1997.

‘AN INTRODUCTION TO GENRE

THEORY’.

This piece of research will help to gain an

understanding of the thriller genre, and the origin of

genre and how I can incorporate it into my short-filmed

piece, using theorists to explore how I can work within

a genre, specifically the thriller genre.

ALTMAN, RICK. 1998: “REUSABLE

PACKAGING: GENERIC PRODUCTS AND THE

RECYCLING PROCESS.” REFIGURING

AMERICAN FILM GENRES. ED. NICK

BROWNE. BERKELEY: UNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA PRESS. 1-41

The use of piece of research is to assist me with the

understanding of the psychothriller genre, with Psycho

being one of my focal films, it states how Psycho is

“the film that transforms the genre's formula and

instigates the progressive/subversive character of

horror films”

ROSENBERG,JOHN.2010.THE HEALTHY

EDIT: CREATIVE EDITING TECHNIQUES

FOR PERFECTING YOUR MOVIE.

TAYLOR & FRANCIS

The use of this piece of research will help

me in my portfolio with the editing side of

things, it is full of appropriate information

which will help me fit to the genre of my

planned short film.

DANNY DRAVEN .2013.GENRE FILMMAKING : A

VISUAL GUIDE TO SHOTS AND STYLE FOR

GENRE FILMS. TAYLOR & FRANCIS

This piece of research gives me a guide to give me an insight as to what shots

are most common and most influential in the thriller genre, it gives examples of

the type of shot, what is looks like, how its done and when it should be used.

This will assist me when I’m shooting my short film, when I’m choosing what

shots are best for my film and the certain situation that I am trying to portray.

HOW MUSIC CAN CHANGE A FILM-

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=

RN9V0CN4NWS

Shelleycanada, 2012. ‘How music can change a film’.

Accessed at 10:53 am on the 13th of January 2015 :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9V0cN4NWs

This video from YouTube, shows the direct influence that

sound can have on the audience, when changing the sound

on a certain scene- the whole thing changes and creates a

different environment. It completely changes the effect of the

acting, the storyline and the setting of the film, just by the

sound being changed.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND-

HTTP://FILMBASE.IE/THE-IMPORTANCE-OF-

SOUND/#.VLFHNWRG5YV

Unknown Author. Unknown Date. ‘The importance of sound’

Accessed at 14:00pm on the 15th of January 2015:

http://filmbase.ie/the-importance-of-sound/#.VLfHNWRg5YV

The use of this piece of research shows the importance of

sound in the movie industry and the impact it has. It

states how movies wouldn’t be the same without its iconic

sound motif, such as the famous motif used in Steven

Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster; Jaws.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN FILMMAKING

http://www.lightsfilmschool.com/articles/sound/

“PICTURES SPEAK TO THE

INTELLIGENCE. NOISE SEEMS

TO BYPASS INTELLIGENCE AND

SPEAK TO SOMETHING VERY

DEEP AND INBORN….” –

ALBERTO CAVALCANTI

(‘SOUND IN FILMS’. FILMS A QUARTERLY OF

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS V.1, N.1 [NOVEMBER

1939] , 25-39, CITED IN KRACAUER 124)