A newspaper - We are using a newspaper in the mental institute to show it was Katherine that killed their mother.
A car - When travelling from graveyard to their house or house to mental institute. We use the car, also we use it in the title sequence to make the audience think why it had been used.
A laptop - The laptop is used when the sisters are find
ing which mental institute Katherine is in
Hospital Gown - To portray the difference in who is the nurse and who is the patient.
A letter - We used the letter to tell the sisters about Katherine and what happened between her and their mother, this leads them to the mental institute.
A Lamp - We used the lamp near the very end of the film to exaggerate the fact Katherine is alone in her room and there is no one else there. It also casts a shadow behind which shows her two personalities.
Make-up Katherine -
The make up we have used for Katherine is minimal around the face but bold around the eyes using dark make up so she looks exhausted and mental as if she doesn't sleep. She will have a few cuts on her face/body as she has just been in a car accident and we want to make the audience think why she has them and also think that she may be a danger to herself and others. We are going to exaggerate the fact she is tired and famished by using dark make up on her cheekbones, this will make her look ill and unstable. Her hair will be messy and scruffy to show she isn't in the best of places and doesn't care about her appearance.
This is an example of what we wanted Katherine to look like. From the film, Girl Interrupted, we wanted to make Katherine look tired, mental and incapable.
Lily and Elizabeth -
The two sisters wear minimal make up that an every day teenager would wear as they are meant to be living a normal life and they don't know anything is wrong. In a lot of psychological thrillers, the girls are made to look innocent and like nothing bad happens to them, therefore we have taken this idea and interpreted it into our own film.
The Nurse -
The nurse is wearing minimal make up as she is working and is wearing what an expected nurse would usually wear, nothing too extreme. Just plain and simple.
For our film we feel like our costumes need to portray our characters personalities which we have purposely focused on. without costumes in a film the characters identity is lost, as in day to day basis people use their clothes to express themselves so our characters have got outfits to show their personality and characteristics.
Elizabeth and Lily - The two sisters are wearing normal every day clothes throughout the film which include jeans, tops and cardigans. By wearing daily average clothing it will give the audience the feeling that nothing is wrong and they are average, nice women. As they are both blonde it portrays the connotations of innocence as they wear floral clothing which emphasises their girly, caring personalities.
Katherine - Katherine is wearing leggings a plain top as she has only just gone into the mental institute and the staff have to make her feel normal. By making Katherine wear basic clothing goes against what you'd expect for a mental patient to wear, which gives part normality by only looking at the clothing. The audience isn't meant to know Katherine is the one who killed their Mother so we are trying to make her look ordinary by her average clothing.
Nurse - The nurse is wearing a stereo-typical nurse's outfit as we are emphasises she works in the hospital and is looking after Katherine, this will also make Katherine the focus of the scene within the mental institute.
Example -
We wanted to portray Katherine just like Angelina Jolie in the film 'Girl Interrupted' as she wears plain and casual clothes.
Psychological thriller Psychological thrilleris a fictionalthrillerstory which emphasises the psychologyof its characters and their unstable emotional states. The shining (1980)
'A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.' The shining is a film that shares similar features to our film 'Lost possession'. The first similarity is that both story lines are based on a family where one of the family members is mentally unstable. This then leads to the second similarity where this family member turns out to be violent and intent on hurting their own family.
Girl Interrupted (1999)
Set
in the changing world of the late 1960s, 'Girl, Interrupted' is the
searing true story of Susanna Kaysen, a young woman who
finds herself at a renowned mental institution for
troubled young women, where she must choose between the world of people
who belong on the inside - like the seductive and dangerous Lisa - or the often difficult world of reality on the
outside. This film features similar features to our film as they both feature the setting of a mental istitute where one of the main characters is an inpatient. Also both films have a mainly female cast, this si stereotypical within the psychological thriller genre as women are the ones usually portrayed as being mentally unstable.
Title sequence
When looking into title sequences I wanted to look at what is seen as influential in the genre we are focusing on so I could get ideas and apply them to our film and identify the conventions of thrillers through title sequences.
According to IMDB these are the top 100 psychological thrillers, however to condense it down here's the Top 10... http://www.imdb.com/list/ls057336010/
Top 10 Psychological Thrillers:
Se7en 1995
The Machinist 2004
Silence of the Lambs 1991
Jacob's Ladder 1990
Pi 1998
The Game 1997
Taxi Driver 1976
The Shining 1980
Duel 1971
Black Swan 2010
I wanted to analyse a film that I have seen but wanted a good example and representation of the genre as well so I chose to look at the title sequence of Black Swan.
This specific title sequence includes the following:
Distributor: "Fox Searchlight Pictures Presents"
"A Darren Aronofsky Film"
Production: "In association with Cross Creek Productions"
Music By Clint Mansell
Story By Andres Heinz
Produced By Mike Medavoy and Arnold W.Messer
Executive producers
Screen Play
Cast
Then finally the title of the film "Black Swan"
The content of the title sequence is very simplistic and doesn't give anything away about the genre, however I feel this is effective as it adds mystery and adds tension by the music in the background which goes from soft and subtle to quite loud and tense. These title sequences are obviously focusing on the music for a reason, as the music is classical ballet music which gives the audience the idea of what the film may be about. The music used in the film is a classical piece "The Swan Lake" by Tchaïkovski. The music again is linked to the storyline of the film.
The Editing in the titles of Black Swan is a continuity editing with the hand and the black crayon drawing something on a blank canvas. In terms of editing they use subtle Fade in and Fade out between shots to show that there is a subtle shift in time and makes it almost seem elegant. The editing matches the change in music and begins to become quick paced editing when the music becomes louder and more dramatic. Again I feel the link between music and editing almost tells the audience what the narrative is about.
In this title sequence it adds connotations of danger by adding quick editing when the music gets louder of the hand intently drawing and making the blank canvas really dark and dull with the chalk. Even though naturally this wouldn't have connotations it shows the transition of "the calm before the storm" which is reflected in the storyline. By linking the action of something so simple with the editing and music.
When the title of the film appears it fades in when the music returns back to being soothing and calming. I feel that the music and editing make the title sequence effective in this case, as it shows distinct connotations and the narrative of the film. I really feel this title sequence shows that they can be really simplistic but very effective. The only action that is in this title sequence is a hand drawing on a canvas, which wouldn't necessarily link with the film, however its the connotations of 'The Calm before the Storm' and the connotations of danger with the black chalk.
Overall I feel that this title sequence is effective to say it's so simple, the choice in music and editing is perfect in basing the storyline by adding the element of classical ballet, which links to the narrative. I feel that the simple idea and action in the title sequence is more effective and would be considered in using some elements in the group title sequence.
