There are a lot of intertextual references within films and TV and a lot of these define conventions of the genre they are in. For example, white on black is a classic convention of a thriller film and fast paced music is a convention for an action film.
Thelma and Louise has been seen to relate to the ever changing views on females. They show that women don't need to be controlled by men and are perfectly capable of looking after themselves which challenges the generic archetype because normally in thriller films the woman dies (femme-fatale).
Compared to Pyscho's representation of females it is completely different. Marion Crane being the classic femme fatale who is mischievous and dangerous and punished for her actions compared to Thelma and Louise who are independent women and give the punishments.
Marion is shown to be scared when the cop pulls her over and you can tell by the look on her face that she has done something wrong. The cop is a dominant figure which is how men were portrayed. Whereas in Thelma nd Louise you can see that Ridley Scott has referenced Hitchcock's scene. Although Ridley has created two different females compared to Hitchcock, Scott's women are not fearful of the male cop who pulls them over and show him who is boss. They don't follow the normal way that a female is presented in a thriller and this helps promote to women that they can be independent and don't need a man to have a stable life.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Pyscho case study
Psycho
Pyscho is a psychological thriller made in 1960 by Alfred Hitchcock.
Femme-Fatale
Marion Crane, is the femme-fatale in the film. she steals some money and is instructed by the her boss to take it to the bank but instead she uses it to buy the love of her boyfriend who she is having an affair with.
Instantly the audience can sense the archetype straight away buy seeing her as mischievous and dangerous and can tell her actions won't go unnoticed. the establishing of her archetype is a classic convention in noir thrillers. Whenever she appears with her boyfriend who she is having an affair with, she is submissive showing that she is trying to please him. She seems really desperate for the relationship and is willing to do anything to have him. But Hitchcock gets her to wear a white laced piece of lingerie which is resembles purity but because she is submissive to her boyfriend it shows that Hitchcock is challenging the generic archetype. Hitchcock has been known as the 'lady-killer' director and knows how to present femme-fatales in films to show the audience. Hitchcock gets the female characters to go against the normal expectations and then he punishes them for what they do. Marion has the same fate and is brutally murdered in the famous shower scene.
Location
The location for the famous shower scene is obviously in the shower and what makes it more chilling is the fact that it happens in a normal situation in a normal place. The shower is an enclosed and confined space which is a classic convention in thrillers. She is also portrayed as vulnerable because she I naked and in the shower which is slippery meaning that she cant protect herself.
Having no ambient lighting adds to the effect because it creates a silhouette behind the shower curtain of someone approaching Marion and puts a chill into the audience because they know that someone is coming but Marion doesn't, but the audience is shocked by how she is killed and that is the mysterious convention of a thriller because no one knows who is stabbing her.
The soundtrack over the top when the silhouette approaches the shower curtain adds to the suspense and tension that is created giving the audience an unnerving ending to Marion.
Sunday, 8 February 2015
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