Research catalogue with added references

1. HOW DOES THE MICRO ELEMENT OF SOUND
INFLUENCE A FILM , IN THE THRILLER
GENRE, FOLLOWING THE CODES AND
CONVENTIONS WHERE APPROPRIATE.
BETH POULTER

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. PSYCHO – CLIP ANALYSIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WtDmbr9xyY

9. 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.

10. RED DRAGON- CLIP ANALYSIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiDj6vJfug

11. TAKEN- CLIP ANALYSIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOywn1qArI

12. 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.

13. 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”

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN FILMMAKING
http://www.lightsfilmschool.com/articles/sound/

19. “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)