Psychological Thriller: The Equation.

Psychological: Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature.

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Thriller: A genre of fiction that attempts to "thrill" its audience by placing characters at great risk. This constant unease throughout the story makes the narrative suspenseful to the reader by creating a tense atmosphere.

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Psychological + Thriller: By combining these two terms, the definition changes to a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind.

TRAILER: Inception

WHY IT WORKS:

• Sound: starting with a deep and low, horn like alarm, very slow, and then building and building with higher pitched, faster notes almost unbearably to a point of tension and agitation, that enthrals you into seeing it - I feel like it’s the low horns at the beginning that really get you, they stir something Olde Worlde-y within you that something big and increasingly dangerous is near and in a way, it agitates you and shakes you up. The effortless editing of the sound gives the whole film an ‘epic’ quality – that this isn’t a cheap, low budget thriller, it’s an event – something the low horns almost announce, and it is not to be missed.
• Complete lack of narrative: I feel like from these clips it is impossible to attain a narrative – no clip is over five seconds and none include any speech or actions to give away the plot, the whole idea of the teaser and effortlessly done by the producers of this one. The most revealing is the text – ‘Your mind is the scene of the crime’ – something ominous and quite disturbing to the individual, having your mind specifically targeted. Combine this with the sinister soundtrack and at the end of the trailer, the CGI skyscrapers then zooming out to an aerial shot and seeing them all as mazes creating the word ‘Inception,’ this trailer is definitely a very psychological one and invades your own psychology, leaving you desperate to have these unexplained factors explained.
• Hollywood budget: The high budget and professionalism of the producers is evident throughout this trailer, again enticing the viewer with its sleekness and Hollywood finish, and of course having such a major, and incredibly gorgeous, Hollywood actor leading the cast is another obvious pull for the audience – of all the cast his is the only name shown, and the majority of shots he is dominant in, the other cast are shown relatively little. The high budget is again demonstrated through aerial shots of New York, impossible to attain without a helicopter – and the incorporation of a helicopter in certain shots as well as the use of CGI and special effects, for example the sky scrapers at the finish.
• Unexplained clues: Despite the high budget of this film and trailer, I find the most intriguing of all the shots the ones that are simple shots included of seemingly normal objects that are obviously key to the plot and the film, but are unexplained to the viewer, like clues as it were, for example, the spinning top, which is perhaps the longest of all shots incorporated in the trailer at about five seconds. The water in the glass bending is unnatural to the sight and humans and within the context of the trailer is completely unexplained, as well as being unexplainable by science, and is therefore left as an inexplicable clue for the viewer, as well as the brief shot of the watch ticking, as if time is running out, something very attainable to incorporate into our own trailer.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship ...

Psychological thriller:

Codes and conventions

-CHARACTER OVER PLOT - whereas basic thriller is plot driven - the thrills coming from the twists and turns and physical action within the plot, psychological thriller relies on the character and their mental state to deliver high impact thrills. The protagonist's psychology - their motives, morals, mental processes, fears, paranoias are what shapes the plot by their reactions to the threatening situation they find themselves in and the thrills are essentially created by exposing the viewer's own fears and paranoia's and in essence, threatening them.

-MIND GAMES -psychological games are a major plot thrill used to drive up suspense and tension in this subgenre. Games of deception - deceiving the protagonist and slowly demolishing their mental state are particularly alarming, especially from another evil character's equally unstable mind, but sometimes the conflict is literally within the protagonist's own mind - finally understanding or accepting something that has happened, for example a particularly traumatic experience they'd repressed within their mind, will be the climax of the film. This toying with people's mind and their subconscious are always unsettling for the viewer - the mind being a completely safe and seemingly secure place for any normal human being, as well as the reliance of mental resources, as opposed to physical strength throughout the film.

-Themes: REALITY - Characters attempting to determine what and what isn't true/real through the narrative.

PERCEPTION - Characters misperceiving the world around them or the world around them being displayed to them by outside factors in an obscured manner.

MIND - Used as a location for narrative conflict - characters battle their own mind to reach a new level of understanding/perception.

EXISTENCE/PURPOSE - The character's attempting to discover the purpose of their lives, the reason for their existence - the conflict occurring when they try to discover/question this purpose.

IDENTITY - Characters questioning and doubting their true identity and trying to discover it.

DEATH - The characters have a fear or fascination with death.
- Philosophical themes: METAPHYSICS - attempting to explain the world and define reality, a rather broad category that can be split into several subsections

EXISTENTIALISM - In a world that is uncertain and mysterious and they begin to lose the ability to make meaning of their lives, the protagonist must rely on their own mind and own morality to create a meaning of the world around them and themselves.

DETERMINISM - The world is out of control and the protagonist feels hopeless to change the events that are occurring around him/her.

FATALISM - Whatever will be will be, so the character is essentially fighting a losing battle to gain control of their lives in a meaningless and chaotic world.

ONTOLOGY - Trying to determine what exists and questioning this to an extent that results in answers more confusing than the questions

DUALISM - The protagonist struggles to grasp the difference between the mind and matter and are unable to determine what is physically present and what is a fabrication of their mind

MORALITY - The protagonist knows the difference between right and wrong, but is conflicted between listening to their own morality or following societal standards.

MORAL SKEPTICISM - The protagonist questions whether morals are false or can actually be determined.

NIHILISM - The protagonist feels hopeless and depressed with the view the world, and especially human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value.