Pre-Production: Psychological Thriller
What is a Psychological Thriller?
A Psychological Thriller can be defined simply as "a suspenseful movie or book emphasizing the psychology of its characters rather than the plot".
An example of which is: "In a psychological thriller, the characters are exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one.".
But what does this mean?
In essence a good Psychological Thriller is one that focuses on the psychology of the characters within the story. This could mean the mental state of one individual could bring harm to others or themselves or even no harm at all, just experiencing the mind of a character.
A very good example of this is the film American Psycho (2000). The character Patrick Bateman is played fantastically by Christian Bale as we see the split lives and psychology of a successful business man turned serial killer by night.
The film is not necessarily driven by the plot but instead by the psychotic mind of this character, living his world through the entirety of the film until the end in which we understand that the gruesome murders he has been committing have been all in his head.
This film is a fantastic example of how a Psychological Film works and also how it differs from other plot driven genres. It also gives me an example to follow to make sure that my film follows within this genre, ensuring the psychological mind behind my character is the thing driving the story.
The Psychology of Characters
With characters being the driving force of Psychological Thriller, I need to make sure that my character does the same within my own story.
Having a character that has their own psychology requires a deeper level of development and backstory. Simple character development is not enough when having a protagonist within a Psychological Thriller. We need to be able to see their motivations, the reason for their actions and most of all, be interested in the characters. We don't need to necessarily agree or like the character but none the less they need to be interesting. This can be seen and understood within greats like Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Norman Bates in Psycho and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
These characters are the perfect examples for driving the narrative, but also two completely different characters when it comes to audiences' perception.
Norman Bates
After seeing him in the beginning as an innocent nervous Motel owner, who's insane mother goes on a murder spree. It is revealed that this character is in fact living two lives and the man we thought we knew is not who he seems at all. This twist not only reveals the psychology and mentality behind the character but also gives us the basis of the story.
The audiences perception of this character is twisted into a way to reveal he is a psycho. Taking our perception from being that of a nervous motel owner, to that of a trouble schizophrenic.
Though the audience would not agree with what he has done but we understand why, and also his character engages the audiences interest.
Dr Hannibal Lecter
The cannibal forensic psychiatrist in this story is more than an engaging and interesting character, as can be seen by adaptations, sequels and prequels to The Silence of the Lambs.
This character is made engaging by his interactions, his seamless transitions from sophisticated gentleman, to intellectual psychiatrist, then to cannibal serial killer make him an incredibly interesting character. His disturbing character played masterfully by Anthony Hopkins is not the protagonist of this story however. Clarice Starling played by Jodie Foster, is the character in which we follow and Dr. Lecter in fact plays the guide which helps drive the narrative.
Clarice's interactions and learning from Dr. Lecter are the things that help her through the narrative, his story becomes just as important while we look to find the serial killer Buffalo Bill.
Travis Bickle
This disturbed, loner, Vietnam war veteran tries to adjust to normal life within New York City. The city to him however is a disgusting symbol of scum and degenerates, of which he details within a diary how he struggles to cope with its condition and wants to stand up and fight against it.
This character is a complex one, struggling to adjust to life back home, suffering from insomnia and becoming that of a loner he tries to get used to normal life. His story is follows his progressive anger towards the city he lives in and the people he refers to as 'scum' that live within it.
We see the reasons for his loner status early on the audience could struggle to empathize with his choices and actions. His character's mind set without a doubt drives the narrative. His choices and diary pronounced through monologue shed light on his actions as we follow his thoughts, though sometimes irrational, we are able to understand his point of view.
By the end of the film the audience can understand, and root for this character as we see the good in him and his intentions of trying to save Jodie Foster's character. This character by the end is one that we, the audience, root for and although his thoughts and actions sometimes are irrational, his intentions are good.
How can this help me?
References
A Psychological Thriller can be defined simply as "a suspenseful movie or book emphasizing the psychology of its characters rather than the plot".
An example of which is: "In a psychological thriller, the characters are exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one.".
But what does this mean?
In essence a good Psychological Thriller is one that focuses on the psychology of the characters within the story. This could mean the mental state of one individual could bring harm to others or themselves or even no harm at all, just experiencing the mind of a character.
A very good example of this is the film American Psycho (2000). The character Patrick Bateman is played fantastically by Christian Bale as we see the split lives and psychology of a successful business man turned serial killer by night.
The film is not necessarily driven by the plot but instead by the psychotic mind of this character, living his world through the entirety of the film until the end in which we understand that the gruesome murders he has been committing have been all in his head.
This film is a fantastic example of how a Psychological Film works and also how it differs from other plot driven genres. It also gives me an example to follow to make sure that my film follows within this genre, ensuring the psychological mind behind my character is the thing driving the story.
The Psychology of Characters
With characters being the driving force of Psychological Thriller, I need to make sure that my character does the same within my own story.
Having a character that has their own psychology requires a deeper level of development and backstory. Simple character development is not enough when having a protagonist within a Psychological Thriller. We need to be able to see their motivations, the reason for their actions and most of all, be interested in the characters. We don't need to necessarily agree or like the character but none the less they need to be interesting. This can be seen and understood within greats like Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Norman Bates in Psycho and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
These characters are the perfect examples for driving the narrative, but also two completely different characters when it comes to audiences' perception.
Norman Bates
After seeing him in the beginning as an innocent nervous Motel owner, who's insane mother goes on a murder spree. It is revealed that this character is in fact living two lives and the man we thought we knew is not who he seems at all. This twist not only reveals the psychology and mentality behind the character but also gives us the basis of the story.
The audiences perception of this character is twisted into a way to reveal he is a psycho. Taking our perception from being that of a nervous motel owner, to that of a trouble schizophrenic.
Though the audience would not agree with what he has done but we understand why, and also his character engages the audiences interest.
Dr Hannibal Lecter
The cannibal forensic psychiatrist in this story is more than an engaging and interesting character, as can be seen by adaptations, sequels and prequels to The Silence of the Lambs.
This character is made engaging by his interactions, his seamless transitions from sophisticated gentleman, to intellectual psychiatrist, then to cannibal serial killer make him an incredibly interesting character. His disturbing character played masterfully by Anthony Hopkins is not the protagonist of this story however. Clarice Starling played by Jodie Foster, is the character in which we follow and Dr. Lecter in fact plays the guide which helps drive the narrative.
Clarice's interactions and learning from Dr. Lecter are the things that help her through the narrative, his story becomes just as important while we look to find the serial killer Buffalo Bill.
Travis Bickle
This disturbed, loner, Vietnam war veteran tries to adjust to normal life within New York City. The city to him however is a disgusting symbol of scum and degenerates, of which he details within a diary how he struggles to cope with its condition and wants to stand up and fight against it.
This character is a complex one, struggling to adjust to life back home, suffering from insomnia and becoming that of a loner he tries to get used to normal life. His story is follows his progressive anger towards the city he lives in and the people he refers to as 'scum' that live within it.
We see the reasons for his loner status early on the audience could struggle to empathize with his choices and actions. His character's mind set without a doubt drives the narrative. His choices and diary pronounced through monologue shed light on his actions as we follow his thoughts, though sometimes irrational, we are able to understand his point of view.
By the end of the film the audience can understand, and root for this character as we see the good in him and his intentions of trying to save Jodie Foster's character. This character by the end is one that we, the audience, root for and although his thoughts and actions sometimes are irrational, his intentions are good.
How can this help me?
- By looking into films within this genre it will help me make sure when planning and writing the story that it will fit within the Psychological Thriller genre.
- To understand that the character's psychology drives the story.
- To understand that the character's development needs to be a lot deeper and in more depth when dealing with their, mental state, mind set and psychology.
- My character would need to have such deep development that the story can flow from this character and the theme of control.
- My character needs to be engaging, not necessarily agreed with or sympathized with but non the less interesting and engaging enough to hold a story on their psychology and enable a story to come from them.
References
GOOD WORK, Jordan.
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