Time Management

By the end of Decemeber, I want to have started filming my first scene for my short film.

Research into Psychological Thriller genre

Psychological thriller is a sub-genre of the thriller genre that has a heavy focus on the emotional instability of character, with hints of mystery and thriller. It often incorporates elements of the mystery and thriller genres. Many films of this genre also overlap with the horror & psychological genres.

Definitions
Psychiological- Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of either physical manifestations, or physical torsions of the characters at play.
Thriller – Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much as, if not more so than, the plot.
Psychological thriller – 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. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.

Themes

• Reality
• Perception
• Mind
• Existence
• Purpose
• Identity
• Death
• Black Comedy

Influential Screenwriters and Directors

Brad Anderson – Works effectively in the psychological horror genre. He is the director of The Machinist and Session 9.

Dario Argento – Italian director considered the master of giallo. He often creates mysteries that are very psychological in nature, with the past of characters influencing their present actions, as in 4 mosche di velluto grigio, Tenebrae, Trauma and La sindrome di Stendhal.

Darren Aronofsky – Director of harsh paranoid thrillers such as Pi, Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan.

David Cronenberg – Canadian director who focuses on the psychological horrors of our minds. His storylines often make issues of the mind explicit, as in The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, Dead Ringers and Spider.

Brian De Palma – Infuses eroticism with the thriller genre. Often uses the motifs of doubling and splitting in the characters minds, as in Sisters, Obsession, Dressed to Kill, Body Double and Raising Cain.

Alfred Hitchcock – The master of suspense, Hitchcock often applied Freudian concepts to his thrillers, as in Rebecca, Spellbound, Vertigo, Psycho, Marnie and Rear Window.

Stanley Kubrick - His films are characterized by a formal visual style and attention to detail – often combining elements of surrealism and expressionism that give the viewers a feeling of discomfort, such as in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut and A Clockwork Orange.

David Lynch – Surrealistic director whose mysteries are usually puzzles of the mind. Both the audience and the characters themselves must figure out what is real and what is not, especially in Inland Empire, Lost Highway, Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive.

Christopher Nolan – British-American director whose narrative structures often reflect the mental construction of the characters, as in Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, The Prestige and Inception.

Roman Polanski – Polish director whose thrillers focus on the alienation and isolation of the characters, as in Repulsion and Le Locataire.

Martin Scorsese – American director who directed Shutter Island, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear and The Departed, among others.

Satoshi Kon – Japanese anime director whose well known for making psychological anime thrillers, as in Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress and Paprika

Changes

Since my last posts, I have decided to change my idea for my short film. I have now decided to do a short film of the experimental genre in which I explore the way someone suffering from an extreme mental disorder experiences a break up or a traumatic event through hallucinations. I will show both the hallucinations and the breakdown. I will do this by creating an extravagant tea party set up, in which there will be indulgence and opulence, but also there will be dark characters that will show the audience that it is a hallucination. I will show the breakdown by using shots of the main character smudging her make up and crying, and hiding in a dark corridor. I will also show the real world of the hallucination, by having shots of her walking and going around corridors but using strange movements.