3. Initial Thoughts of Conventions
Details Film Examples
Plot Use: Something tends to happen in the characters earlier life
which messes with them as they are older. This is associated with
them having emotional trauma.
Develop: Usually related to deception or betrayal by a close
friend or someone in the family that the character thought they
were innocent.
Challenge: The character can have a spilt personality, so one
good and one bad.
Case 39
Orphan
Black Swan
Narrative Use: The story can be told in the point of view of a character/in
first person.
Develop: Flashbacks can be used which means that it doesn’t
follow the three part.
Challenge: can make the audience feel what the character has to
go through, so its non-linear.
The Tell-Tale Heart
Momento
Orphan
Characters Use: Tends to be the main character that has the psychological
problem which is the main focus of the film.
Develop: Two or more characters, so one has the psychological
problem, and the other one is affected by that (could be a whole
group that is affected).
Challenge: The psychological problem can be masked, so the
audience don’t know that they have a problem+.
Case 39/Orphan
The Shining
Black Swan
4. Details Film Examples
Setting Use: Towns/cities or even in homes.
Develop: Buildings, streets, hospitals or metal asylums.
Challenge: Ballet/dance studios, wrestling ring or in a school
The Shining
Shutter Island
Black Swan
MES Use: Costumes give them equality, so all the characters look the
same.
Develop: The character looks more sophisticated than the other
Characters by the way they dress.
Challenge: Bright colours are used instead of having dark and dull
colours.
Black Swan
The wrestler
Camera
Techniques
Use: Close ups and mid shots to focus on facial expressions and
gestures.
Develop: Two shots which can show the audience between the
character with the psychological problem and the one without.
Challenge: POV/told from the perspective of the character with
the psychological problem.
The Ring/Momento
The Ring
Black Swan
Sounds Use: Tense music which creates the tense mood
Develop: There can be first person narration, in which they can
hear their own heartbeat etc…
Challenge: Sound from objects in the scene, e.g. a piano
Hannibal/The Others
Sixth Sense
The Others
5. Conventions in a film
Description:
Scene1: The scene when Grace (mother) loosing her control and
attack her daughter Anne
Scene2: Scene, when Grace is founding that she is dead
Gabriella
Ewelina
6. The convention here is wild body
language, when she attacked her
daughter. This shows that she
cannot control herself and she has
problem with it. This type of
behaviour is quiet normal in
psychological movies
Close up are used to show Grace’s facial
expression. Her mood is changing really
quickly. This shows that she is not stable
emotionally.
The light used is a
convention as the light
tends to be mysterious and
tense
The facial expression and body
language of daughter is a
convention, as this show
reaction of outsiders on
behaviour of people with
mental problems.
The close up on Anne’s face is a convention as this
show that Grace doesn’t recognise her daughter
and imagine someone’s else. This shows that
there is something wrong with her psychologically
7. Explain of use, develop or challenge Photo evidence
PLOT The plot was developed because audience could
notice that something is wrong with Grace’s
psychologically, as she noticed someone else instead of
her daughter (where this was her daughter)
NARRATIVE The narrative is developed as the story is told in linear
and continues, showing realism
CHARACTER Character is challenge (developed?) in this scene as
from calm and good mother she turned into aggressive
and careless mother. This can happen a lot in
psychological drama, as this is the point that people
are loosing their control, even towards closest people.
CAMERA
TECHNIQUES
Camera techniques is developed as shows every
important detail in this scene. Through close-up
camera shows facial expression of Grace (that is
changing really quickly) and also what’s provoked her
to attack her daughter
USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
Gabriella
Ewelina
8. Close up are used to show Grace’s facial expression. Through this audience can notice that she doesn’t
know what is going on.. She is very confused in this situation.
Gesture (such as touching head) shows that she try to focus and to discover what is happening.
This happen a lot in psychological drama, as mostly character with mental problems, doesn’t know
what is going around them.
Body language is a convention, as show that she try to resolve situation by destroying everything. This
is normal in psychological drama as people, who has something wrong with their psychological , can
really quickly loose their control and become aggressive
