Sound

Sound is a key element in any successful modern film. 

There are two types of sound that the audience will notice in almost every film they watch. This is diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

Diegetic sound refers to sound that is within the world of the text. This means sound that the characters within the film would be able to hear, for example, if a dog is barking next to a character and the character can hear the dog, that is an example of diegetic sound. Other examples can include music and dialogue. Music is not exclusively an example of diegetic sound however. 

Non-diegetic sound refers to sounds that the audience can hear that the characters within the film cannot, otherwise explained as sound that is outside the world of the text. Common examples include voice overs and soundtracks. 

Another thing to keep in mind when analyzing sound within a film is whether or not the sound is on or off screen. 

''On screen sound'' is a term used to describe sound that can be seen on the screen, whereas off screen sound is the opposite. For example, if two people are having a conversation within a film and they are in focus, that is on screen sound. However, if you hear a police car outside but the focus of the camera is on the inside of the house and no police car can be seen, that is off screen sound. Directors typically use off screen sound to create an effect of suspense, they can also use this technique to save money, if they are able to generate the sound of a police car for the scene they are trying to execute without actually needing to show the police car they save themselves a lot of work. 

Analysis of Psycho

The film is introduced by an establishing shot, this starts from a general view of Phoenix, and goes to the particular which is a hotel room. This is where the audience is likely to believe that the main characters are being introduced, they are Marion Crane and her boyfriend Sam. The audience is told that they cannot get married because of financial instability and that they can only meet during Marion's lunch breaks.

The plot thickens when Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 which was given to her by an employer. Instead of doing what she was told with the money, she saw it as an opportunity to start a new life with Sam, by stealing the money and using it to cover their financial issues.  As Marion is making her escape from the life she hates, she stops at The Bates Hotel, where she is soon to meet the Psycho.

The motel is ran by a quiet man ran named Norman Bates, the audience quickly find out that his mother controls a large part of his life and what he is able to do.

The audience is initially lead to believe that the film is about the forty thousand dollars and how Marion will be able to start a new life with it, however they are quickly proved wrong, and as the plot continues to develop the audience no longer has an understanding of what will happen, which allows Hitchcock to use devices of shock and suspense to their greatest potential.

We find out later on in the film that Norman actually killed his mother and her partner and later forced himself to act in a way that would make him feel like his mother still exists. Two separate personalities developed within him, one which was his own and another to represent his mothers. Any time Norman would meet a woman that he found attractive, his mother half would become furious with jealousy and he would be forced to kill them. That is the fate that struck Marion Crane. Norman is also forced to kill several other people as they come to look for him, anyone who tries to approach him eventually ends up dead which makes the audience wonder when his rampage will come to an end.

Several typical techniques were used by Hitchcock in this film to make it more effective. Firstly, a hugely effective plot twist is used when the audience is shown that it is not in fact Norman's mother killing people but Norman himself, under the effect of the second personality that has developed within him.

A red herring was also used relatively effectively, in the scene where Marion's sister wonders down to where Norman kept his mothers corpse, the audience is lead to believe that when she lets out a scream upon seeing the corpse, Norman would be able to locate her and kill her, but she is saved and Norman is captured for questioning.

This film strays away from the archetypal thriller recipe because it does not have a single hero, a lot of the people who the audience believes to be main characters actually end up dead in the first part of the film.

The title of the film being Psycho is another technique that could perhaps throw the audience off. This is because initially we are lead to believe that it is his mother who is a psycho, but we later find out that it is in fact Norman. Norman is initially presented as a normal man who has a possessive mother, the audience deduces this through the conversations they had. We later find out that it was just Norman talking to himself, presenting both of his personalities at the same time.

An interesting fact about the film is that it caused a lot of people to be too afraid to take showers after the shower death scene, including the actress of Marion herself.

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men is a criminal thriller based in the west. The film tells a story of a man who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong, where he finds a large sum of money that does not belong to him. The film has a villain driven plot because this man is now being chased by a hit man who shows no feelings of guilt or remorse, one could even say he gains a feeling of satisfaction every time he kills someone. themes of guilt and circumstance are examined in this film.

This film follows the archetype of a typical thriller as a ''civilian'' is forced to become the hero to save himself from a resourceful villain.

The main character of this film sends his wife to live with her mother in order to protect her when he finds out he is being followed

The film follows three main characters during its story, these are the villain, a regular citizen and a Sheriff. They are all caught up within the same story.

The villain, named Anton Chigurh, has been paid to capture the regular citizen, named Llewelyn Moss, who stumbled upon a drug deal gone wrong and has found himself a bag full of money, two million dollars to be exact. The Sheriff is stuck in between, his job is to stop the villain and obtain the money that has been stolen.

The ending of this film is very unusual as it is difficult to come to any real conclusion as to what happened, this is not typical of a thriller film. The hit man has been mortally wounded in a car crash, the  Sheriff retired and the citizen ended up dead.

The MacGuffin in this film was the suitcase of money as all three main characters were in some way connected to it and wanted to get it. The audience does not know what happened to this money as the way in which Llewelyn was killed was not shown to the audience. This is another unusual aspect of this film because typically the audience is not concerned with the MacGuffin, but in this case it raises a few questions as the whereabouts of this MacGuffin are not clearly stated at the end of the film.

There was another character that entered the equation half way through the film, the private detective. A lot of characters within the film believed this character to be powerful and resourceful and they counted on him to stop Anton but we later find out that he is just another one for Anton's body count. This helps emphasize the power of Anton as a villain, implying that even the smartest most resourceful 'heroes' will be unable to stop him from finishing his mission and satisfying his desire to kill.

Additional Information On Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th of August 1899 and died on 29th of April 1980. What makes Hitchcock special is that not only was he the creator of the most successful films of his time, he was also a pioneer as he was the first to use many of the film techniques that are still used in modern films today.

Hitchcock began his career in Britain, having tremendous success with silent films and early talkies, however he decided to move to Hollywood to further pursue his career and receive multinational attention for his masterful work in film. He became a US citizen in 1955.

Hitchcock's films were shot in a way which emphasize  fear, anxiety and suspense. These expert camera angles were often supported by innovative editing.

Given how unique his work was, he did receive the multinational attention which he was after, he managed to become a cultural icon for his time, and he remains an icon even today to people studying film and media.

His career spanned six decades, within which he was able to direct more than fifty feature films. Even today, British people say things like ''unquestionably the best film director to emerge from these islands'' making it clear that his impact on modern cinema is appreciated even today

To conclude, Hitchcock was one of the most successful directors in film history because he had a unique style of editing, innovative camera work, and was incredibly different from all the other directors that were active at the time.

North by Northwest analysis.

North by Northwest is a thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It follows the life of Roger Thornhill. Roger is mistaken to be a secret agent by a criminal who is running illegal activities to get rich quick. The criminal sees Roger as a threat and thus goes to quite extreme lengths to try and eliminate him.

Roger Thornhill is not actually a secret agent, but assumes his new identity as George Kaplin and helps bring the criminal and his henchmen to justice.

Does North by Northwest follow the recipe of an archetypal thriller?

It is commonly stated that the recipe for a typical thriller contains a resourceful and powerful villain and a hero who is dragged into the story often against his own will. This is the exact plot of North by Northwest. Roger is not actually a secret agent, he works for an advertisement company, however he eventually does start to work with the police to bring the aforementioned criminal to justice and to clear his own name.

The character of Thornhill is never properly explained. His character intentionally does not have a lot of depth. This allowed Hitchcock to focus on the story itself, which was Thornhill trying to clear his name from all the crimes he was caught up in because of the men trying to get rid of him while believing that he is a secret agent.