Textual Analysis

For our film, 'Disturbance', we used 3 films for inspiration, 'Don't Say a Word' (2001), 'Psychosis' (2009), and 'Shutter Island' (2010).

We were influenced by 'Don't Say a Word' due to it's archetypal main character, who has a mental condition, and is thereby living in some sort of asylum for the mentally unstable.

Our predominant reason for choosing this film was the behavioural similarities between the patient in their film, and the patient in ours. Brittany Murphy, who played Elizabeth, the patient, presents a very believable performance as 'mentally unstable'. Therefore, we focused on some of the directional techniques, as well as theatrical methods they used to present the audience with this situation, and applied it to a small portion of our own filming.

This clip from the film, shows how the director has varied the camera movement to show the unstable state of mind this woman is in, the camera moves disjointedly and the focus changes however, the camera also moves very smoothly towards the woman, the juxtaposition depicts the idea of a person who is so confused and yet is also in the know, and the fear rules her life. It is a really interesting technique which we have considered for our own film as it has a very successful result.

Trailer:



'Psychosis'

'Psychosis' influenced our film because it is a film about a woman haunted by her own death, these visions gnaw away at her psyche so that no one believes in her, because it is all in her head. The visions are put into motion by her decision to write a book about a group of people, who go on to be mysteriously murdered, and in due course she is haunted by her own mind.

This approach to the thriller genre is typical, and it works in the conventions of a thriller with past events haunting people in the present, it convinced us to go by the standard thriller guidelines because of the success it shows and we also discovered how the versimilitude of a film really helps interaction with the audience as again, they can empathise with the characters, improving the overall success of the film.

'Psychosis' official trailer

The inventive use of light and the editing is really effective, for example the editors have changed a very small shot to black and white and then inverted the colour:

This effective flash of a changed colour scheme shows the fear the protagonist has, which induces the audiences fear for her, due to the bond that they have formed already from the ability the audience had to empathise with her character.

This particular film also uses iconography within the portrayal of the serial killer, which adds to the overall horror/thriller genre. It is increased with such editing because it escalates the fear the audience already have for these characters, again adding to the enjoyment the audience have when viewing the film.

Trailer:

'Shutter Island'

'Shutter Island' was our third influence, however it had not been released at the time of our filming, we were able to use pre-release information and trailers for research.

The thrilling plot line, persuaded us to base our film on mental illness, as the film is based on a prison for the criminally insane. The film has representation of both genders, however most of the characters are morally corrupted by this island and the job it carries out, showing perhaps a more realistic side to how people can be persuaded by material things such as money, and the darkness some hold in their souls.

We tried to reflect this darkness into our protagonist, for she is living in fear of her own death. In thrillers and horrors, visions usually connote insanity, and this is what we have taken into account, as again, 'Shutter Island' uses these connotations to their full extent, and it is wholly effective because of the disturbance behind the visions and the resultant response from the audience.

The protagonist in this film begins to doubt everything in this disturbing institution, he is wary of his own memory, his partner and is overly doubtful of his own sanity.

The costume, make up, expression and editing that has been applied to this one character is extensive, however not pointless at all, this shot of her singular character is hugely effective on the audience, as the finger to the lips motion tells them immediately that something happens in this place which will be kept quiet. Although we could not apply this kind of editing and costume to our own film, due to budget, the basis of our characters is a diluted version of such a person. The huge, piercing black eyes are powerful enough with no other indication of insanity, and the lack of hair again connotes some sort of lunacy. The addition of the handcuffs, and the clothing of an older woman, along with the skeletal features, gives a perturbing sense to this shot, and is gains an exceedingly effective result upon the audience.

Trailer: