Real Crimes Influence on the Murder Mystery Genre
Analysis of the case of Hawley Harvey Crippen
Real crimes have had a large influence on crimes in murder mystery media texts. The first one is the inspiration for plots, filmmakers often take pieces on high profile cases and incorporate them into the plot. This adds a layer of authenticity and sometimes even appeals to people interested in real life crime cases. The second is character development, real life people often create templates for the filmmaker to create detectives, killers, victims, or other significant characters. Another is psychological depth, real crimes usually have complex psychological elements, filmmakers often are enticed by these elements too add depth to their characters and story lines. The last is legal and ethical problems, in real life crimes, many times detectives know who the perpetrator is but lack enough physical evidence to convict them. Filmmakers try to incorporate these problems into their film to make it seem more authentic and realistic.
One example of a real crime is the case of Hawley Harvey Crippen, an infamous murderer from Britain in 1910. His crime is him killing his wife and burying her in the basement of their house, he was later executed after being caught. This case inspired Ernest Raymond to write his own novel in the 1920's called; We, The Accused.
Knowing how Real crimes have influenced the creation of murder mystery media texts, allows me to also take influence from them, and learn how certain aspects of a crime or the people associated with it can help me create a film opening.
Comments
Post a Comment