Psycho (1960)- Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

A film that was thought to be box office suicide before release. The film was low budget, filmed in black and white and featured B-list stars. As well as following a narrative that went against all movie conventions of its time. But rather than being a complete box office fail, it was extremely successful and produced the genre of slasher horror.





The director, Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, grew up quiet and sheltered to a middle class family in London. At the age of 14 his father died, leaving his already intense bond with his mother to deepen. This is the basis which the character Norman bates' life is based around. The budget for the film was $800,000 due to paramount not being fond of the novel Hitchcock wished to adapt onto the big screen.

Scene analysis: Opening scene
Camera angles

• a long, continuous, panning establishing shot is used to determine the setting of the film. We then move on to a slightly tilted zoom into a small window of a hotel. This movement of the camera could be used to show voyeurism foreshadowing what is to come in the film.

Music, Sound and Silence

• a romantic sounding violin is played as non-diagetic sound to set the mood of a love affair. 

Editing

• The shots are long and continuous which creates a flowing feel as well as making you feel like you are physically watching the shot (voyeurism).
• a fade is used to change setting.
• text comes up during the establishing shot to set the date, time and location.

Point of view

• as we fell like we are voyeurs by watching this scene the point of view is objective.

Mise en Scene

• The narrative is set in a city.
• the hotel room looks quite isolated as the blinds are down
• Marion is wearing all white to show her innocence at this point of time in the film. However, Marion is not so innocent as she is having an affair with a married man.

Scene analysis: Marion leaves for Phoenix
Camera angles

• camera is generally straight on throughout. the shot is straight on Marion's face most of the scene. only in a couple of instances do we see her whole body.
• At the beginning of the scene we see Marion standing at her wardrobe, the camera then zooms onto the envelope of money on the bed and rests there. From here the camera pans to the suitcase, before moving back to Marion.
• There is also another zoom shot onto Marion's document case emphasizing the driving and car ownership documents inside. suggesting a journey.

Music, Sound and Silence

• There is no music until the camera zooms onto the envelope of money. The music is ominous throughout the scene, suggesting something bad is going to happen. 
• The music stops when the shot changes to a different setting (bedroom to car)
• A voice-over is introduced in the car, to enable the audience to get into Marion's mind.
• Frantic music begins to play when Marion is spotted by her boss. This captured the panic and guilt that Marion is feeling. Psycho strings are used here to un-nerve the audience.

Editing

• Fades are used to signify the movement of scene. For example, Marion opens the door of her bedroom to leave, the shot fades into Marion in her car.
• The scene also ends with a fade. However, we only see the car at a different angle (a wide angled shot of Marion's car at night) which captures the landscape behind it, highlighting on Marion's isolation.

Point of View

• When the point of view changes from Marion's face, we generally see the audiences point of view looking in.
• We also see thing's through Marion's point of view in terms of looking at the envelope of money on the bed.

Mise en Scene

• the background of the shot is of very little importance because the focus is on Marion's face and her point of view.
• The mirror is deliberately included so that the audience is watching Marion watch herself. 
• symbolic as the mirror shows a reflection of her guilt

Scene analysis: The Shower Scene
Camera angles

• close ups are used to focus on certain elements of the scene including her hand reaching out and grabbing the shower curtain, the shower head itself when she is showering and her eye at the end of the scene when she is lying on the floor to show that she is dead.

Music, sound and silence

• Psycho strings (non-diagetic sound) is used in this scene to let the audience know that something bad is going to happen. It can also be used to create suspense.
• The only sound to be heard at the beginning of the scene is the sound of the shower. This gives a sense of being alone and isolated.

Editing

• cut aways are used on Marion in the original shots of the shower scene. The jump between different shots of her showering show her emotion of relief through her whole body after fleeing with the money. The scene is composed of more than 90 different shots seen from 70 different camera angles.

Point of view

• moves from being objective to subjective by changing to being through the eyes of the killer.

Mise en Scene

• The white colour of the bathroom could represent innocence in the form of Marion not knowing she is going to be killed. The use of a shower curtain emphasises the shadow of the emerging killer to overtake the white innocent look of the bathroom.