Suspense in the cinema : Psycho

Authors Avatar

Suspense in the cinema : Psycho.

 I have studied Alfred Hitchcock’s famous thriller, “Psycho”. I chose a very small extract from the film, it contains a lot of suspenseful elements. These include intense music and camera shots.

 Detective Arbogast is investigating a crime committed by Marion Crane, a woman who stole from the bank where she worked. Marion was last seen at motel in the middle of nowhere, Arbogast travelled to the motel to question Norman Bates, the owner. Whilst talking to Mr Bates, Arbogast becomes suspicious of the stories about his alleged elderly mother.

 The extract I chose to study is set at the motel and house of Norman Bates. The house is gothic like situated on a hill, it’s only a minute walk from the motel. The fact that the house and motel were isolated and it was night time creates a feeling of suspense. If these had been the opposites to what they were, all the suspense would have been lost.

Join now!

 The Detective enters the silent motel, the silence brings a feeling of anxiety to happen. In affect it adds to the suspense. The camera follows Arbogast whilst he’s looking around the motel. This shot is suspenseful as it looks like something bad will happen and that we (the audience) are afraid to go first.  The camera then switches to a close up of a crow mounted on the wall. A crow is associated with evil so this creates suspense as it makes us feel that evil is present.

 After searching the motel, Detective Arbogast begins to walk over to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay