Hitchcock's Psycho.

Authors Avatar

Final Draft of “Psycho” Essay

In its use of camera shots, the shower scene was exceedingly original. For example, Hitchcock’s decision to use an extreme close up of the showerhead is very effectual since it shows the spectators Marion naked, having a shower, thus putting her in a vulnerable position. This particular shot also indicates to the viewers that they, along with Norman Bates, are spying on Marion and invading her privacy.

Hitchcock also uses another extreme close up, this time of Marion’s mouth. This is simply utilized to show Marion’s sheer and utter fear. She is terrified by what her eyes have just seen. This camera shot, therefore suggests to the audience that Marion is in agony and is helpless. It emphasises an atmosphere of inferiority, as she is weak and vulnerable, powerless in defending herself against any attack.

Instantly after the stabbing has occurred, Hitchcock applies an extreme close up of Marion’s hand. This illustrates her grabbing the shower curtain to try and stand up. The audience see that Marion is unable to rise, although she is striving for her life. It shows her dramatic situation and thus suggests to the spectators that the lead woman is probably going to die, even though it is only a third of the way into “Psycho”. Conversely, it also creates an atmosphere of suspense, as the viewers would have expected her to live, based on their previous experience of horror films.

Conclusively, a close up of the face of Marion, lying dead on the floor, is used by Hitchcock to emphasise to the audience that she is deceased and will not come back to life. This would have been shocking, as in horror films prior to “Psycho” no lead woman had ever been killed so early on. Hitchcock cleverly uses this shot as it allows time for the viewers to recognise and accept that Marion is dead, creating an atmosphere of unease and sadness amongst them.

Hitchcock has deliberately made the shower scene interesting and original by linking Norman’s actions with Marion’s. At the start of the clip, Marion is sitting at a desk calculating the money that she must return. This is obviously illustrating to the viewers that Marion regrets her previous deeds. Norman, in the section immediately before, comes into his house and sits at the table, thinking about whether to murder Marion or not. This idea is very effective as it ties the two characters together. The correspondence is mysterious at the time, but is bourn out later when Norman is proved to be the killer.

Another ingredient that Hitchcock uses interestingly is music. Different types of music are played throughout the scene to put the audience in specific frames of mind. Music is heard at the start of the scene to create tension. Hitchcock uses this to make the viewers realise that something important, yet unpleasant, is about to occur. Then he follows this by silence, again to emphasise anxiety and to make sure that the spectators are focusing only on Marion. This continues until the killer has drawn back the curtain. As he stabs Marion a screeching noise is heard, which is to highlight to the audience that the flesh is being cut. Each stab is correlated with the screeching violin. The killer runs out straight afterwards, and the viewers start to hear a sad music, which is cleverly used to make the audience emotional as well as shocked. This sad music is pursued by silence, which allows time for the spectators to recognise that the lead woman, Marion, is dead.

Join now!

The audience is presented with two close ups of very important clues for Lila and Sam in their hunt for Marion. First of all, Hitchcock allows the spectators to observe a bit of paper, ripped, inside the toilet. This is obviously the paper on which Marion did her sums to work out how much money she owes. She rips the paper and flushes it down the toilet. What she does not see, but the viewers do, is that one piece is still floating. This is noticed later on when Lila and Sam investigate the scene of the crime. The ...

This is a preview of the whole essay