How does Hitchcock manipulate the audience's feelings and emotions in his 1960 thriller Psycho?

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Kirsty Ponting.

20th January 2004.

How does Hitchcock manipulate the audience’s feelings and emotions in his 1960 thriller Psycho?

At the beginning of the film Psycho, Marion Crane escapes from her work with forty thousand pounds, which she is trusted by her boss to bank that afternoon. She heads to Phoenix where her lover Sam Loomis lives. After leaving here on her dinner break she heads back to San Francisco and stays in a motel called ‘Bates Motel’. Here motel owner Norman Bates murders her.

        In Psycho, camera shots are used to manipulate Hitchcock’s audience. He wants to show at the beginning Marion Crane’s affair so we identify with her. This is shown when we are with the camera from the outside in the city of Phoenix. We move in with the camera in through the window, this is where we see the illicit affair take place. We, the audience have now become a peeping tom. This manipulates the audience into understanding Marion’s feelings and point of view.

Throughout the Parlour Scene, Norman is positioned in the corner of the room with the surroundings of stuffed birds. The camera on Norman is at an angle, his left side is dark and his right side is light, suggesting a split personality. A lot of eye level shots are made throughout, showing that we are with them. To help show the evilness of the birds, Marion is positioned under a raven’s beak. These are the expressions of these characters, which manipulate us most because it draws our attention to their behaviour and personalities.

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        The camera moves quickly between Marion and Norman to show that conversation s being made. When Marion mentions the madhouse the camera moves closer up on Norman showing he is annoyed.

        We see close ups in the shower before and after the murder. In Marion’s room there are images of stuffed birds and rape scenes. These are shown whilst Marion prepares for a shower. She is filmed with a close-up in the shower and it shows she feels happy that she has sorted out with the money.

        Parts of the film are seen from different points of view. From Marion’s ...

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