Psycho.the misse en scene used in the memory clinging shower scene is the most crucial aspect of the scene and is used to add the sinister, chilling ingredient

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Psycho Coursework

Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ was and is justly one of the fare few truly unforgettable films of the twentieth century setting the foundations and giving birth to the new age of thriller suspense films of which saw Hitchcock’s masterpiece as a father to the aspiring films to come. Changing film history, in this essay, you will discover the vital, hair-raising aspects to the film which left me pondering that Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ was truly something dark, disturbing and shivering but in its own unique and remarkable way really something special.

Firstly, the misse en scene used in the memory clinging shower scene is the most crucial aspect of the scene and is used to add the sinister, chilling ingredient to the scene to a recipe that would leave you as it’s vulnerable prey and yet you wouldn’t be able to take your startled eyes off the screen like a rabbit into headlights. Hitchcock uses it in ‘Psycho’ to set the spine-tingling scene leaving the tension cut able with a knife and an unstoppable thrill around every corner. From camera angles to the lighting, every aspect of the film had to be perfect in its each essential category to give the film it’s unique spice.

Secondly the camera angles used in the shower scene are, in my opinion the most important individual aspect to the piece. Firstly, the high-angle shot of Marion as she flushes the parchment down the toilet shows her metaphorically flushing away her sins and trying to flush her past life away shown as the evidence of her desperate theft as it spirals into the abyss below whilst she is still on top. Next, the shot of Marion as she enters the shower gives a sense of false security as she enters the big, white secure shower, but in reality she has entered a prison. There is no escape from the treacherous killer as he guards the only exit, also she is left vulnerable in the shower, leaving her defenceless and a prime target, which is key in the scene. Subsequently, as the killer enters the room, Marion is on the right of the screen and as you can see the killer moving slowly and confidently towards the helpless victim, you see what Marion can’t leaving you in the sense that you want to scream out to Marion “Behind you!” Also, the use of the shower curtain as the killer gets terrifyingly closer to the shower is used in excellently to conceal the killers identity which leaves you in a great deal of suspense and insecurity as you can’t trust anyone which makes the film edgy and a feeling that every sudden movement is as significant as the next. Then, the low-angle shot of when the vicious killer pulls back the curtain. The shot is well used to make the killer look deeply threatening and make you jump ten feet into the air as you see the knife raise un-merciful. In addition, the low-angle shot is finely used to portray the killer as dominant as he towers above helpless vulnerable Marion in the shower. There are multiple shots used whilst the infamous stabbing is taking place, using a range of camera angles to create a sense of confusion and to get your heart racing as Marion is being brutally murdered. It is also used to show you the killing from all point of views that only makes it seem more gruesome despite the lack of blood. Then, after the killer leaves and Marion is left painfully dying, the shot of the plug hole is used to symbolise the life draining from Marion as she lay, unable to breath, gradually leaving this world and as the shot of Marion as she rips the curtain rail off the bar is used to symbolise the end of her life and the final struggle before she lays lifeless on the bathroom floor, her body a symbol of her gruesome end.

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Next, the use of sounds in the shower scene really sets the gripping mood and is a crucial aspect in the scene. The shower itself is used well as the only sound up until the killing, portraying it as the only witness to the murder and also leaving Marion is a state of false security as she is trapped in her cold deathbed. When the killer enters the room and is slowly creeping disturbingly to his prey, low-pitched dark sounding music comes in, giving the scene masses of suspense and leaving you madly anticipating what’s going to happen next. ...

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