be analysing;
- Mise en scene
- Sound
- Camera
- Editing
Mise en scene is what is put on the screen and why it is put
there. It includes a range of elements to make films
effective. It includes Props; settings; hair; costume; facial
expressions; colours used in the film and positioning of
characters.
Mise en scene in “Psycho” is extremely effective especially
for its time; the setting and props give the film a real edge,
which helps to thrill the audience.
In the shower scene I feel the most effective moment is
when Marian is being attacked, this is because the Mise en
scene is exceptional! The victim is wearing no clothes which
makes her more vulnerable particularly when he pulls back
the shower curtain- her only barrier from him. The setting
from this scene was obviously thought about thoroughly,
you can tell this as the walls are all white which connotes
innocents and tranquillity, this lulls the audience in to a
false sense of security which helps build tension. The other
really effective part of this scene is that there is no window.
These makes the room look much smaller and boxed in.
Marian therefore looks trapped or confined, this will also
build tension and anxiety.
The positioning of props in this scene are very well placed.
When Marian is getting attacked the screen is always filled
with sound and picture, water is coming from the left, the
attacker from the right and she is in the middle. This makes
the scene very chaotic which helps build a lot of tension for
an audience member.
I think the Mise en scene in the shower scene was extremely
successful because it makes an audience very anxious and
with the feeling of suspense by placing all props, and
characters in the right place. It also used facial expressions
and body language to scare the audience.
Music is very important to any film as it creates the certain
mood a director wants. Horror films are no different. Music
in the horror genre builds anxiety and creates a huge
amount of tension; this makes the film a great deal scarier.
Bernard Herrmann wrote all the music for “Psycho”. He
made all the music extremely effective by keeping it simple,
he only used string instruments which went really well with
the simple black and white effect that Alfred Hitchcock
used. Herrmann created some of the scariest music ever
written, the theme tune from “Psycho” is contrapuntal
music and it is a repetitive resounding tune. The sounds
used in the shower scene are much more complex than what
it first seems. The music in our extract is aggressive,
screechy, tough harsh and creates a lot of different sounds
using such a small variety of instruments. This builds
tension and gives the “real hide behind your hands feeling”.
The noises in the shower scene, especially the water in the
shower becomes a very uncomfortable sound even though its
only water, it builds the feeling of not knowing and makes
an audience very uneasy. The repetitive sound stays in an
audience’s head particularly when everything is silent when
she is lying dead on the bathroom floor.
Silence is used in two different ways in the shower scene;
the first time is when Marian gets in the shower. She is
happy and feels care free after deciding to go back and
return the money. Hitchcock shows this with only body
language and facial expressions, this silence is pleasant and
happy. The second time in the scene where Hitchcock uses
silence is when Norman Bates has just run into the
bathroom to find Marian dead on the bathroom floor, this
silence is tense and edgy.
Sound is used exceptionally well in this scene and crates
anxiety-using elements such as silence and the tense or
harsh music created by Bernard Herrmann.
The camera is used exceptionally well in the shower scene.
It uses high angle shots to give the feeling of superiority and
makes the Bates house look bigger, this creates anxiety by
making the house look much darker, haunted or terrible in
some way.
Camera is used effectively in the entire film as it acts as
eyes and helps make you feel like your actually there, it also
makes objects and characters look superior or inferior.
I think the most effective shot in the scene is when Marian
is standing there washing just as she has got in the shower.
The camera is shooting Marian from the wall the showerhead
is on and shows a box of white tiles, walls and the shower
curtain with no windows and no way out. This adds tension
by making an audience feel more boxed in and trapped.
The most effective camera angle is when she has been
stabbed and the mystery murderer has run out of the room.
The camera angle is a high angle shot from a birds eye view.
It shows Marian curled up in the bath, she looks small, weak
and inferior. This adds tension because it makes the
murderer look strong, big and unstoppable.
Alfred Hitchcock uses camera to create anxiety by using
high angle and low angle shots to give the look of power to
people. It also builds tension by panning out and using fast
and slow movements.
Lighting can add to audience anxiety by using darkness and
bight lights to show a characters feelings or give clues to
what is about to happen.
Alfred Hitchcock liked to use artificial light, mostly small
table lamps. This is incredibly effective because it gives the
room a murky, gloomy or even spooky feeling. This adds
tension by always keeping suspense looming.
In the shower scene the light is quite bright, this is one of
the only times in the whole of “Psycho” that bright light is
used. The high key light makes the walls and tiles look
whiter, cleaner and more innocent. This lulls the audience
in to a false sense of security.
The lighting in “Psycho” is tremendously successful as it
conveys everything Alfred Hitchcock needs for a successful
horror film, it creates tension in many ways and also helps
show some characters feelings and emotions.
I think the most effective part of the shower scene when it
comes to lighting is when Alfred Hitchcock uses back
lighting when Norman Bates is about to pull back the shower
curtain, you can just see the figure behind the curtain.
I think the lighting is used excellently in the movie and the
shower scene was exceptional! Hitchcock uses high key and
low key light to build tension and anxiety by having the
silhouette coming closer to the shower curtain and having
the bright light portraying innocents and cleanliness.
Editing can make or break a horror movie, it made “Psycho”.
Editing can make an audience feel calm and relaxed by using
slow editing or make an audience feel uneasy using fast or
frantic editing.
Editing in the whole film is extremely effective, it builds
tension and anxiety by using fast paced editing during the
attack scenes and slow paced editing before and afterwards,
Hitchcock these editing techniques before to build suspense
and after the attack to give the audience some time to
contemplate over what has just happened.
Hitchcock uses montage editing in the shower scene to keep
the audience focused on the screen and kept in complete
suspense. It does this by putting brief shots together and
creating an emotional impact. The editing is always parallel
to what is happening, in the frantic attack they use frantic
editing. Editing is used in the shower scene to build anxiety
by printing key moments in an audience members head
using fast paced editing; he builds suspense and time to
reflect with slower paced editing.
Alfred Hitchcock creates anxiety in the shower scene using
mise en scene, cinematography, sound and editing
I think Hitchcock created a fantastic film. “Psycho”
combines tension, anxiety and a fantastic storyline using a
variety of techniques to create maximum effect.
