We, as the audience, experience Marion’s relief as she has a shower and symbolically washes away her sins. The unwrapping of the soap depicts the tranquillity of the scene. Whilst unwrapping the soap, Marion gives the impression that the soap will help cleanse her soul and begin to wash away her sins. The shower is powerful, which it needs to be to cleanse her of her sins. There are many close ups of Marion’s face, in everyone of these extreme close ups she is joyous, free and (wet) blissful.
Her peace and our calm are soon disturbed as the ‘silhouetted’ figure appears in the background. We, as the audience, fear for Marion’s safety before she is even aware of the danger she is in, because the non-diegetic sounds suggest that her life will soon be endangered. For example the violins play jumpy, erratic music. This gives the impression that an important event will soon occur. Marion realizes she is in danger when the ‘silhouetted’ figure grabs the end of the white shower curtain.
The main camera angles used are extreme close ups, P.O.V of both the murder and the victim (Marion), Mid-shots and finally objective shots, as if you are an outsider to the scene. One angle used is mid shot. This shot was used when Marion was being stabbed in the stomach. This shot was used because it gives the best view of the knife attack and her facial expression. Another angle used was extreme close up. This shot was used after every time Marion was stabbed. The shot was used as it emphasizes her pain and suffering.
The stabbing event is actually 78 edits. This makes the attack seem frenzied. The jump cut use of editing is successful because it creates excitement and pace. Never once do you see the knife enter the body but it is still successful because it makes the audience is shocked and set back because the level of violence is horrific. The sound of the stabbing is actually the stabbing of a watermelon; surprisingly it gives a brilliant interpretation of a stabbing sound. The non-diegetic violins seem to scream and screech, at the same time as the attacker approaches and assaults Marion.
Marion’s terror and panic is portrayed to the audience by her terrifically loud screaming. Marion who is naked, defenseless and in shock, she tries to block the attackers blows, but the attack is adamant, determined and ferocious. When the murderer has recognized that Marion has died, they leave the room promptly and in a strong manner, leaving th
The audience experiences the loss and waste of life through many symbolic film techniques. Firstly, the blood that was slipping down the plughole is also a representation of her life slipping away. Secondly when she is grabbing at the shower curtain this is also a great representation of her life ebbing away. She uses her last bit of energy to give out one last cry, unfortunately she falls out the bath and dies.
Hitchcock uses a very clever dissolve edit when Marion’s eye stares straight into the camera, therefore straight into the audience’s eye, this evokes a feeling of anguish. The droplet of water could be seen to represent a tear, she could be crying as she stole the money and escaped from the city, only to be violently murdered in a Motel.
In conclusion, as the shower scene ends the camera angle zooms out of the bathroom and zooms in on the newspaper. This suggests and reminds the audience of the victim’s cunning, and that she left a comfortable city life to become a thief and a fugitive.
After the disappearance of Marion, Aborgast seeks to find information about what has happened to her. He is suspicious after he has visited Norman at the motel, he realises how jumpy stuttery and jittery his voice is when questioned about Marions' whereabouts. The framing of the shot is important as Aborgast starts to climb up to the house. The mise-en-scene is typical of a thriller because the house looks like a typical haunted house; also there is very little light, which gives the impression of mystery and tension. The audience can tell that something bad is going to happen to Aborgast as he is approaching the house, but the film doesn’t give any major clues to what is happening next.
The use of camera angle is important as Aborgast moves up the stairs. Close ups of Aborgasts' face were used so that the audience can realise what emotions Aborgast is feeling, so that they can relate to them. A high angle point of view midshot was used so that the audience can see Aborgasts body language as he approaches the top of the stairs. High angle point of view long shots were used to show the difference in the decoration and light of the ground floor and the first floor. The mise en scene of the two floors changes so that the bottom floor is lighter and more softly furnished whereas upstairs it is darker and there are more antiques, which gives a shrouded and mysterious impression. When he is stabbed, Hitchcock cleverly uses a tracking movement, which moves at the same speed as the attacker along the top corridor. This is complemented by a high angle point of view midshot in order to create the idea of excitement and a fast pace. It also shows the audience both people at the time of the attack, so that the audience gets the best idea of how quick and violent the attack is. The framing of the knife is significant because it shows the audience that the same weapon has been used to kill both Marion and Aborgast, this tells the audience that it is the same murderer, but the audience think the murderer is Norman Bates’ mother.
Sound creates a sense of anticipation and excitement for the audience. The diegetic sound of his footsteps is quite eerie because the floorboards creak and groan which makes the scene more mysterious. Also, the familiar sound of his footsteps creates the feeling that he will be safe, because if anybody else were around he would be able to hear their footsteps. As the murderer runs out from the corridor to stab Aborgast the same non-diegetic violins that played when Marion was murdered play once again, with the same screeching sound. This gives the impression of a person screaming in terror, it also is so loud that it shocks the audience.
It is quite amusing when Aborgast falls down the stairs throwing his arms back in the air, it is amusing because Aborgast makes no attempt to stop himself falling, he just keeps on falling apparently to his death. When he has finally hit the floor the attacker plunges the knife into Aborgasts' chest continuously ‘till he dies. This makes the audience scared, shocked and stunned at the level of violence involved in the killing of Aborgast.
When we watch the scene Aborgast is clearly treated as the victim in several ways. Firstly, when Aborgast is walking up both sets of stairs you want him to turn away and leave because you can tell he will be in danger, secondly, Aborgast is a friendly kind and helpful man, he is portrayed in this manner so that the audience become attached to him. When the audience has attached themselves to Aborgast, they want him to stay alive and out of any potential danger. Also once Marion has been murdered, the audience want the murderer to be caught and sent to prison, Aborgast should be the person that convicts the murderer, instead just when he believes he could get information from the mother he is murdered.
In contrast to this we see very little of the killer. All we see is a black figure in the shape of a woman running at Aborgast. We only see this much of the murderer because it creates more mystery about the identity of the murderer.
In conclusion when analyzing I have tried to show how Alfred Hitchcock created a movie classic, with a small budget he still uses great cinematography techniques which have turned a worthy novel written by Robert Bloch, into a classic ‘chiller’ movie.
