'How does Hitchcock create atmosphere, tension and shock in Psycho?'

Authors Avatar

‘How does Hitchcock create atmosphere, tension and shock in Psycho?’

BY ABIGAIL KAYE

When Psycho was first released in cinemas in 1960, audiences all over the world were shocked. They were shocked that something as sexually explicit, for that era, was being screened in hundreds of cinemas. Although audiences of the modern day are used to violence and sex scenes, the audiences of the 60’s reacted in different ways. Some people viewed Psycho as a cinematic brilliance but other critics gave the film many bad initial reviews. This is because Hitchcock was extremely secretive in the making and publicity. He did not allow critics’ to see the film at special screenings. Instead they had to see the film with the ordinary filmgoers after the release.

Mise-en-scene plays a major part in creating atmosphere, tension and shock in Psycho. The most dramatic events in Pyscho take place in the house and at the Bates motel, so Hitchcock needed to create tension by make the sets look in such a way that the audience were on edge from the very start of the film.

In the opening, the titles are slashed, spliced, split and cut which represents knife or dagger cuts and immediately alerts the audience to the nature of the film. Even though people hadn’t seen the film till its release date, the titles would have been extremely disturbing to the subconscious mind of an average cinemagoer. Furthermore, the beginning music written by Bernard Herwann, has a strict pulse and beat like a heartbeat and seems to feel like the “motions” of stabbing which is unnerving. This music repeats itself at different but significant intervals throughout the film such as the minutes before Marian’s death. This running theme contributes to the slow but steady buildup of tension.

Late on in the film Marian changes from white to black underwear after she has committed the theft of $40’000. This boldly suggests that she has turned the corner from being a good girl to a bad girl.

The use of mirrors signifies the chaos/evil theme, which Hitchcock favors. The scene where Marian holds up the money beside the mirror in the Bates motel’s toilets, shows Hitchcock’s idea of the innerself and private self being shown in the reflection of the mirror. We are shown that Marian is uncertain of the situation. However when we see a reflection of Norman Bates in a window, it implies that although he has a nice outer persona, he must have a darker innerself.

Hitchcock uses weather to a great advantage. It is a great atmosphere-maker as whenever we see the Bates House, it is always in shadow, whether it’s raining or sunny. The weather makes it gloomy and sinister. At Marian’s arrival at the motel, the rain blinds her way so she has no choice but to stop at that particular motel. Perhaps if it hadn’t been raining she wouldn’t have stopped and thus not met her dreadful demise.

Join now!

The house is always shot in cloud or gloom like a haunted house. The use of lights in the house adds atmosphere because from the outside it gives the impression of waiting and watchful eyes. Bates house is always shot from a low angle, this makes the steps up to the house seem never-ending. This maintains tension as we don't know when they will end or what’s at the top.

The parlour of the motel is just as eerie as the house. Because the film was shot in black and white, the shadows are more pronounced and menacing. There ...

This is a preview of the whole essay