The establishing shot of the next scene is of Marion’s bedroom. She is seen wearing black underwear here, giving her a bad girl image and indicating that maybe she is not what meets the eye. Also, by having her in black, Hitchcock is giving us another clue t Marion’s fate. The camera scans the room slowly moving from Marion to a suitcase, which is being packed, to a close up shot of the envelope of money that she was supposed to take to the bank. There is contrapuntal sound in this scene as the music is eerie and indicates that Marion may be in danger but the scene shows no danger for her. Hitchcock gives us many clues in this scene such as the suitcase, the money and the music. The suitcase indicates that Marion is planning to go away but there is no reason for her to do so. The money and the sound are linked clues. By having the money in her home, Marion shows that she is about to do something that she may regret. The music in the background (the famous Psycho score) Creates tension. It is similar to human emotions such as sadness. It also resembles the beating of a human heart.
The next shot is of Marion in her car, presumably leaving town. She is seen here by her boss. Her boss is filmed from below which is meant to represent Marion’s viewpoint. By filming him at a low angle, he seems over powering and makes Marion seem hunted. The boss looks down on Marion. When Marion is filmed she is filmed what we assume to be the bosses viewpoint. The camera makes her seem small and trapped. She looks guilty when she is spotted by her boss. The music starts again at this point. It shows that it is a moment of tension for Marion. This is another clue to her fate. Although we are receiving clues, we are not prepared for her brutal murder so close to the beginning of the film. The audience gets an idea of Marion’s emotions because of the music, which is faster than before, meaning it is similar to a sped up human heart beat. As she is driving, we here Marion’s thoughts about what the boss and others are saying about her.
The next scene has a similar approach. Marion is questioned by a police man for sleeping at the side of the road. The police man is filmed from below making him intimidating. As he is wearing sunglasses, we cannot see his eyes, which make him seem impersonal as he questions Marion. He seems a threat to her. Marion is filmed from above again, making her seem feeble. By taking up the space in the window, the policeman seems intrusive. Marion shows that she is bothered by the police mans questions by answering n short, jumpy sentences. As she pulls away, the police man follows her. By the way this scene is filmed the audience sympathizes with Marion because she seems in danger. However, we are not sure of Marion’s fate and not prepared for her murder.
The next scene is of Marion exchanging her car. She pressures the salesman to hurry up as she is aware that the policeman is watching her. The Scene is filmed between Marion’s and the Policeman’s viewpoint; he camera switches from Marion’s view point to the policeman’s, and then back again. The speed at which it changes seems to get faster as the scene progresses. Marion tells the salesman that she is in a hurry and keeps looking over to the policeman. The salesman in bemused at her behavior. This is a sign to the policeman that she is hiding something. To the audience, it shows that Marion has a guilty conscience about taking the money. When the policeman drives into the car exchange, Marion becomes nervous and almost forgets her bags from the other car. As she drives away the policeman seems to begin questioning the salesman about her behavior.
As she is riving later in the day, there is a rain storm. The rain lashes against the windshield which reflects onto Marion’s face, making it disoriented. This represents her emotions. The lights of the other cars also reflect onto her face which makes her seem as if she is being interrogated. Marion looks uncomfortable by the way the rain and the lights mix n her face. This scene is a horror story cliché. The rainstorm is a classic way in horror films of showing that something is about to happen. However, we as an audience are not prepared for murder. The sound track that is playing in the background creates even more tension and indicates that Marion is closer to her fate. When all of the elements of this scene are together, it makes a spooky atmosphere which is in horror films. Also, we hear Marion’s thoughts. She is thinking about what the policeman and salesman are saying about her.
Because she is afraid of being questioned by the policeman she pulls into the Bates motel. When she arrives the first thing we see is the Bates family home. It is filmed from below as it is on a hill. To make it look more sinister, Hitchcock decided to film it from Marion’s view point. It is poorly lit and isolated making it a typical horror house. It is on a hill so it is overpowering. The house is sinister and imposing which makes it seem even more like a typical horror home. The mixture of the houses setting and the weather, we are made to expect something. This is where we first meet Norman Bates. He seems naïve and nervous so we do not expect him to be the villain. He is filmed eye-to-eye which makes him seem less threatening. He doesn’t seem a threat to Marion. However our opinion changes when we enter the office. He takes his time over which room Marion is in. He finally put her in room one, the closest to the office.
Our opinion changes further when we see his ‘parlor’. It is full of unusual items. The room is lit from below which makes everything in the room more sinister. On the walls are birds of prey, captured in attacking position. Norman says that the birds are passive creatures but they are birds of prey indicating otherwise. Also hey are lit from below which makes them seem even more imposing. Norman changes his role here. He says that taxidermy is a hobby, but it is linked to death. This is another clue to Marion’s intended fat. It also shows Norman as being an aggressor and sinister. Also in this scene, Norman is filmed slightly from below. Marion is again set up as a victim. When Marion leaves to go to her room, Norman becomes a voyeur by looking through a peephole into Marion’s room. The audience may begin to realize that Norman is a villain here, but we are still not prepared for Marion’s death so early in the film.
The next scene is the most shocking in the entire film, the murder. The music starts as Marion gets into the shower. This indicates that something is about to happen. When the murder occurs the music has violins in the background, similar to human screaming. The speed of the music shows frenzy, and over the music we hear Marion screaming. When the murder occurs the music has violins in the background, similar to human screaming. Over the top of the music, we hear Marion screaming. The camera switches angles quickly. The camera implies the violence. We do not see Marion being stabbed but the camera shows a body part the attackers face, implying that Marion is being stabbed in that body part. The camera switches between the view point of Marion and the attacker. The camera angles are different and are jagged to show a frenzied attack. After the attack the music becomes slower again as Marion dies. The camera becomes straight again to show the violence is over.
The Camera angles, lighting and sounds are good clues to Marion’s fate but we are not prepared for murder. Hitchcock prepares us through out the film but never enough to give the film away or so that we can tell that Marion is going to be murdered so early in the film. The actress playing Marion, was the only well know actor in “psycho”, so when she was murdered so early in the film, the films first audiences were expecting her to get up again. We are not well prepared for Marion’s murder.
Joy Wheildon. 10WG
English coursework.
