Themes of the supernatural colliding with our world were very common in the plots of such films. Otherwise the theme can be completely ‘supernatural’ without any trace whatsoever of reality. These movies included Ghosts, Wizards, Magic etc. People liked these kinds of Horror Movies as they were very interesting to watch, even though they had very unrealistic plots which couldn’t happen for real, however they were still frightening plots which the Directors still cleverly came up with. However Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ was made more realistic as the events could happen in reality. ‘Psycho’ then became the most successful Horror Movie by a long distance. This proved that Horror Movies didn’t need to have unrealistic plots in order to ‘Scare the hell out of People’ more than a Horror Movie with a more realistic plot would have. Alfred Hitchcock proved that the most important thing was just the correct use of ‘iconography’. Hitchcock managed to adopt previously used ideas such as different camera shots and clever use of dramatic irony, as well as using new innovative ideas such as, music and graphics, to manipulate the audience and create tension successfully and profitably.
Psycho begins with the normal and draws us steadily deeper and deeper into the abnormal. Tension is instantly formed in this movie, by just being aware of its title. The connotation of the word ‘Psycho’ is "a person who suffers from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviour", and the denotations that we get the connotation from are the words ‘Ruthless, Dangerous, and Aggression’. This immediately provokes thoughts about mental instability and unpredictability, and therefore tension and anticipation are ignited immediately.
The opening credits show some black and white interlaced stripes moving across the screen in random movements, vertically and horizontally, closely connected with the rapid, sharp music. These opening titles introduce the themes of anxiety and tension. Although the relevance is not immediately obvious to the audience the lines could be interpreted as representing a knife cutting through a person, suggesting a horror based content of the movie, hence making the audience feel apprehensive and starting to create tension.
Although colour TV had been invented, Hitchcock cleverly used black and white instead, as a means of manipulating his audience into fear and disgust because of the associations we make with the colour black of darkness and evil. The combination of black and white portrays a dark, dull, and scary atmosphere maintaining suspense for the audience. This sets a dreary and unwelcoming mood gripping the audience further.
Alfred Hitchcock uses several cinematic techniques to create a mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is everything a viewer can see within a certain frame and consists of many aspects. For instance, Hitchcock uses a high-angle, mid range establishing shot to put Marion in her context, and highlight her vulnerability. The music for psycho is critical to the film as a whole. Each time a character is killed, when the murderer emerges from their hiding place, the high-pitched music strings up the jumpy rhythm, before the rest of the instruments join in. The music sets the tone for almost all the scenes. The shower scene, in which Marion is fatally stabbed, would be nowhere near as effective without its music. Music is also the key to the film due to its ability to build up expectations within the audience and create large amounts of tension and suspense.
The usage of different camera shots has been applied to create suspense very cleverly by Hitchcock particularly during Marion’s flee. Our attention is focused on the money, since the psycho has not yet been introduced. The close up of the stolen money helps us to concentrate on it and demonstrates its significance to the events that will follow. As she is escaping, there are close ups of Marion’s face for long periods of time, this shows the changes of emotion on her face such as agitation, confusion and guilt. Another example is the big close up of the policeman which makes him look powerful and an imposing figure which illustrates his authority. He also takes up a lot of space on the screen representing him to be an obstacle, which Marion has to get past.
As soon as Marion approaches the motel, the music that has been playing for a while now stops. This marks and signifies the end of her long journey. Rain is usually associated with darkness, gloominess and misery. Now all we can hear is the rain, we get a sense of quiet desolation and visualize an isolated place. The image we observe creates a tense atmosphere and we want to know what lies ahead. All we can see is darkness, it is silent and the place seems remote, the connotations of these factors are usually of abandonment and mystery.
Lighting is also used to show good and evil. For instance, when Marion is in Norman Bates’ parlour, she is pondering whether to take the money back. During this scene, Marion is well lit and her face is surrounded by warmth (showing her innocence). Norman bates however is almost hidden in darkness, as though he is in shadow and hiding something. Even though Bates is presented as shy with a likeable personality at first, his inner-self is exposed through the shadows around him.
Probably the most well known scene in “Psycho”, if not the entire horror genre, is the infamous “shower scene” in which Marion is brutally murdered by Norman Bates, the ‘Psycho’. The scene itself is only forty five seconds long, yet took seven days and seventy different camera positions to shoot. To create tension and suspense in the scene, Hitchcock places his victim in a sense of unawareness, but in contrast, the audience are all too aware of what’s happening. Hitchcock creates the atmosphere of dramatic irony by showing Marion, the victim, in a state of contentment, with her eyes closed. She is also naked, which emphasises her vulnerability whilst she is in the shower. Hitchcock makes good use of the high angle shot because it shows what is happening and makes the victim look smaller and consequently weaker and more exposed. He uses mid-close up shots which concentrate on the victim’s mouth to show the audience her fear. There are shots of Marion’s hand on the plain white bathroom tiles, slowly slipping down, representing the victim trying to cling on to her life which is slowly slipping away. The use of the diegetic sound of the shower, drowns out any sounds of the approaching intruder. When the shadow of the murderer appears at the shower curtain, the audience are on the edge of their seats. The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, is plainly visible in the villain’s hand, which means that the audience don’t have any doubts over what will happen. This also gives the audience the perception of being helpless, which helps to create a deep tension within them. Hitchcock uses many techniques in the scene which create an atmosphere that can change the audience’s disposition in a matter of seconds.
‘Psycho’ dealt with issues on screen that had not been shown before and seemed totally unacceptable. Nobody had seen a toilet being flushed on TV before. This was because the toilet was considered to be a private place and for it to be shown on screen in front of an audience was thought to be rude and uncivilized. Furthermore, it was the first time ever that a woman wearing a bra on screen had been exposed. This seemed totally unthinkable at the time and offended many people. This is in view of the fact that the general population of the 1960’s, was a lot more reserved.
Convincing the audience of the reality of the film let Hitchcock mould their conceptions, develop sympathies, and build up identification between them and fictional characters. This hugely increased the despair, shock, and the feeling of loss even when a character is brutally murdered.
Through analysing Hitchcock’s techniques of creating and maintaining tension and suspense, I have come to the conclusion that they are exceptionally effective. It is no wonder that ’Psycho’ became so popular and was a terrifying film in its day, and still makes viewers tense with anticipation of what’s to come today.