Shower Scene In Psycho

Another scene that’s important to dissect is the infamous shower scene where Marion is murdered by Norman’s “mother.” This scene is important because it again shows how Hitchcock is able to manipulate his audience. This one short scene has over 30 cuts that move in rapid succession from various angles. These tricks

The lighting there is much darker than outside without any light. There is a medium shot from low angle facing the cellar door. Then, Lila opens the door and slowly walks down the stairs and proceeds to another basement room. The scene of walking steps from the door down into the room generates a mysterious mood and it symbolizes that Lila is going deeper into the hidden secrets. The shot then edited to another brighter room with lights on and a worn out setting continues with Lila opens the door producing a creaking noise. Then, it shows a medium shot of a back of a woman sitting on a chair with her hair-tied in a bun. Lila then walks closer to the woman and call Mrs. Bates. When she is walking, the camera is constantly stay and Lila is getting closer and the focus point changes from the hanging light bulb to her face. Her facial expression shows that she is curious about the appearance of Mrs. Bates in the cellar. She taps on the right shoulder of the woman and the body of the woman slowly jiggles back and turns over. There is still medium shot when she taps on her shoulder and audience can see the shadow of the woman reflected on the wall behind. Then, the shot is cut to a close-up shot with the skeletal of the woman’s corpse with empty eye

In the establishing scene, Marion was wearing a white bra as she cuddles with her secret lover. Hitchcock had chosen the white bra at the beginning to signify Marion’s innocence. But after stealing the money from her employer, we see Marion wearing a black bra and dressed over a dull dress which signifying the bad deed she had done. Similarly, the white purse that Marion holds before stealing the money was then changed to a black one upon committing the crime. Hitchcock once again employs these subtle yet significant trails to the audience, increasing its impact on audience when they

To see what they see, and compare our own thoughts with the evolution of the characters and the story. The dexterity of the images, and the impact that each scene has in portraying this theme, guide the viewer throughout the film with little use of dialogue and action. Our central character “Jeff,” is struggling with his casted imprisonment, his need for adventure is apparent as he watches outside his window. Conflicted with his girlfriend and conflicted with his theories, his character becomes more palpable, we begin to realize what is going on not only on the outside of him, but the inside of him as well. The aspects of the outside courtyard and the visual isolation of each apartment, help depict the humanity of each individual and sympathy for even the darkest characters. Hitchcock uses his camera, just as our protagonist does, to focus with him. The camera angles are depicted in a way to which we react with the character, rather than at the character, and eventually expose the minor elements of the story that bring to fruition the suspense of the movie and the thrills of discovery.

Most of the actors are wearing darker clothing as well which makes their faces stand out even more. This lighting style also adds to the tension and the mystery of the scene. It makes the audience on edge. The contrast filled lighting of film noir is also effective at bringing out the extremes of emotions and thought. The darkness of the genre makes anything that goes wrong seem less taboo, because the lighting of the genre sets up the norms for the world that the film lives in—and in that world, bad things happen. The lighting of the film helps the audience understand the world that the characters are in.

In this essay I will be doing a close analysis on the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, 1960. I will be looking at the mise-en-scène, performance, cinematography, editing, and the manipulation of sound. I will also be looking at themes that are explored in the film and what messages they convey to the audience. I will be using some theories to help analyze this particular sequence.

Music has proven to be one of the most effective tools to aid films by helping the story flow and create emotional impacts within an audience. Hitchcock’s unorthodox and unique use of music is what creates the uneasy atmosphere of the film at the very beginning and it cues the audience to prepare for the upcoming scary scenes. The music is what arguably what holds the film together, without it the film would not hold up and there would not be as much suspense in this dramatic and psychological thriller. It’s the creepy music that makes Psycho such a memorable

He does the majority of the work and leaves enough clues for Lila and Sam to continue his job. The early deaths of the 'main characters' shocked the audience enough to leave them mystified and at the edge of their seats for the remainder of the film. Hitchcock had succeeded in creating suspense in his film using a new and different convention that had never been tried before.

In the ‘Parlor scene’ Marion and Norman are seen in contrasting lights. The bright light on Marion symbolizes warmth, innocence and naivety. The half lit, half shadowed face of Norman alludes to his dark side and split personality. Furthermore, the crosscutting between the two has been manipulated as so the two are never seen in the same shot, reinstating the separateness of the two. The monotone delivery of Norman’s line “I like to stuff things” not only foreshadows later events, but elucidates his twisted, sick mind. The symbolism of Marion’s name itself also re-establishes the polarization and predator-prey relationship between the two, creating feelings of dread and revulsion inside of the

This hugely increased the despair and shock, the feeling of loss even when a character is brutally murdered. Straight away Hitchcock begins to build our sympathies for Marion Crane. He 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 famous shower scene is also known best for its violins playing followed by the shriek. Psycho caused the movie community to focus more on the musical score as they realized the impact it gave to society

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) kills Marion Crane (Janet Leigh). Marion who wanted to lead a happy family life with her boy friend Sam Loomis (John Gavin) after marriage and hence steals money and flees Phoenix and becomes a prey for the psychopath Norman Bates. Norman Bates overpowered by his dead mother’s personality kills the woman who comes in between the relationship with his mother. Norman has no other motive. Only his frustrated sexuality when he meets a woman can be the motive. As the case of a split personality syndrome Norman takes the role of his dead mother, and targets those women who come to his motel. Possessed by his mother, he dresses like her and here he slashes Marion on the shower. When Lila Crane (Vera Miles) along with Sam comes in search of

When it comes to graphic violence, the one scene that sticks out in the film is the shower murder scene. Some people like David Thomson, the author of “The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder” thought that it was one of the most violent scenes to be shot for an American film (Robb). The scene was only 45 seconds long, but the reaction to the scene was like nothing the film industry has seen before.

An analysis of how cinematography, editing and mise en scene creates meaning and response in the Blood Bath scene of Taxi Driver (d. Scorsese 1976) Taxi Driver was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, in the film the director explores the journey of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) and his slow descent into madness and eventually to murder. In the final scene of the film Travis goes to a brothel to murder the people inside and save the young prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster). Meaning and response is provoked by lighting, shots, editing and costume and I will discuss how this relates to the context of the time. The scene opens with Travis parking the taxi, the colours in the scene are muted and desaturated creating a dismal atmosphere.

Normans mother is dead, but is alive in the mind of Norman. She is therefore dominating Normans mind. Alfred Hitchcock makes us infer that the mother was alive throughout the film. This manipulates the audience throughout the film. The audience thinks that the mother is alive, and therefore, she can potentially be the killer in the film.