Psycho Case Study/ Essay

Psycho, which is a US film made in 1960 is one of the best known films ever made. The director of the film was Hitchcock, Hitchcock was a well established film director and the film psycho demonstrates  how he liked to have experimental or unexpected elements in his films, for example killing of the main character, which is represented in psycho the famous shower scene. Hitchcock's reputation for his twists was also a product of the TV stories that he directed and also introduced in his jokey style with its seam of black humour, "we all go a little psycho sometimes" used in psycho is a perfect example.

Hitchcock's films from the 1920's onwards contain voyeurism, the theme of guilt, especially where a character takes on the guilt of another, such as Norman clearing up for his mother in Psycho, & where the audience might become involved in the guilt as well like how we want the car to sink as well at the end of the shower scene. Hitchcock also liked to add in his films notable scenes where there is very little dialogue, a character who seems normal, even respectable, but who is not, and the importance of the past or the dead. All three elements fit into the shower scene in Psycho as not much is said, Norman (man who owns hotel) seems normal and the fact that Normans mother is dead is the whole real reason for the twist in the end of the film.

During the shower scene in the film Psycho, Hitchcock uses a lot of the genetic thriller aspects to built tension and suspense which grabs the audiences attention and keeps the scene flowing and gripping. The film is shot in black and which which adds a noire lighting which con-notates artifice, fear and unnaturalness. Hitchcock uses brilliant tilt shots in this scene which connotates  disorder, disorientation and also adding aesthetic interest for the viewer, like just after Marion Crane, the main character, played by Janet Leigh is killed, while the shower is still running, which builds tension to the scene, the camera is in a place which shows what it would be like to see the end of the scene from outside the bathroom, with a tilt shot and Marie's hand being the thing of Marie in side the mise-en-scene which brings disorientation and fear for this character, while also using chiaroscuro lighting connotating surrealism but also adding aesthetic interest to the mise-en-scene.

Editing; this is the most often discussed aspect of the scene. Hitchcock emphasises the brutality with fast cutting, 'in the shower scene as Marie is getting stabbed the camera keeps cutting to different angles' which adds to the helplessness of the audience. The different angles such as mid shot, close up and high angle shot all used in the shower scene make the killing all the more incomprehensible. Shadow is used to conceal the killer from us during the attack, the use of a shadow in the film Psycho reinforces connotations of a nightmate or a sense of a mysterious presence, which is also represented in other thriller films such as the Third Man where this thriller aspect is also used.

                                           ^ The Third Man

                                            ^ Psycho

Mise-En-Scene; The scene can be related to others in the film, such as the windscreen wipers going back and fourth like the knife going in and out of Marie, also in the scene just before the importance of the birds with there sharp talons and beaks which also refer to the knife, and also to Marie's surname and Normans obsession with birds.

 The soundtrack is composed by Bernard Herman who only uses strings in this film and which in the shower scene, provides the screeching sound that is essential to the frightening nature of the scene and which seems to be the voice both Marion and 'Mother'. Also the slashing chords support the stabbing of Marion, adding suspense and tension.

The audience which psycho appeals to is generally a niche audience of both male and female variety, with the use of brilliant camera shots and gripping scenes means it appeals to both genders. But the dark lighting and noire based scenes the films appeals to the niche audience. This film is appealing to the audience as it has a very strong psychological aspect, with a story line that could happen to anyone, as the audience feels empathy for Marion Crane, but also fear and disgust at the idea of her death.

The film Psycho has some but not many secondary advertisements, as most is filmed in a motel, but this brings secondary advertisement to small motels in america as people might like to visit places which inspired Hitchcock's thrilling scene.

 The film Psycho uses a lot of traditional thriller aspects, and is the inspiration for other films with its eye catching camera work and gripping soundtrack. The use of the shower is a classic scene for a thriller as its using claustrophobic spaces, connotating entrapment. As Marion has her back turned this claustrophobic space you see a shadow popping up from behind her, so she has no whereto run. AS used in films like The Third Man where Harry ran to the sewers, a claustrophobic space with no escape, another thriller aspect is the use of shadows, leaving the audience as helpless and confused as Marion. 

Psycho uses representation in his film with aspect views of real life, like the policeman being corrupt, when the detective on the case goes missing, the sheriff just presumes he had a hot case and wanted all the glory, when in fact the twist was he had been killed by the killer who was who he was looking for, he just didn't know it yet. Which could offend policemen because as we all saw the detective was just trying to solve a case, and after his murder he was accused of running away. With a representation of a genuine nice guy, who is in fact the real killer (Norman), with the ideology of a helpful lonely man. In reality not all lonely men are psycho's but the twist element in this film is what allows the representation of gender; Marion being a victim. Psycho has quite a lot of 60's America cultural signifier s, the old ford cars, the desolate lonely motel, all things that could be associated with the 1960's America, bringing peoples attention to the country at hand.

The shower scene in Psycho is probably the most well known of Hitchcock's filming career, with a lot of thriller conventions thrown into one scene. The use of someone creeping behind someone else and then popping up is a classic aspect of a thriller film, being used in such films as Witness, where in the toilets a man comes up behind the policeman and starts to strangle him. 

Psycho has won such awards as Directors guilt of America (1961) for outstanding directional achievement in motion pictures and the Edgar Allen Po Awards (1961) won the best Edgar motion picture.