'Psycho' Scene Analysis

Psycho Scene Analysis

Alfred Hitchcocks thriller ‘Psycho’ (1960) is one of the most well-respected and iconic thriller films to date. Its one of the biggest hits, well known for shockingly killing of its female lead in the first act of the film.

The shower scene is the most iconic scene of the entire film because of the sense of tension and danger it creates it just one single scene.

The scene is of Marion Crane being suddenly killed in the shower, the scene is not overly gory and the audience does not see the full act of violence. This makes the scene more fearful and suspenseful for the audience as they begin to imagine what the scene is not showing them.

The illusion of the pain that is being inflicted on Marion Crane is then created in even more depth by the continuous action and ‘stabbing’ motions of the knife, the added sound of the loud music adds a more anxious and on edge feeling towards the audience. The sound is important to this scene, as it does not rely heavily on the graphicness of the blood. The sound of the shower is also used to remind the audience of the normality the scene had been before murder occurred.

Different kinds of camera shots are also used throughout this piece, the use of the Close Up Shot of just Marion’s face helps show the inflicted pain and terrifying incident that is about to take place.

There is also a use of an Extreme Close Up Shot that us used directly on Marion’s mouth, this shows the audience just how generally scared she is and Hitchcock adds to this scene with a piercing scream to make it more effective.

The use of shadows is used, particularly with the killer as the entire face is blacked out so the audience has no idea who the killer could be, this makes this scene eerily scary and also mysterious as this means the motion for the murder is not clear as the killer is not clear.

One editing shot that is used in this scene is the use of the Graphic Match Shot. Towards the end of the scene when Marion has fallen to the bathroom floor, the camera movement follows the shower water draining off, the camera zooms closer of the plug-hole, we see the water go round the plug-hole, this scene then slowly blends into Marion’s eye, making the ending shot a perfect chilling experience.

The use of all these different kinds of camera movements, shots and editing makes the film that more unique which is what Hitchcock set out to create.