In Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho, he implements a variety of camera
angles to create a sense of anxiety by attacking the viewers’ senses. With a
multitude of spilt second cuts, the scenes of attack become immensely real and
terrifying. Instead of using a sequence shot to create one continuous,
realistic scene, Hitchcock chooses to make lots of cuts between different shots
to create a broken, anxious mood. This is especially portrayed in the shower
scene where Marion Crane is stabbed to death. The beginning of the scene flows
as one smooth, continuous shot in direct contrast of the chopped up cuts
flashing back and forth between Norman and Marion.
At first, we see Marion peaceful in
the shower, completely unaware of the horror that is about to come. We slowly
see a figure creep in, whose identity is blurred through the shower curtain.
Then all of the sudden, the shower curtain is aggressively ripped open, and the
mood immediately changes with the shift from a sequence shot of her shower to
rapid shots of her slaughter, instilling fear in the viewer. The dark
silhouette of the attacker is outlined with the knife raised for slaughter. The
camera zooms in for a close-up of her face, her mouth, to show the intensity
her all-consuming terror as she screams out. The shots of her attack are shown
from all different angles, which enable fear to completely consume the viewer.
The shots rapidly flip back and forth from Marion, crying out in horror, to
Norman indefatigably stabbing her. Back and forth, the struggle is shown from
all perspectives to create a feeling of consumption and vulnerability: there is
nowhere to go.
The rapid shots paired with the
suspenseful music beating in the background, instill a building anxiety in the
viewer as this scene of devastating violence unfolds. The viewer is put in the
shoes of Marion as she is being brutally attacked and she tries to look up through
the water. Along with Marion, the viewer cannot see the face of the attacker. The
identity of the attacker is masked because of the water from the shower that
fills her eyes, leaving the attacker dark and indefinable. At all times in this
scene, the attacker’s identity is unknown. His face is hidden in shadows,
blurred by the shower curtain, and distorted by the water.
Although the shots cover up the
attacker’s face, they showcase Marion’s. The shots zoom in on her face in the
light but hide his in darkness. The quick shots do not overly expose her body
but portray enough to show that she is being stabbed, without any excess gore.
In fact, we never actually see the knife enter her skin, but we see her stomach
as the knife approaches in anticipation of attack. The quick switching of
camera angles implies her stabbings and intensifies fear. This increases
anxiety in the viewer being bombarded with different images. Our senses are
overwhelmed with so many images and we begin to feel as though we are also
being attacked along with Marion.
--Haley Gray
The scattered scenes during the shower murder of Marion Crane do cause the audience to feel chaotic and sporadic. It is almost as if the audience is kept on their toes. However the fact that Hitchcock doesn’t actually show the knife going into the stomach of Marion Crane is evident of film making in the 1950’s and 60’s. Violence in the mid 1900’s in films was not what audiences experience today because of restrictions put on film making. It wasn’t until shortly after the release of Psycho that blood and gore were allowed and became more common and gruesome. Hitchcock had to create the sense that the knife did indeed go into Marion’s stomach with the shot of it about to pierce her and then the next scenes of the bloody shower and Norman cleaning the cabin bathroom. These rapid short scenes provoke a feeling of suspense in the audience.
ReplyDeleteThe blurred vision due to the water in Marion’s eyes is another form of disguise used by Hitchcock. In all the murders we are able to see the outline of a person and not a direct image of the killer. The murders provide a view point of the victim and not the killer. This allows the audience to be put in the victim’s shoes, therefore creating more suspense and anxiousness.
The use of cross-cutting in the murder scenes allows the audience to feel more suspense as well. For example when Detective Armogast is walking up the stairs to the house and the door is creaking open as Norman is getting ready to kill him; the audience only sees one scene at a time. The viewers know that they are happening simultaneously.
---Caroline Downer
The editing of rapid shot sequences are certainly one of the biggest contributors to the overall unease and suspense in Hitchcock’s film, Psycho. The mastery of quick cuts from one image to another are used effectively thought out the film to confuse and/ or make the viewer uncomfortable. In addition to the infamous shower scene, this technique is utilized in the scene in which Marion Crane is packing a suitcase whilst preparing to skip town with the $ 40,000.
ReplyDeleteThe scene begins when Marion Crane enters the shot and crosses to her open closet. She glances at something on the bed. The camera tilts down to show the white package of money; revealing she has failed to deliver it to the bank. Without cutting, the camera pans left to expose an open suitcase on the bed. From this point the suspense begins to grow. The scene cuts to Marion removing garments from the closet and again glances at the money. This time, the camera cuts to a quick close up of the money pouch. The camera does not linger, as it did before, but rather cuts back to Marion. Marion is shown packing various items in the room. A lingering medium shots show Marion continuing to ready herself to flee. Again, Marion glances at the bed. Another quick shot of the package is utilized in contrast with the relatively longer clips of Marion buttoning her shirt and packing her suit case. This scene becomes a point of tension thanks to the contrast of the short clips on the stolen money that induce unease in the viewer.
Alfred Hitchcock mastered the technique of utilizing quick clips to produce suspense and unease. This technique is utilized thought out Psycho. The scene most notably marked by the effects of quick cuts is the shower scene, now part of cinematic history. It must be remembered that Hitchcock built suspense up to this point in the movie by utilizing this technique thought out as demonstrated in the suitcase packing scene.
-Sarah Chewning (Group 2)