Psycho, like most Hitchcock films, employs voyeurism in an effort to place a sense of involvement and culpability on the audience for events at hand. Although Psycho begins as a seemingly normal story of a woman attempting to take life into her own hands, things quickly take a sinister turn. Perhaps the most unconventional move seen in films to that point in time, Hitchcock utilizes a perspective shift midway into the movie. Generally, through a first-person perspective, viewers are forced to form an emotional attachment to the narrator. This is often accompanied by an uncontrollable urge to see them succeed, despite the immoral actions of some. A key point of the film was undoubtedly the iconic shower scene. An intense scene, Hitchcock executed the gruesome murder flawlessly, without a need for the gore often found in newer horror films. Despite never showing Marion being stabbed, meticulously-planned camera angles along with sound effects, create an illusion which provides the same chilling effect. …show more content…
Furthermore, though this omniscient perspective is taken several times, the most substantial moment is that where the camera pans to the rolled up newspaper. Unknown to Norman, our secondary protagonist, it serves as a hiding spot for $40,000 cash. From this point on we begin to support Norman, hoping to see him succeed. As the mystery begins to unravel and the plot thickens, becoming more complex, leading up to the secondary climax and arrest of our
Hitchcock utilizes sound, camera work, MacGuffins, and plot twists to tell the storylines of the movies. Hitchcock understood the importance of camera work and sound because he began his career making silent films.12 It is why he uses many close up shots so the audience can pay attention to specific details and the emotions on the character’s face. He does not rely on dialogue to tell the story. He uses sound to help convey the message of a scene.
, “What is in the case?”, and “Why is he making so many trips back and forth in the rain?”. Hitchcock has drawn us into partaking in his film
In the movie Psycho, Hitchcock used suspense in several ways to shock his audience and keep them intrigued. Hitchcock does this by using scary music and lighting. One of the false suspense that was created in the movie is when Lila's sister screams when she sees her own reflection in the mirror in mother's bedroom. She screams when she sees herself in many reflections in a long mirror, but she is soon relieved when she discovered that she is only seeing a reflection of herself. The shower scene created the biggest shock in the movie.
Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the "master of suspense", most notably in one of his cinemas, "Psycho". Hitchcock used a variety of sensory details, to shock moreover frighten his audience. Three sensory details that he used, is when we notice a cop following Marion, we see that Norman is stalking Marion, and when a shadowy figure shows up while Marion is taking a shower. The first sensory detail that creates suspense is when we see the cop following Marion. We believe that the cop recognizes something is up furthermore, is going to assert Marion for stealing the money.
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense.
The Film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, effectively presented the ideas of murder and schizophrenia through the use of characters, with the double-sided Norman Bates in particular, and visual techniques as well as sound techniques. The ideas of murder and schizophrenia were presented well in the movie "psycho" through the use of characters. The character of Norman Bates was the central character in the film and had a complex and differing personality. One moment he was shy, kind, lonely Norman Bates, a mother's boy, and the next he was a deadly jealous Mrs. Bates, his deceased mother.
With Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock proved himself to be one of the best directors of suspense thrillers filled with mystery and humour. He himself called the film his most cinematic one because it was told only in visual terms (Morrow), but it was also a challenging “editing experiment” as the entire film was shot from one place, Jeff’s apartment that overlooked his backyard. The Film follows L.B. Jeffries “Jeff” (James Stewart), a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg at work. He spends his days watching his neighbours and eventually suspects that one of them killed his wife. His caretaker, his girlfriend Lisa and his detective friend, at first unconvinced of his suspicion, eventually join him in his voyeurism and help him to solve the crime.
These were explored by the use of the motifs of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors (Filmsite.org, n.d.). Hitchcock skilfully guides the audiences through a tale
To the unknown eye, Hitchcock has carefully and skillfully used Mise-en-scene to his advantage, causing the audience to feel fear and a sense of caution towards the character of Norman Bates. It isn’t until we reflect back on the scene and notice how intelligently Hitchcock uses the positioning of props and the characters, lighting, camera angle and staging, that we notice how he has added meaning to his characters but has also to the film, creating suspense and fear from one scene to the end of the film. Ultimately proving the point that Hitchcock “the master of suspense” uses Mise-en-scene to not only help make a brilliant film but also uses it as his disposal to add meaning in his
When watching the scene where Hedren in being attacked in the upstairs room, one will notice the bleeding of her face and her absolute terror. Her acting was not so much as acting as it was emotions expressed from real fear. Hitchcock took a week to film the one scene, and it led to Hedren passing out and having a bloody face. During the making of Marnie, Hitchcock tries one more time to have Hedren’s love by asking her for sexual favors. Hedren rejects Alfred and leaves the Hitchcock filming industry after the making of
During the final scene when the killer, Mr. Thorwald, finds his way into the hero, L.B Jeffries room, the speed of the film is slowed down to create an engaging feeling of suspense. Pace and tempo is the speed of the movie and how quickly everything is happening. This is a very important aspect of movies and Hitchcock has mastered this technique, allowing him to create suspense for his audience. Hitchcock slows down the pace of the movie, making the viewers anticipate what is about to come and leave them with the feeling of suspense. This scene starts off with Mr. Thorwald slowly entering Jeffries room.
The practice of voyeurism is a debatable subject often criticized negatively for its perverted motives. Yet, through both Woolrich’s “It had to be murder” and its film adaptation Rear Window, the reader can be led to see a celebration of voyeurism rather than a critique. Jeffries is indeed given the most reasonable excuses to stalk his neighbours as his cast takes away his freedom of movement and the murder he tries to solve also gives him more reasons to spy on his neighbours. However, Jeff is greatly saved from being entitled as a Peeping Tom by the coincidence of Thorwald’s wife’s murder. As a matter of a fact, the timing in which Jeff is stuck in a cast and the woman is murder is nothing but a coincidence, neither Hitchcock nor Woolrich
In Hitchcock’s Rear Window in the exposition scene itself we are introduced to invalid and wheelchair bound Jeffries a former photojournalist. His active involvement in the field of journalism is depicted through the photographs on the wall and from that the viewers comprehension that he was injured while covering a car race crash. Jeffries room itself is a reminder of a car crash and his profession. Without saying Jeffries profession Hitchcock uses this technique to introduce the character to his viewers who interprets it. The other film that was influenced by photojournalism is Psycho and according to Cynthia Erb the images displayed in the Biography programme based on the serial Killer Ed Gein whose story inspired Robert Bloch’s novel
She argues that the act of moviegoing satisfies these voyeuristic desires in people. She writes, “The mass of mainstream film portray a hermetically sealed world which unwinds magically, indifferent to the presence of the audience, producing for them a sense of separation and playing on their voyeuristic fantasy,” (pg. 186). In this essay, I will further discuss her viewpoints on cinema and voyeurism, and how it connects to the film Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock. Rear Window is a film that follows the
The narrator convinces herself that there is a woman trapped in the paper who is trying to get out (Perkins 385). She also claims that the woman behind the paper shakes it in hopes to escape (Perkins 388). The narrator becomes obsessed with the ghostly woman, who is in the paper, and convinces herself that she too was once trapped in the paper and escaped. The narrator is determined to catch the creeping woman. She believes that there are others who are trapped in the wallpaper by night and are free during the day.