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Alfred Hitchcock Psycho Parlor Scene

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Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) is said to be the film that set the stage for horror/thriller movies. It is a perfectly timed classic with little to no room for improvement. What makes this film so fantastic is Hitchcock’s use of mise-en-scene, which include lighting and camera angles. Psycho is a film full of suspense, despair, and tragedy. There are three scene in which I find most iconic based on the use of mise-en-scene. I discuss the parlor scene in which Norman and Marion have a discussion, the shower scene, and the end of the movie. The parlor scene is an example of crosscutting and the 180 degree rule during the conversation between Marion and Norman. When Norman speaks of his mother saying “I hate what she’s become”, the camera is at a lower angle which is looking up at him. This makes Norman feel extremely dominant because he appears very big and threatening. If you notice on the left side of the shot there is an owl on the wall. It is in a pose that portrays it attacking its prey. This is significant because Norman is like an owl luring Marion in before he decides to attack her. When Norman is when the discussion turns …show more content…

If we think of the room being like his head, to the edge of the shot there is a barred window that represents Norman being trapped in his own mind while the mother is in control. Everything in the room is empty and the focus is on Norman as the mother, indicating that the primary focus of Norman’s mind is the mother. There is also a mug on the floor. Mugs are a typically an object associated with the home, so in this case it shows the association that Norman has with the mother and his feeling of being “at home” with her, in his safe-zone. A blanket is covering Norman. Building on the idea of a safe-zone, the blanket is like protection which is similar to the way that Mother takes over to protect him when feeling threatened, as mentioned by the detective at the end of the

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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.

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Driving while intoxicated, is one of the most dangerous situations someone could put his or herself in. Drunk drivers even put the lives of other people at risk of danger. Bottom line, if you’re going to drink, make sure you have a place to stay for the night, or you have a designated driver. Drunk drivers are disgraces to our society, because they kill thousands of people each year, ruin innocent lives, and cost the United States billions of dollars.

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Both of Alfred Hitchcock’s films, North by Northwest and Rear Window, were great movies with lots of suspense. The suspense, however, would not have been created without the entire mise-en-scene of the movies. Hitchcock was a master at using the elements of lighting, sound, and cinematography to heighten the suspense in his movies. The first key element of mise-en-scene that played a significant role in both movies was lighting.

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Of the many examples of Mise en Scene is of the set design and how many scenes are shot on location. One example, of

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The most memorable scene in the film is the opening scene of the movie which is also my choice of scene to elaborate on mise-en-scene.

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However, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female

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