Media AS Blog

1. Psycho (1960)
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Psycho was a thriller directed by
Alfred Hitchcock. It was orginally a novel
written by Joseph Stefano (screenplay), and
Robert Bloch (novel).
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It started some of the most famous actors of
the time. This includes; Anthony Perkins,
Janet Leigh and Vera Miles

2. Hitchcock Thoughts
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In “Psycho” the audience initially think the
film is about $40,000 and the murder
becomes a shock. This shock makes the
audience apprehensive for the rest of the film
– anything could happen / anyone could be
killed.

3. Hitchcock Thoughts
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The audience know there is a murderer in the
house. They don’t know when s/he will strike
again but to be suspenseful they must know it
could happen any minute.
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Hitchcock stressed that as the apprehension
increases there is less and less violence on
screen.

4. “Psycho” (1960)
However in psycho the external threat
is from a mad delusional man, who
had a dark side along with a dangerous
mind.

5. “Psycho” (1960)
•
“Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action,”
examples of this in “Psycho” are the shower, car and staircase scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd_OolN34eA
In this scene the fast pacing starts from the very beginning of the scene. This
is because we see her going into the shower, normally people are felt to
seem very vulnerable and unprotected while in a shower because of the fact
that they are naked. This creates fast pacing as the audience are currently at
edge, having some suspicious of what is going to happen next. As the
audience watch more and more seconds of Miss. Crane in the shower, we
slowly see a dark shadow approaching the shower curtain behind her, this
then follows the fast pacing music as we are aware of what is going to
happen next.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bieIiX5KLQ In the murder scene
Hitchcock creates fast pacing as Arobogast slowly walks up the stairs through
the frightening, mysterious house. Hitchcock continues to create the fast
pacing as he uses creepy music and has close ups on the bedroom door
opening slowly. In thriller films, doors opening slowly suggest something bad
is about to happen and builds the tension along with the suspense and fast
pacing.

6. “Psycho” (1960)
•
“resourceful heroes who must thwart the
plans of more powerful and better equipped
villains.”
In psycho the villain is Norman who is
portrayed as the psychopathic murder.
Whereas the hero is Sam Loomis who comes
to the rescue and saves Lila Crane. However
Sam would have never known about the
motel or Marion's whereabouts without
Milton Arbogast. All though he is murdered,

7. Norman Bates
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Hitchcock said it is important to avoid cliché
and repetition – particularly with regard to
character – eg murderers can be charming
and the heroes flawed.
•
In his films Hitchcock often placed evil in the
most banal of settings.

8. “Devices such as suspense, red herrings and
cliffhangers are used extensively.”
Story-wise, Psycho is not extraordinary; its true
brilliance lies in its construction.
Hitchcock has developed the film in such a way
that it consistently flouts audience expectations.
There are two major surprises:
1. the shower scene murder
2. the final revelation about Mother.

9. “Devices such as suspense, red herrings and
cliffhangers are used extensively.”
•
A viewer who sees the film for the first time
without knowing about either will experience
the full impact of what Hitchcock intended.
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The greatest shock for the uninitiated is the
early exit of Janet Leigh.
•
This is doubly unexpected because, to this
point, the screenplay had tricked us into
accepting Marion as the main character.

10. “Devices such as suspense, red herrings and
cliffhangers are used extensively.”
•
When she dies and the point-of-view shifts to
Norman Bates', the audience is puzzled.
•
In order to keep this crucial aspect of the film
secret when Psycho opened in 1960, there
were no advance screenings and no one was
admitted to a showing after the feature had
started.

11. “Psycho” (1960) and Thriller
Conventions.
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“Devices such as suspense, red herrings and
cliffhangers are used extensively.”
•
Find examples of this in “Psycho” Be specific!
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Suspense – how built up?
What part does the music play in building the
suspense?

12. “Psycho” (1960) and Thriller
Conventions.
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“A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he
presents obstacles the hero must overcome.”
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Is this true of “Psycho” ?
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Who is the villain?

13. “”The McGuffin”
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Hitchcock said the McGuffin is the plot device
that causes the action to happen.
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The McGuffin usually comes in the first part of
the film and sometimes returns at the end.
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In his thrillers the audience don’t really care
about the McGuffin.
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In this film the McGuffin is Marion stealing the
money.

14. “Psycho”
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Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience, "to
put their toe in the cold water of fear to see
what it's like”
Has he succeeded in this film?
“Psycho is a brilliant excursion into fear that
pushes many of our primal buttons”

15. Do these narrative theories apply to this film?
Where? When? Be specific!
•
Explain why narrative is so important to this
thriller – what conventions does it follow?
Does it follow?:
1. Classic Hollywood narratives – linear
(chronological), few, if any, sub-plots,
tendency towards closure at end of film.
2. Vladimir Propp – character types – analysed

16. Do these narrative theories apply to this film?
Where? When? Be specific!
4. Roland Barthes: all texts are ‘complex’
bundles of meaning.
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Enigma codes (problems introduced) – usually
in ‘disruption’ stage.
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Open – not resolved at end
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Closed texts – resolved at end
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Polysemic texts – lots of different meanings
5. Levi Strauss – Binary Opposition –

17. Did you know?
When “Psycho” was initially released in 1960, it
was a huge box office hit (there are stories of 3-
mile long lines at drive-in entrances

18. The Shower Scene
•
.
Whenever anyone speaks about
Psycho, the first images that come to
mind are those of Janet Leigh being
hacked to death in the shower. The
scene is so famous that even people
who have not seen the film are aware
of it.

19. Do you agree?
The shower scene alone stands as one of the greatest
single examples of execution and editing in the history
of cinema.

20. The Shower Scene
Bernard Herrmann's strident, discordant
music has been used in countless other
movies to denote the appearance of a
“Psycho."

21. Genius!
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The brilliance of the scene lies in the editing.
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A frame-by-frame analysis reveals that
Hitchcock left a lot to the audience’s
imagination.

22. The Shower Scene
We actually see:
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a knife
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blood (actually chocolate syrup),
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water,
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a woman's naked body (with certain parts
strategically concealed from the camera),
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Only a brief showing of the blade penetrating
the flesh.

23. The Shower Scene
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The full horror of the murder is only hinted at
on-screen.
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It takes the power of the viewer's imagination
to fill in the blanks

24. Analyse the shower scene in terms of media language.
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Camera work: angle, shot, movement, position; high
or low tilt; long, medium or close up; wide shot, over
the shoulder, zoom, reverse shot, point of view,
tracking, pan, steadycam, rolling, hand held, deep
focus etc.
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Editing: speed (long or short take); Style – straight
cut, dissolve, fade, wipe, jump cut; shot/reverse
shot, Eyeline match, Action match, Montage, Slow
motion, Graphic match, Ellipsis (showing what
happens before and after – audience fill in the
middle).

25. Analyse a key scene in terms of media language
(continued).
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Sound: diegetic/non-diegetic, parallel/contrapuntal,
on screen/off screen, sound effects, sound bridges,
pace, dialogue and music.
•
Mise en Scene: setting/location, props; hair/make
up/costume; positioning of characters in frame (deep
focus); body language/facial expression; colour –
denotation/connotation; lighting – high
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key/low key; SFX.

26. Representation in “Psycho”
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How are different groups are represented in
“Psycho”?
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Men/Women,
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Ethnic Minorities,
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Gay/Straight,
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Old/Young,
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Able/Disabled, upper/middle/lower Class,
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Regional Identity- North/South, country/town
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Disabled/Able bodied

27. Representation of different groups
in “Psycho”.
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Link to Levi Strauss’ idea of binary opposition
with dominant and a subordinate groups.
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Is the Representation positive or negative?
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Does it challenge/reinforce stereotypes?
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Are they archetypes (typical examples) or
generic types (only found in Thriller genre)?
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What is conventional representation within
the Thriller genre?

28. Representation of Women in
“Psycho”
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Consider apply Laura Mulvey’s theory of The
Male Gaze.
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Laura Mulvey – “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema” (1975). She said:

29. The Representation of Women in
“Psycho”.
The male gaze =
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women viewed as the objects of male erotic desire – in film
and audience
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men active / women passive.
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Women do not have agency – they do not move the plot
forward.
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The audience is forced to identify with male gaze.
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Cinema reflects patriarchal (male dominated) society