Essay about Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980), the “Master of Suspense”, was a English film director, who was well known for his use of suspense and psychological elements to shock and surprise his audience. Hitchcock was known for his use of recurring themes, motifs and plot devices, such as the use of birds, hand motifs, the audience as a voyeur, mothers, blonde women, and sexuality. He was also very technical in his editing, using filming techniques such as deep focus, point of view, close up and wide, tracking shots. Montage was also a technique he used frequently in his films. He believed that by using visuals, he could convey thoughts and emotions just as well as dialogue could.

For example, in the scene when the birds begin to attack the gas station in town, Hitchcock focuses greatly on the sound of birds cawing and flapping wings. This technique shows the viewer that the birds are the most important and dominant element of the scene, as well as making the viewer feel like they are partaking in the scene. The loud cries of birds and people make you feel anxious and apprehensive about the result of the scene and how the characters will be after the scene. Additionally, when the birds are about to break into the Brenner’s home through the chimney, the sounds of banging and thudding progressively gets louder. This increases the viewer’s anxiety about what the sounds are, why they are getting louder, and what is going to happen later through the plot. As you can see, Hitchcock’s film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds” better uses and creates suspense by increasing sound to create a feeling of anxiety and apprehension in the

From the outset, Hitchcock introduces an initial theme of good versus evil during the opening credits. The title scene could be seen as a reflection of the personality of Norman Bates as the credits themselves are presented as fragmented titles which come together as one on the screen but then

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) initially received quite a bit of negative criticism. The film irritated many Stephen King fans (and King himself) because it differed so greatly from the novel. The Shining also disappointed many filmgoers who expected a conventional slasher film. After all, Kubrick said it would be "the scariest horror movie of all time."1 Kubrick's films, however, never fully conform to their respective genres; they transcend generic expectations. In the same way that 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is not just another outer-space sci-fi flick, The Shining is not a typical horror movie. The monsters in The Shining originate not from dark wooded areas, but from the recesses of the mysterious human mind-in broad

In these two movies, the right music and visuals had to be chosen in order to get the ambiance Hawke and Branagh tried to obtain. Each director chose different music and images that were very visual and auditive for an audience’s appeal. In Hawke’s version, visuals of New York and Times Square were appealing to an audience. Modern music at the beginning of the film caught the interest of the younger generation. As well, close ups of Hamlet were revealing to an audience and it was easy to feel infatuated by the character’s nihilistic despair. Branagh’s version used supernatural and dark visuals of ghosts, statues, and castles to produce feelings of awe and fear. The scene of the ghost was quick and staggering, and it created an automatic feeling of anxiety and fear. As well, the traditional use of classical music did a skillful job of creating suspense. Both directors appealed to an audience by using music and visuals that created an ambiance the directors desperately

In the movie, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses the story of a cripple free lance photographer, Jeff Jeffries, to explain the twisted sense of society in the 1950’s. Hitchcock uses clever things from the way the apartments are being filmed to the dialogue between Jeffries, Lisa, and Stella to show societies interest in pain, tragedy, and discomfort, and in the end you see how tragedy is what makes everyone happy.

Since it’s infancy at the beginning of the eighteenth century, horror has followed certain conventions that results in an awakening of the senses, evoking intense emotions of fear and terror in the audience. Horror feeds off triggering the primal fears embedded within all of humankind, creating a sense of menace that is the very substance of this genre. Furthermore, the central menace of a piece tends to enlighten the human mind to the world of the paranormal and the enigmatic, dark side of the unknown. The movie “Psycho” directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a perfect example. Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre, “Psycho” was filmed with great tact, grace and art in regards to horror conventions.

The film opens up with a wide shot of urbanistic Phoenix, Arizona. Then, the camera zooms in to the one of hundreds of windows and gets into the room, introducing the viewers to the main characters Marion Crane and Sam Loomis. The audience sees that the characters are in love, however, meet secretly during Marion’s lunchtime. Sam explains the reason why they cannot be together – his father’s debt and alimony. Hitchcock also lets the viewers know that Marion also tries to make ends meet. The characters touch upon the theme of money several times during their dialogue, underlying how important and urgent it is. The audience sees that both of them want to be together, however, cannot afford it. Thus, the opening scene not only introduces the characters to the audience, but alludes to one of the main conflicts of the film – stealing of a large sum of money by Marion in a desperate attempt to be with her lover. In such a way, Hitchcock masterfully creates a feeling of suspense in the audience in the very first scene of his

“We all go a little mad sometimes,” and that could possibly be exactly how many feel after watching Psycho, released in 1960, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock took a different route in terms of plot and structure for the typical Hollywood style. Psycho, like a young child never stops asking questions, it leaves us in a state of doubt and unbelief. It is classic horror, with the numerous jump scares leaving us at the edge of our seat, as every moment passes. Yet in the beginning, it 's seems to portray a rather classic form in a sense, a near-Aristotelian story. A woman who appears to be the main character in love, who is then faced with a problem, not enough money to marry her love, who then steals money to help build a future

One of the most famous horror films not just of the 1960's but of all

The investigator questioned Norman, but wasn’t pleased with the lack of information. He went back later and tried to talk with Norman’s mother in the mansion, but in-turn was killed by the “mother”. Furthermore, Norman carried his “mother” to the fruit cellar to hide, leaving him isolated. In turn, he has created his “Inner Cave”. As Lila and Sam investigate the place, they get suspicious over where Norman’s mother is, so Lila searches the house. The “Turning Point” would be when Lila finds the corpse of the dead mother and gets Norman arrested. When Norman is apprehended by the police the “mother” personality takes over, which leads to the downfall of Norman Bates, also known as the “Catastrophe”. The cops received information about all the murders Norman has committed from the “mother” and ultimately put Norman in jail or an asylum. This would be the “Aftermath” and “Atonement”, respectively. Now the final stage of this format is “The Return”. Hitchcock creatively used Norman’s mother personality taking over his mind as “The Return” because it would be the return of the mother from death. In closing this film followed the Heroic Journey format, but in an innovative

Throughout cinema, there has always been space in our hearts for the gore and intrigue that come from horror films. Though they come with different plots, there remains “the monster”, the character that brings along disgust, horror, suspense, and even sympathy. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), our monster is Norman Bates, the boy next door. This was one of the first times in American cinema that the killer was brought home, paving the way for the future of horror movies. According to Robin Wood in “An Introduction to the America Horror Film” (183-208), Bates follows the formula of the Monster being a human psychotic. This is conveyed through his normal façade portrayed with his introduction, the audience’s ambivalence, the use of

It is used repeatedly in the film to foreshadow upcoming events, such as when the masked killer is shown on screen. Furthermore, when the masked killer Michael Myers is about to kill someone the normally tense and eerie piano keys seem to be much higher pitched, which in a way informs the audience about the incident before the characters know about it. Although the sound of the piano is an obvious sound aspect of horror films, perhaps one of the most effective, and less obvious, uses of sound in the film is silence. Quite often throughout the film we don’t hear anything, which builds up the scenes intensity without the evident sound of music. For example, right after Laurie witnesses the masked killer on her property, we don’t hear anything.

I am not a fan of horror movies or book because I am scared of watching and reading them , so whenever I saw those genera of works I will not go read or watch them. So when the first day I noticed I have to read this famous horror genera novel “psycho” by Robert Bloch watch the movie of it , I already feel like I want to quit, but I can not. Well, the last solution will be I have to force myself to read the novel and watch the movie. However it didn’t really give me a scary feeling , it is more like an exploring for a mysterious event which it really caught my attention. due to the movie and it’s the movie review I saw on the internet saying it is a really scary and don’t ever watch it, then I felt like it will be a challenge so I try .

Before the Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock made its way into theaters across the world, film was produced in a completely different way. Some of the elements that were in Psycho were things that nobody saw in movies before. According to Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman, when the movie came out, it took place in “an atmosphere of dark and stifling ‘50s conformity” and that the elements of the film “tore through the repressive ‘50s blandness just a potently as Elvis had.” (Hudson). Alfred Hitchcock changed the way that cinema was made by breaking away from the old, “safe” way of creating a movie and decided to throw all of the unwritten rules of film making out the window. The main ways he accomplished this task was by adding graphic violence, sexuality, and different ways to view the film differently than any other movie before its time.