Film Review : ' Psycho '

Hitchcock makes use of a number of techniques in Vertigo and brings them together to make a film that is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces. Through the use of colour, lighting, camera movement, dialogue and characterisation, Hitchcock produces a film that fascinates and intrigues us.

How auteur theory can be applied to the study of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and Vertigo

In the shower scene in Psycho, The first shot he chooses to give us is

The original film is eerily presented in black and white and uses mood influencing silences, long pauses, and various sound effects to depict the hallucinations. Furthermore, the angle of the camera is positioned below the actors, which intensifies the feeling of horror. Visually, the film using ‘chiaroscuro lighting’, which is designed to cast shadows and contrast light with dark to dramatically intensify the gloominess of the films context. These film features are necessary because the actual murder, dismembering and disposal of the corpse portrayal is relative tame and largely left up to the viewer to determine what is actually happening. The dismembering in particular largely relies on the viewers memories of the opening scenes where the younger man is preparing a chicken for his dinner by grizzly hacking

Psycho is a 1960 American film directed by Alfred Hitchock. The screenplay of the movie written by Joseph Stefano was inspired by the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch on the year 1959. This film is categorized into the horror-thriller genre of film. The starring was Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, Vera Miles as Lila Crane and John Gravin as San Loomis.

The duration of the shot – which is essentially a twenty-second long take – is an aspect that only emphasises the suspense and tension intended by Hitchcock. However, if the shot was approximately six seconds – a common standard in films – then the anticipation and trepidation of the shot would thereby be lost. Furthermore, Hitchcock’s decision to prolong the shot prevented it from becoming obsolete amidst all the other shots of the film. This allowed Hitchcock to inaugurate the apprehensive and foreboding tone for the rest of the film, while simultaneously foreshadowing future perilous events. However, if the shot were extended for longer than twenty seconds, then it would therefore become tedious and mundane, disengaging viewers and detracting from the drama of the shot. Another focal aspect of the shot was the dark composition and lighting that complimented the duration to highlight Hitchcock’s intended ambiance of unease and suspicion. Be this as it may, if this shot were to have taken place during the day or with high-key lighting (which is when little contrast is created), then it’s predetermined perplexity and anxiety would vanish. In addition to this, if Hitchcock employed fill lighting and bright lighting then the shadows of the three men would evaporate. This would eliminate Hitchcock’s designed effect on the

Hitchcock explained the reason for filming a woman wearing only her under garments in the opening sequence of Psycho: "Audiences are changing....The straightforward kissing scene would be looked down at by the younger viewers....Nowadays you have to show them as they themselves behave" (Hitchcock 1). The director was keenly aware of how audiences responded to his films (Rebello 163) and sought to maintain their interest. He was among a handful of Hollywood filmmakers who deliberately sought out innovative composers (Nowell-Smith 258); for Psycho, Hitchcock hired Bernard Hermann who wrote a modern score which challenged the norm. The title itself, fifties and sixties slang for the violently psychotic, suggested the imminence of a new generation (Brill 200).

One of the ways why cinematography made the film was the lighting. To get the feel, the lighting appeared to be fake shadows that were painted on the set. The fake shadows that were painted on the set gave the lighting appeared to be harsh and sharper to set the mood for the audience. If it weren’t for the painted shadows, the movie wouldn’t have been so successful in the horror genre. Since it was a silent movie, if it weren’t for the shadows, you wouldn’t of seen it as a horror film, but as an original film that was trying to be creative.

The first half of this course focused on Alfred Hitchcock and how his techniques are now recognized as iconic. From class discussions and film screenings, it is clear that Hitchcock pays every attention to detail when he crafts a scene. Many Hitchcock films we have seen this semester highlight how he builds suspense through cinematic elements such as shadow, dialogue, and composition. While many of his suspenseful scenes stir feelings of intensity and uncertainty, Alfred Hitchcock builds a more romantic suspense in his 1955 film To Catch a Thief in the fireworks scene (1:06:35-1:11:00).

The movie Shadow of a Doubt is an American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1943, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing and Original Story by Thornton Wilder and Sally Benson. The movie notes the outstanding and remarkable film-making style of Hitchcock. It contains a lot of scenes in which people can empathise with the characters and perceive the feelings and messages from the director. One of the scenes that must be mentioned is when Emmy’s guests are toasting to Uncle Charlie, which is considered as one of the most important scenes as it helps to put an end to the long-term drama of the Uncle. This analysis will provide insightful ideas about the movements and the framings of camera and its uses in

The Alfred Hitchcock film; Vertigo is a narrative film that is a perfect example of a Hollywood Classical Film. I will be examining the following characteristics of the film Vertigo: 1)individual characters who act as casual agents, the main characters in Vertigo, 2)desire to reach to goals, 3)conflicts, 4)appointments, 5)deadlines, 6)James Stewart’s focus shifts and 7)Kim Novak’s characters drives the action in the film. Most of the film is viewed in the 3rd person, except for the reaction shots (point of view shot) which are seen through the eyes of the main character.(1st person) The film has a strong closure and uses continuity editing(180 degree rule). The stylistic (technical) film form of Vertigo makes the film much more

It seems very strange; He started to clean up so good that he was trying to hide this messy scene, and even showed us or gave us a clue that it was not his first time cleaning up a messy scene like this. In the film Pyscho, Alfred Hitchcock's nightmarish disturbing themes, Confused Identities, Voyeurism, and corruptibility are realistically revealed through repeated uses of motifs such as birds, eyes, hands, and mirrors. Clarification of Norman playing the role as his moms was very frightening. There was so much confusion, You find out who is who by looking at the end of the movie.

These feats of filmmaking are made even more amazing by the fact that because they were breaking new ground within film, none of this had ever been done before so they had nothing to help them figure out the logistics of it all. Aside from all the fast cuts to create the pace and feeling of the scene there was an incredible edit where they blend a shot of the blood running down the drain with an extreme close up of the dead woman’s eye, they do this seamlessly and I have no idea who they would

Alfred Hitchcock’s attention to detail in his films is one of the many things that makes him one of the most recognized film auteurs of all time. He was very particular what about he wanted seen on screen and how he wanted to get those shots. From camera movements to the things found in the mise-en-scène, Hitchcock was very precise about every little thing that is seen in his on screen worlds. He would strategically place objects throughout the mise-en-scène and have characters wear certain clothing. By doing this, Hitchcock is able to let the audience know things about the characters and the plot without it having to be said on camera. Hitchcock once said that “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on” (Tiffin). That’s why there’s no surprise that when Hitchcock finally made his first color film, he began to use color as another way of communicating with his audience.

When it comes to graphic violence, the one scene that sticks out in the film is the shower murder scene. Some people like David Thomson, the author of “The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder” thought that it was one of the most violent scenes to be shot for an American film (Robb). The scene was only 45 seconds long, but the reaction to the scene was like nothing the film industry has seen before.