Norman The Parlour Scene

  In my opinion, birds bring a lot more to our lives than we think they do. They bring peace and serendipity. Within the film, this brings the viewer a chance to see that there

The scene right after this one takes place from Norman’s point of view. Here we witness him peeping on Marion while she’s undressing through a hidden hole in the wall. It is made clear to the audience that Norman is sexually repressed and that he desires Marion. In her article, “Coveting the Feminine,” Diane Negra writes on Norman Bates’ psychology and how it is stemmed in his repressed sexuality and oedipal complex, “Psycho features a protagonist who manifest extreme behavior in a desperate attempt to circumvent cultural restrictions on the expression of forms of sexuality judged inimical to the status quo,” and, “Norman Bates takes on the personality of the mother he murdered out of jealousy, projects his jealousy onto her, and murders women he finds desirable in order to punish himself,” (Negra, 193-200). The bird imagery is again prevalent in this scene. While Marion is changing she is next to two framed portraits of these small helpless little birds. Norman watches her through the peephole like a predator stalking his prey. Clearly, Hitchcock heavily included birds in the films mise-en-scene as a visual representation of Norman’s relationships with women.

Side lighting sculpts the contours of Julia’s pain inflicted face. She remains in semi-darkness as she stands silently in her unforgiving industrial environment. Rusted objects and train related machinery surround her, furnishing the scene with a sense of devastation and ruin. The glowing light from the windows in the background highlight her dislocation. The warmth of the light is something inaccessible, as she quivers in the darkness.

I believe, as do others, Judith and the Maidservant with the head of Holofernes is perhaps homage to her rape and subsequent treatment during her adolescent years. Her painting`s inspiration also plays tribute to the biblical story of Judith, who sleeps with the King Holofernes and than decapitates the drunk King in his sleep. Both Judith and the maidservant are now dominate in the painting over the dead male, they are quiet, unobtrusive and tense. A single candle burns within the dark room creating stark contrast between light and dark. The artist`s great skill can be seen in the bright highlighted details of Judith's hand and in the folds of clothing of the two. Depth and dark core detail can also be seen in the dark and reflective shadow areas within the room. Judith's hand covers the candlelight as she peers at the outside world, perhaps in an attempt to help in

be done, only a few hours later. Throughout the entire scenario, the mother's power is evident,

The bird was Perry’s mind’s way of escaping from his fears, reality, and it enacted vengeance towards those who had done him wrong. The bird and the nightmares all aroused from Perry’s post-traumatic stress disorder. Perry was suffering from countless mental illnesses which lead him to murder the Clutter family. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder causes changes in arousal and reactivity in association with the traumatic event. Various changes include angry outbursts with little or no provocation, self-destructive- behavior, hypervigilance, inability to concentrate, sleep disturbance, and exaggerated startle responses (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

“Birds bring beauty into the world,” Mrs, Bundy tells a distraught Melanie Daniels. But do they? In the film,”The Birds,” directed by Albert Hitchcock, Melanie Daniels chase's lawyer Mitch Brenner to the small town of Bodega Bay, gifting him a pair of lovebirds for his sister. Melanie however, gets caught up in the rampant bird problem that plagues the town when she arrives. Hitchcock creates suspense in the movie by using the element of dramatic irony, in order to instill a sense of helplessness into the audience as they watch disaster unfold before the characters of the picture.

For the scene, Bigot uses a close-up view and the candles as the single light source to heighten the drama of this brutal painting. The light source circles around the faces of Judith, her servant and Holofernes, emphasizing their importance as well as their facial expressions. The minimal amount of light in the painting make the cloth and skin textures convincing. The large amount of dark values are placed close to smaller areas of highly contrasting light values creates illusion of space. Except for the figure of Judith, who is the brightest light, the figures of the servant and Holofernes are in the lightest value positions. The figures become progressively darker as the light recede to the farthest spatial position.

In the ‘Parlor scene’ Marion and Norman are seen in contrasting lights. The bright light on Marion symbolizes warmth, innocence and naivety. The half lit, half shadowed face of Norman alludes to his dark side and split personality. Furthermore, the crosscutting between the two has been manipulated as so the two are never seen in the same shot, reinstating the separateness of the two. The monotone delivery of Norman’s line “I like to stuff things” not only foreshadows later events, but elucidates his twisted, sick mind. The symbolism of Marion’s name itself also re-establishes the polarization and predator-prey relationship between the two, creating feelings of dread and revulsion inside of the

Literature and movies both have elements of suspense from The Birds to “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Camera angles, tone of voice, and sound all add to the suspense of books or films. In The Birds they use camera angles a lot to create a creepy atmosphere. For example, When the camera switches between the playground and Melanie when she is at Cathy’s school, more birds are added every time.

However, Norma Jean has a different association with birds. Additionally, the narrator describes that, “She is picking cake crumbs from the cellophane wrapper, like a fussy bird.” (p. 812). Obviously, this relates Norma Jean to a bird in the way she was eating the cake crumbs. Moreover, Norma Jean is specifically stated as a “fussy bird”.

In addition, it is important to note of Lewis’ use of silhouette at the 6:30 mark of the film that darkens the bodies of Bart and his two friends. This sequence is important because usually in film noir silhouettes are used to isolate a specific character in loneliness. In contrast, Bart is in silhouette with his friends walking towards the sun, which emphasizes his friendship and bond with his companions. This companionship proves that Bart is actually not a gun crazy maniac like what people perceive him as, but he is actually a normal, affable boy.

Norman’s psychotic ways are also revealed through Hitchcock’s use of motifs. His repeated use of birds have an underlying meaning of Norman’s dangerousness. His hobby is avian taxidermy and in numerous shots birds are displayed in the background. A shot of when the mise en scene evokes his eerie connection towards his hobby is in the parlor. The parlor is decorated with his stuffed trophy birds mounted on the walls or on stands - an enormous predatory, nocturnal owl with outstretched wings, and a raven. Both owl and raven are in frame lurking behind Norman and representing his concealed character. Like the owl, he is a predator, in full attack mode on Marian. He also doesn’t wait until the daytime to kill her, he slays her in the shower at night like a nocturnal psychopath. As if with the raven’s knife like beak, Norman murdered Marian, following in the footsteps of killing when it is easiest.

The bird is also seen in Molly’s flashback whilst at the Moore River Settlement, the use of a close up of her face in bed fading to an undershot of the eagle in the sky, brought back memories and is followed by a close up of Molly and Maude giving her the determination to escape and find their way home. Again, when the girls are struggling on their long journey home and they collapse, Noyce uses an extreme close up shot of Molly’s eyes as she hears the sound of the eagle, her eyes slowly open and then the film uses a low angle shot of the eagle flying above the girls in the sky. The audience senses their vulnerability and the challenge that lies ahead. This is followed by a high angle shot of Molly standing and looking at the eagle providing her with the inner strength to continue the journey home. As they continue, there is an aerial shot of trees, the sound of an eagle, an example of diegetic sound and the audience has a sense that the bird is guiding the girls home.

The Hitchcock film titled ‘The Birds’ is set in Bodega Bay, California. For no apparent reason, as soon as a woman arrives in the area, birds have been attacking the residents, and causing death and destruction. In one scene, where Melanie Daniels (portrayed by Tippi Hedren) is stuck inside a house alongside Mitch Brenner (portrayed by Rod Taylor), and his mother Lydia, and his younger sister Cathy, trying to protect themselves from another relentless wave of bird attacks.