Psycho Parlour Scene Essay

The lighting used by Hitchcock also serves to portray Madeleine as a fantasy woman, using the lighting to highlight her face. As Madeleine passes by Scottie in the restaurant she is bathed in a soft light which makes her all the more noticeable against the backdrop of a dimly-lit restaurant. Furthermore, as she passes by him, she is shown in a full body shot in the center of the frame, which Hitchcock uses to create an overwhelming sense of romance. Here, Madeleine is the desired object clearly separated from her mundane surroundings. The viewer is aggressively confronted with Madeleine’s image and this allows us to be swept up in the romantic fantasy along with Scottie. The lighting used in this scene actively draws the viewer to her features and ensures that all attention is on her. The audience are enticed and seduced by her and this stretches to Scottie as well as we can see that he is drawn to her and has to make an effort to be covert.

The 'early deaths' concept wasn't the only technique Hitchcock used to develop the suspense in 'Psycho'. A more common but effective technique is also used; music. Not just any music either, but relevant music. It is general knowledge that music can psychologically influence people's thoughts and emotions.

In the scene when the killer enters the showers while Marion is taking a bath, the shower curtains acted as a screen to the audience’s sight and later in the film, the shower curtain was used to wrap up the Marion’s body. Another example would be the parlor scene where Marion was sited on a comfortable coach while Norman sat on an upright and formal wooden chair. The usage of furniture suggested character’s attributes, as Marion has a rather relax and open-minded personality while Norman being a tense and uptight

In contrast, by appearance of a horny sexual character, Joyce, viewers are positioned to see the danger of a woman as she rallies support which turns into a mob after she fails to proceed what she wants – sexual intercourse. However, the actions of main character, Edward, and the clothes worn him and more importantly, an awkward looks of him with scissors for hands positions the viewers to see him as a person who can't and never will fit in ordinary suburbia. Burton’s use of these characters is to convince viewer that whether conformity is good or bad, distinct individual is always to be left behind.

"It's difficult to describe the way…the twisting of the… it's too difficult to describe" When describing some scenes in the film, he uses hand movements to show "twisting". This makes us eager to see what happens. When Alfred Hitchcock reaches some parts of the set, he makes some faces and talks differently. This makes the audience infer that something important or something significant has happened there.

In the film an atmosphere of suspense is created using various film techniques such as lighting, music and through the plot itself. The film also takes on a Gothic tone using different characteristics and techniques such as the settings, symbolism, emotions such as fear and the different atmospheres in the film. The director explores the theme of good vs evil through different elements and characters in the film generally following normal good vs evil stereotypes with some exceptions.

This film is a black and white film and the lighting is more towards dim effect which terrified the audience. Music plays the biggest effect in the film. Bernard Hermann’s theme is used for this film because it uses mostly high-pitched string instrument notes so the suspense and horror mood can be formed to the audience.

The camerawork emphasizes the sense of detachment between the characters, and Billy’s inability with connecting with others. In addition, the film has a contrasty, bleak look to it, like a faded photograph. Gallo shot the movie on reversal film stock to capture that contrast and grain, in attempt to reproduce the same look of football games from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

This hugely increased the despair and shock, the feeling of loss even when a character is brutally murdered. Straight away Hitchcock begins to build our sympathies for Marion Crane. He uses several cinematic techniques to create a mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is everything a viewer can see within a certain frame and consists of many aspects. For instance, Hitchcock uses a high-angle, mid range establishing shot to put Marion in her context, and highlight her vulnerability.

Alfred Hitchcock’s film Shadow of a Doubt is a true masterpiece. Hitchcock brings the perfect mix of horror, suspense, and drama to a small American town. One of the scenes that exemplifies his masterful style takes place in a bar between the two main characters, Charlie Newton and her uncle Charlie. Hitchcock was quoted as saying that Shadow of a Doubt, “brought murder and violence back in the home, where it rightly belongs.” This quote, although humorous, reaffirms the main theme of the film: we find evil in the places we least expect it. Through careful analysis of the bar scene, we see how Hitchcock underlies and reinforces this theme through the setting, camera angles,

The first is an intimate scene where Kane is sitting in a comfy chair close to Susan. There is a fuzzy carpet on the ground, the walls have a flowery wallpaper. The room could be considered cramped with four visible chairs, five visible plants, and four visible pictures. The scene is also well light with almost nothing in the darkness. The scene looks cramped for a movie but portrays a sense of homeliness. It gives the sense of warmth and joy in the relationship between Kane and Susan. The very opposite scene from this Kane is sitting what could be twenty to thirty feet away from Susan in a stiff wooden chair resembling a throne. The walls behind Kane are huge and clean made of stone. There are cold almost cathedral-like windows in the wall. Almost the entire room is dark with only the carpet and couch, Kane, and Susan being lit. The mise-en-scene of these two scenes show a progression of their relationship and also helps to portray Kane’s own psychological disrepair. The characters could have been aliens and it would still feel real because the character progression is what gives the film

In this essay I will be doing a close analysis on the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, 1960. I will be looking at the mise-en-scène, performance, cinematography, editing, and the manipulation of sound. I will also be looking at themes that are explored in the film and what messages they convey to the audience. I will be using some theories to help analyze this particular sequence.

The opening scene in David Lynch's Blue Velvet portrays the theme of the entire film. During this sequence he uses a pattern of showing the audience pleasant images, and then disturbing images to contrast the two.

I utilize two scenes from the movie American Beauty, the two office scenes including Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Brad (Barry Del Sherman).The cinematic techniques are identified with mise-en-scene, which is the term used to portray everything 'put into the scene'. I concentrate on decor, lighting and props, costumes, body language (e.g., posture, gestures and facial expressions) and composition. I additionally take a gander at how these components are confined as far as camera stature, camera point and camera separate, all of which fall under the class of cinematography. The scene seems right off the bat the movie. Toward the start of American Beauty, the hero, Lester Burnham is disappointed with his life. At home he and his materialistic, aspiring