Alfred Hitchcock; Psycho - Essay

Hitchcock's thriller Psycho uses many narrative devices to make the audience feel great suspense. Firstly, in order to get the story going and motivate the characters into action, the piece begins with slow, comfortable music to set the mood. We are introduced immediately to the character Marion as she goes by her day to day life. The narration is restricted which creates even more suspense as we are just as 'clueless' as Marion is throughout the plot. The camera acts as our eyes and we feel like a 'fly on the wall' as we are watching Marion and her lover in her bedroom but this use of camera shot also reminds us that this film is a crime thriller and Marion is being watched, although it's by the viewers in the beginning, this theme of her never having peace carries on throughout the story.

 At the beginning of the film, a huge establishing shot pans out over the whole city, Marion is shown going to various public places like work, garages, highways. However when Marion reaches the Bates Motel, there are no establishing shots apart from those of the huge house next to the motel. This signifies how isolated this place really is. Along with Marion we have no idea where we are. Enigma codes are used from the outset and throughout this piece, we are immediately faced with the question's 'who is she?' 'who is he?' 'where is she going?' 'why is she being followed?' and often our questions are answered through Action codes, not dialogue. This brings even more tension as we spend long periods of time with either silence or tension building music. The music is slow and weary with sharp turns and periods of the pace getting faster then slower, representing Marion's and therefore our nerves going up and down. While conversations are taking place there is no music at all, these are all fantastic ways of making the audience feel on edge.

 A way in which Hitchcock challenges audiences expectations and surprises the audience is he basically changes the rules as to what normally happens in a thriller. The main character Marion leads the story for just over 40 minutes but her unexpected and shocking murder by the thought to be stock character Norman leaves the audience completely disoriented, it makes us question 'how will the story go on without the main character?' but nonetheless the plot drives on this time featuring Norman as the main character. This text challenges a lot of binary oppositions e.g good vs bad, crazy vs sane, cruel vs weak.

 We can apply Todorov's theory of five stages of narrative to this piece the disruption being when Marion takes the money from her boss, this starts the plot and drives the story forward. The recognition of her actions is established when she is in her car and goes through differing states of panic and calm when she realises how much trouble she will be in if she's caught. The attempt to repair can be seen when she decides to try and get the money back to her boss and carry on with her normal life - of course this cannot be completed because of her unexpected murder. However it does reinstate the equilibrium especially when the character Norman acts as if everything is still normal.

 I think Hitchcock deciding to film this piece in black and white is great for showing the ideologies formed with the shading. For example the use of black and white could signify good and bad, two sides to a character like Norman, or maybe memories, like this story has already happened but we're reliving it. Overall the dramatic sharp music and use of pan shots and the unexpected twists and turns create so much tension for the audience member that it is no wonder Hitchcock is known as the Master of Suspense.