Psycho Essay

Throughout the opening scenes of the movie, multiple enigma codes are used to engage the audience and motivate the main character into action.
The movie begins with Marion and Sam in a hotel room. Sam is awaiting a divorce between him and his first wife and as a result Marion is almost his mistress until he can pay the fee for the divorce. Following on from this scene we then see Marion in work and we meet a rather obnoxious and horrible rich man, who gives Marion a lot of money to DEPOSIT for him. After this we see the money on her bed, then the camera slowly pans to her packing a suitcase then back to the money. This enigma code makes the audience question where she is going and what she is doing with the money. It engages the audience and makes them continue watching. As well as this the use of the non diegetic sound during this scene also builds up suspense as it starts of quiet but fast paste and then gets quicker an deeper as the camera pans from the close-up of the money and then over to the suitcase and then to Marion looking at the money.
Hitchcock uses multiple implications and enigma codes through the film. Norman mentions taxidermy on multiple occasions and stuffing 'dead things'. This could be seen as foreshadowing Marion's future. This builds tension because it makes the audience question why anyone would bring up a conversational topic such as stuffing 'dead things'. Also, when talking about the institution Norman is able to describe it in detail, this again makes the audience question how he knows the detail and if he has been in the institution himself and if so,what for.

From the very beginning of the movie the camera forces the audience to identify with Marion's character, because every scene up until the 'Shower Scene' Marion is in every single shot and there are hundreds of close -up shots of her. This forces us to identify with her because we see so much of her, When we do not see close-ups of Marion we see things from her point of view, for example when she is driving away from the police officer after she has fallen asleep in her car. The camera shots change from a close up of Marion to looking in her rear view mirror, at the police officer as she drives away, so we identify with her again because we are seeing her life from her point of view. In all of the close ups of Marion, the main features we focus on are her eyes. This may be because 'the eyes are the windows to the soul' and the audience may try to figure out her emotion and what she is going to do, continue to steal the money, or do the 'right' thing and give it back as while the close-up of her is on we hear the digetic sound of the voices in head as she imagines what everyone back home would say about what she has done.

After the murder of Marion, we are then forced to identify with Norman's character because the camera shots follow a similar style, with close up shots and point of view shots but from Norman's point of view instead now. We have approximately a 5 minute sequence whereby the audience is positioned in Norman's point of view, while he cleans up the murder scene and Marion's body, this forces us to identify with his character. As well the final shot of the movie before the credits is a close up of him, where we see his facial expression representing the 'mother' side of him speaking. This close up is effective because it shows his contorted smile makes Norman look really sinister, like the actions he carries out. The fact he breaks the fourth wall and looks directly into the camera at the audience leaves them feeling vulnerable and exposed.

The use of black and white makes this film altogether thrilling and horrifing. The dark and shadowy nature makes it seem very more creepy and sinister because darkness has connotations of evil, danger and also seriousness and death. Also the color scheme fits the genre of a thriller because it is supposed to be chilling and creepy. The use of black and white also makes the film feel much more classic because many of the first films were filmed in black and white, even the first ever colour movie, The Wizard Of Oz, uses black and white. The fact there is no colour also removes the audience slightly, because audiences do not see in black and white, therefore it may make the gory 'Shower Scene' much less threatening because we cannot see the colour of the blood, which in it's self creates a thrilling, horrifing scene for viewers to see.

The non-diegetic music used throughout parts of  film is very orchestral and high pitched, this creates tension because generally music is used to signify to an audience when something is about to happen. Therefore the music in this thriller creates tension and builds the audience up for something dramatic and shocking which is about to happen or when a character is about to find something dramatic out. Particularly in the shower scene the music is very sharp and in short loud bursts. This again adds dramatic tension because it is like the whole killing was planned all along, right down to matching the beats of the music. The shots of the murder are in a sort of montage and are very short and snappy. This disorientates the audience because we don't know what we are going to see next or which bit of Marion we are going to be exposed to, again this makes it a chilling thriller.

Hitchcock challenges and surprises the audiences expectations in regards to the role of characters by reversing the roles they are expected to be. For example, Marion, the lead female role would be expected to be the 'princess' or the 'damsel in distress' however Hitchcock challenges this expectation of her as she steals money and also she is sleeping with a 'technically' married man and both of these things are the opposite to what Marion's character is seen to do. The character of Norman is represented as the 'hero' as he lets Marion stay in the motel for the night and looks after her by making her something to eat and he also helps her to realise she has done something wrong an she decides to turn back and go home the next day.

One of the ideologies that may come through in this movie is the idea that 'What goes around comes around, but maybe worse.' For example. Marion stole money which is wrong, so as a result she endured something painful, as a payback for doing something wrong. Another ideology exposed in this film could be that 'loneliness makes you crazy' because Norman has been on his own in that house for years and now he's lost his mind and is a killer.