Psycho Essay

                                                                         Psycho (1960)
The film starts of with a birdseye view of the city, immediate, setting the equilibrium. The text is superimposed over the city, saying 'Phoenix, Arizona', followed by 'Friday December the Eleventh' and then it states the time, which is Two Forty-three P.M. This helps set the scene. The fact the city is shot in brought daylight is juxtaposed to the opening credits, which has a dark tone to it as well as deep music. It also gives of a sense of familiarity and normality, and sets a rather normal scene, making us think that nothing is going to happen.

Throughout the entirety of the film the camera is focused on Janet Leigh. This is paramount to the structure of the film and helps us identify with the character, Marion Crane. We are on her side throughout the film, and despite the she has committed a crime we still want her to get away with it. This is because of the shots used with her, she is constantly in focus, with the use of close up Helping depict her emotions. The use of close up is also very apparent whilst she is driving, we see how anxious she is about getting caught by the police. The use of voice over throughout, again in particularly when she is driving, also helps us identify with her. We can hear her conscience and what she thinks is happening, which engages us with her emotions. Also the use of the camera looking out from her POV, again making us identify with the character.

When she has stolen the money we are constantly asking ourselves the  'Are they going to get together', We are tricked into thinking this is the main question of the film is whether they are going to get together and whether Marion will get away with the money. The disruption occurs when the camera is pointing at a packed suitcase, and then sways over to the money. We immediately know that now Marion is going to take the money, however we still want her to succeed, because of how Hitchcock presents her.





During her drive out of Phoenix we are presented with a restricted narration, as we know as much as she does at this point, the use of rain also reinforces this as neither the audience, or Marion can see. The extreme close ups during the car journey is just one of the techniques that Hitchcock uses to help us identify with the character. We can see Marion's emotions, in particular when looking at her wide, piercing eyes.


Next we arrive at the bates motel, where we meet Norman Bates. There is a scene in which Marion and Norman have dialogue together, and a shot-reverse shot is used. This helps create slight tension between them, which eventually builds up as the scene continues. In this scene Marion states that she is going to go back to Phoenix to return the money, this immediately makes us ask more questions, as the film isn't even half way through and the disruption seems to be being repaired.