Psycho Essay (Analyzing Marion stealing the money)

(Most of analysis from 3:58)

The story of Psycho starts up with this particular scene as we are shown different codes and such than the beginning of the clip. The first thing that the camera does is tilt itself down to look at the money, the factor that causes the story to start as Marion has stolen this from Cassidy and her job. This is important because the camera is never away from Marion, she is either in the shot or it is from her P.O.V. because the story is told through her restricted narrative. The fact that the camera is always on Marion forces us to relate to her, this is a technique that Hitchcock uses through out the film on different characters. Marion is doing this for love as we are shown in the beginning of the clip because she wants to marry Sam however he is in debt and couldn't provide for her, she feels that she is doing it for a good reason which is why we sympathize with her.

We start to hear some non-diegetic music in background of the shot, from some string instruments that are used quite a lot for scores to increase tension and suspense, they start of quite low and quite. The music could also symbolize Marion's conscience, very low and quite at this point as it tells her that she is making a wrong decision,

We get multiple shots of Marion's suitcase, filled with clothing, in the beginning of the scene that I am analyzing. Suitcases connote to travel and journeys, as well as escaping from a place. She is leaving with the money to live with Sam, because of the reasons I mentioned before. This could also be said about her being in her car, as a vehicle also relates to travel and journeys.

Another thing that connotes to her conscience is the multitude of shots of Marion and money in close ups. This shows that she is constantly questioning herself, if she should be doing it. She realizes that it is wrong and could get her in trouble however she sees her reasons as good, she sees love as a good reason for her actions.

Non-diegetic V.O. (that mutes the non-diegetic score) is used when Marion is in her car and worrying over the consequences of her actions. She hears Sam's voice welcoming her and questioning her about being there, as well as what is wrong. This shows that Marion is more worried about Sam being worried about her at that moment, as nothing has triggered her to think of other people.

These thought are, however, triggered when she sees her boss crosses street with Cassidy. At first she is happy to see him, even smiling at him like a normal day as he smiles back. However he turns to her with an expression of confusion which leads her to remember that in one of the scenes before this one, that she told him she felt sick and was going home. She's instantly raised some flags of tension because she knows that the money isn't in the bank but he doesn't yet and was most likely heading to that location with Cassidy.

When Marion realizes this, the music starts back up but a lot louder and quicker. Once again, the music mirrors Marion's conscience as it becomes louder after seeing her boss who trusted her and quicker, as she is raking through her thought about her choice.

In the next few shots we are given close ups of Marion in utter darkness as she is driving down a highway at night, to escape her crime and get to Sam before she doubts herself more. She is looking off in thought while driving before she dozes off as she is thinking more about the effects of her decision. Seeing her boss and Cassidy most likely triggered those thoughts as the music and such changed when she saw them.