Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock

1. PSYCHO ALFRED HITCHCOCK 25 TH AUGUAST 1960

2. CONVENTIONS ‘Psycho’, being the first major thriller/horror film, has all the typical conventions that are associated with this genre of film. As many other films after the release of psycho in 1960 interpreted the standard ideology based around ‘Psycho’, conventions from this were then adapted. Furthermore, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ was the basis on which all thrillers followed and adapted to. Conventions associated with ‘Psycho’ Blonde, female victim Male murderer Isolated house Bad weather (use of pathetic fallacy) Knife (as the weapon) - Mind twisting storyline

3. USE OF TITLES The use of titles in ‘Psycho’ are presented in an extremely clever way signifying characteristics of the murderer. As the credits come on the screen, three colours are used ; black, grey and white. These colours come together through a jagged effect and then join suggesting the idea of a split personality. The two colours used to bring the titles together are grey and black but then as the name appears both of the colours blend leaving the actors name in a bold white. Secondly, when the name of the film ‘Psycho’ comes onto the screen, the jagged affect becomes more abrupt and prominent illustrating this idea further again symbolizing a character’s genuine personality. As previously stated, the colours used to display this effect are bold and stand out in contrast to the black background. Not only does the jagged effect convey a personality but the clearly demonstrated colours suggest a dominating one too.

4. MISE EN SCENE Cleverly depicted through clothes and positioning, within the first few minutes of ‘Psycho’ the victim is immediately revealed to the audience. The pretty blonde first is presented to us in a hotel room, in which she is lying on bed looking up at a man. Her positioning, and the fact she is looking up, suggest that so is quite a vulnerable figure within the film and is easily dominated by male characters. Furthermore, focusing on this particular scene it becomes acknowledged that she is wearing all white underwear. This colour white symbolizes purity and an angelic nature. However, after we learn more about her character, after stealing the $40, 000, we see her in her room witnessing a drastic shift. Her underwear had switched to black removing all the white and pure connotations away and associating her with darkness and danger .

5. SOUND & CAMERA SOUND: As soon as the credits are displayed on the screen a high pitched tone accompanies them stressing emphasis on the jagged nature further. The non- diagetic music has aspects of string instruments which make the credits more mysterious and and doomful . Moreover, the music is quite distorting which, similarly to the credits, addresses the main ideas behind the film. The sound is also quite sharp with corresponds to the murder weapon later used throughout the film. CAMERA: Within the opening scene of ‘Psycho’ an extreme long shot (establishing shot) has been used to identify the time and place of the setting. This allows the audience to get a detailed account of where the story began and later, when the film ends, it is possible to say that this particular shot has been taken in the perspective of a police report addressing the crimes that were committed. A high angle shot was also used in the opening of ‘Psycho’ revealing the victim in the story. As she was looking up at another person (a male character) its suggests that another man in the film will perhaps be the dominant figure towards her and cause her harm. Moreover, after being presented with the establishing shot, the camera begins to zoom into a window in which two characters are revealed. By the use of the slow zoom, it suggests someone scanning the town and picking out their victim, almost spying on them.