Contextual Thriller Analysis: 'Psycho' Shower Scene

 

The opening sequence of the clip begins with a close-up of a toilet where the protagonist’s hand is throwing in shredded pieces of paper. This is accompanied with the diegetic sound of flushing and a slightly tense/mysterious score. This paper visual connotes that this is a key prop that plays an important part in the story. It is also an enigma because it leaves the audience to deliberate what the information on the paper is. This has been further used by the director towards the end of the clip when the camera moves through the motion of someone’s point of view to overlook the rest of the room. Moreover, it suggests that she is guilty, because rather than discarding it normally in a bin, she decides to dispose of it in the toilet where it will disintegrate leaving us to think that she is guilty of something (possibly being a murderer) – Hitchcock makes use of a ‘red herring’ here to plant false information. As well as this, in thriller genre films it is common to have a (blonde) female victim, whether or not she is a ‘femme fatale’ – this is supported by the fact that just after this shot, the camera pans to show that she closes the door cautiously as if she thinks someone is after her. In addition to this, she is in a motel bathroom which is depicted by the size of the room and the wallpaper. This set was used by the director because a bathroom is a room in which you feel very vulnerable and would not want anybody to intrude, which makes it an ideal place for the protagonist of the clip to have an untimely demise.

A low angle shot portrays that the shower head is turned on and this eventually leads to a long shot where we can see her and the door behind the curtain. There is silence throughout this part and Hitchcock makes use of prolonged shots. This technique is used to build suspense because, as the audience, we know that murder will occur in the film, but we don’t know when, where or how, which capitalises on our expectations and uses it to thrill us. Furthermore, the cinematography and sound techniques used during this scene are used to connote that she is at an even more vulnerable moment because she is trapped and can’t defend herself. Additionally, we can only see the silhouette of the murderer which is the enigma of the plot because we are trying to piece together what we know already to figure out who the murderer is.

 

A quick cut montage (fast editing) is shown with a high pitched pleonastic score. It is synchronised with the stabbing motion. This has been utilised so that it mimics the action of stabbing and to reflect/educe the heartbeat (fear) of the audience so that they get a rush and more excitement. As well, it has been pieced this way so that we can see things through her perspective which is that everything is happening fast – this is further supported by the fact that Hitchcock has purposely broken the 180 degree rule to show her from all angles to create this effect of nausea that a canted angle sometimes can evoke.

The score is still dramatic, but it slows down to the point when we see a close-up of her hand trying to grab the curtain. This is portrayed so that it reflects the aftermath of the stabbing and that she is trying to hold onto dear life. This is further supported by the asynchronous sound of the water still running from the shower which leaves the audience in the moment of the killing.

The camera pans towards the shower drain and this fades to a graphic match of her eye. Her blood is trailing towards the drain slowly. This connotes that her life now is represented by the water going down the drain and she is therefore lifeless. 

Below is the analysed sequence from 'Psycho' (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

                        
In my short film I shall consider using some of the cinematographic and editing techniques that are used in what people call this as Alfred Hitchcock's 'masterpiece' for a murder scene if my thriller were to contain one. If I were to show the actual murder of a character in my plot then I would make use of a quick cut montage so that the audience can only see the action of killing but nothing will actually be happening in real life (e.g. when stuntmen throw fake punches) which makes filming easier and editing will be fairly simple. However, Hitchcock also makes use of prolonged shots both before to create suspense and tension and after the murder to portray the aftermath as if the audience are reliving it in the moment.