Psycho (1960) image analysis - 2

This scene from Psycho shows Marion pulling up to the Bates Motel. As Marion explores this new area, lots of Point of View shots are used in order for the audience to feel as though they’re there with Marion seeing exactly what she sees. This can give the audience a feeling of tension a Marion’s feelings are mirrored by the cinematography putting the audience in her shoes. This scene also evidently uses aspects of enclosed and creepy Locations; in this particular frame we can see a large house higher up on the left hand side of the screen. Some theorists suggest that threats and villains are often filmed on the left hand side of the frame; therefore this could demonstrate how Hitchcock incorporated this belief into his films. Low Key lighting is also important to decoding this frame; for example the house is dimly lit but forms of motivated lighting are used as we can see the upstairs windows have one or two lights on; the use of the lighting adds to the eerie feeling the audience would have already felt from the use of a creepy location.

This scene also has a very clear representation of a classic female victim; Marion has blonde hair, is very slim and has a naturally pretty face all of which leads men like Norman to be attracted to her. Hitchcock often chose beautiful women to play the main female role and although he may have used them to represent a classic female victim, they appeared in too many of his films for it to go unnoticed. This could relate to Laura Mulvey’s “Male Gaze Theory” which suggests beautiful women star in films purely to please the male members of the audience. As the audience continue to learn more about Norman, we can also identify the representation of a Psychotic Serial Killer; for example, we learn Norman lives alone with his mother and doesn’t get out of the house very often. Due to the fact he lives with his mother, the audience are lead to believe Norman may have had a troubled childhood.

This scene in particular provides the audience with an insight into how relevant some film critic’s theories can be. For example, in this scene we are manipulated into believing the stolen money will be the cause of Marion’s death; this can be labelled as a McGuffin which is very much a part of Hitchcock’s auteur style (such as the roll of film in North by Northwest) as he was well known for creating plot twists. This auteur aspect of Hitchcock’s films allowed audience to understand his style which resulted in them being able to identify his films and watch them purely because he had directed them; this is part of Andrew Sarris’ “Auteur Theory”.