Show How Hitchcock Achieves This In The Shower Scene Of 'Psycho'

Alfred Hitchcock, known across the globe for his famously shocking and revolutionary films. Hitchcock had an exceptional talent to make a piece of film, add some techniques and make it the most shocking piece of film in its time. In particular 'Psycho' was an incredibly outrageous film, which with all of its techniques blended together, working like a well-oiled machine, really did make the audience scream.

Hitchcock has an intriguing way of bringing the audience through the story line to the Bate's Motel. Hitchcock splits the narrative into two plot lines; the first is almost just a means of getting the audience to the action.

The second plot line crushes the audience's expectations and leaves them feeling a sense of unknown, and insecurity. The first plot line runs through Marion stealing the money, this creates the audience do not immediately assume Marion is not innocent, and the audience do not empathise with her. She then escapes with

Now the real effect of the scene is delivered, the camera switches between the squirming Marion and the killer's knife. The shots are swift and precise, each lasting no more than two seconds; this highlights the stabbing and the brutality of the thrusting knife. With each separate shot it makes the audience gasp, the blatant viciousness of each shot brings the audience to the edge of their seats and to a 1950's audience certainly would have made them scream. After the stabbing the camera pans downs towards the bathtub that is now flowing with blood, this slow panning indicates the murder is over, and displays the severity of the killing, as the chunks of flesh flow away.

The visual effects in the shower scene would be meaningless without the careful selection and coordination of the audio. During the shower scene the music ceases and the only sound is of the water spraying from the showerhead, but when the shower curtain is ripped open music abruptly begins. The psychotic shrills of the violin represent and exaggerate the screams; the particular speed and harmonization of the screeches raise the audience's heart rate making them more and more tense. Hitchcock is quite cunning in his technique; by fooling the audience he amplifies the impact of the actual murder greatly and makes the audience scream.

The camera angles during the shower scene create the greatest effect, it shows authority, it looks down on characters from another's point of view, showing superiority, and reflects the nature of the piece whether it is fast and urgent or slow and calm. At the beginning of the shower scene the camera angles are slow, sweeping shots. This reflects that Marion is not at all worried, and has no suspicion of Bates, except that he is a little odd. The camera now switches to a portrait shot of Marion, showing only her face this is complemented by the lighting, makes the audience see a purity about Marion, another of Hitchcock's ways of making the audience empathise. The camera jumps to Marion now in the shower, presumably to avoid showing any nudity (which was very shocki

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Approximate Word count = 1409
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)