Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'

Notes

Editing
  • Fades from one scene to the next - creates 'blur' - uncertainty for the audience - mystery
  • Cuts between his and her face quicken - building tension
  • Rule of thirds placing of objects on screen
  • Over 70 cuts in famous shower scene - building tension and suspense - the unknown
  • Graphic match between femme fatale face from one scene and telephone of the next
  • Ellipsis - miss out a chunk of time - getting to the car - leaves audience filling in the gap for themselves
  • Parallel editing - what he's doing/she's doing - keeps the audience up to date with both of the main characters
Camera Movement
  • High angle POV shot of police officer creates power - low angle POV shot of woman creates fragility and weakness
  • High angle when femme fatale is counting money in the bathroom - makes her seem weak - emphasises that what she is doing is wrong
  • Over the shoulder shot of Norman Bates choosing the key to the room - delay and build suspension over the character upon meeting him
  • Low angle used when Bates talks of his mother - vulnerability 
  • Mid shot when Norman sits on the bed holding the newspaper containing the money just in shot - creates a sense of the audience knowing more than the character - they're one step ahead 
  • When he is moving the body we see him doing it but not what he's actually doing - leaves a lot up to the audiences imagination - to fill in the gaps
  • Tracking shot used - creates a sense of being watched
  • Long shot of walking up the stairs - walking off camera - into the unknown
Mise-en-scene (CLAMPS)
  • L - Bright, artificial lighting - 'spotlight' is on femme fatale because she is in the wrong - false impression she has been caught
  • L - He is in the dark and she is in the light even though she's the one who has committed the crime - audience ask questions about what he has done to make him worse
  • S - Isolated location - no body would know if something were to happen - adds suspense
  • L - Shadows used a lot to in force fear of the unknown
  • M/C - Wigs/costume used to enforce split personality
Sound
  • Non-diegetic soundtrack (asynchronous) used to build tension (stringed instruments)
  • Voice over - relays what's happening off scene - asynchronous sound
  • Layering of diegetic/non-diegtic - 'busy' texture to noise
  • Quiet soundtrack - loud footsteps - contrast
  • Repetition of same piece of music - makes audience remember the same tension from before
  • Voice over - releases to audience inner thoughts (two personalities)



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