Diaz 1

Ivan Alexander Diaz

Humanities 44
Essay 1
Dr. Klaschus
18 February 2015
Psychoanalysis
Its the year 1960 and audiences across America are leaving theaters afraid to be alone as
the latest thriller by renowned Director Alfred Hitchcock has just been released. Psycho, starring
Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, follows a woman, Marion Crane (Leigh), who has stolen
money from her office in an attempt to start a new life for herself. She stops at the Bates Motel
while on the run and is greeted by a kind man named Norman Bates (Perkins), once there Marion
realizes the mistake she has made and before she is able to right her wrongs she is murdered.
One is led to believe that Norman Bates mother is the killer, but they are one in the same. The
film was revolutionary, though its impact would not have been possible without specific shots
and use of sound.
The shots give depth to the film. For example, in the shower scenewhen Marion is
murderedthe director had to use close up shots in order to be more conservative as he was
unable to show the graphic damage that Norman Bates was inflicting on Marions Body, this
meant he had to rely heavily on his actors, in this case Leigh, in order to portray the physical
pain she was supposedly enduring. According to the book Get the Picture by Jim Piper, the
excessive use of close ups are meant to isolate a character (7). In this particular scene Hitchcock

Diaz 2

sort of kills two birds with one stone. He focuses in on Leigh in order to avoid having to use
effects that were too risky for the time and simultaneously makes the audience feel how trapped
and helpless she is. Another great example of the directors dynamic shooting style is when yet
again another murder takes place. This time it is the detective and Hitchcock uses a high angle.
Piper states that Actors filmed in high angle are looked down on and made to seem inferior, in
trouble, put upon, or powerless (9). What piper says directly correlates to what takes place in
that scene, the Detective (Martin Balsam) is in trouble and powerless with nowhere to go. Not
only is this conveyed, but it does help further develop the story; the audience is left wondering, if
the good guy cant bring the killer to justice then who will? A good movie is one that does the
unexpected.
The use of sound in the film adds interest for the audience. The second the movie begins
the thrashing and shrilling of the score begins to make its existence known, the terrifying sound
of violins stroking those high pitched chords begin to linger in the eardrums of the viewers, and
from that moment on the music never ceases. Piper claims, The more people a film is trying to
reach the bigger, louder, and more intrusive its music is (60). With Psycho music is used
excessively in order to gain attention and keep the audience invested. There are scenes in the film
that were not necessarily the most terrifying or interestingfor instance, when the sheriff finds
Marion on the side of the road and she is able to get away with the moneywith a touch of
underlying music that is subtle, an element of suspense is added that keeps the audience on their
toes. Films use sound to transform the emotions of the audience.
In the day and age when the original Psycho was released Directors, like Hitchcock,
where limited in what they could do, and without clever techniques in the movie making process

Diaz 3

the effect movies made on audiences would not have been possible. The shots and sound used in
the making of Psycho turned the film into the classic it is today.

Diaz 4

Works Cited
Piper, Jim. Get the Picture? The Movie Lover's Guide to Watching Films. 2nd ed. New York,
New York: Allworth, 2008. Print.
Psycho. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Shamley Productions, 1960. Online. Putlocker. Web. 17 Feb.
2015.