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Analyse a sequence from Psycho, making clear how creative decisions have shaped the sequence’s effects, and discuss the relationship between the sequence and the film as a whole.
Psycho is a suspense film on one level, but is also a film questioning American society in the 1950’s on a deeper level. Lila’s approach to the Bates house is such a suspense-filled sequence which creates fear and anxiety in the audience, but also restates deeper themes that have been involved in the film. The context of the sequence is in the immediate build-up to the climax. ... He achieves this through his artistic decisions and by using visual references to these themes. Although this sequence is short, it is loaded with meaning, as Hitchcock uses symbols that are multi-representational.I will describe the sequence to illustrate how Hitchcock technically creates the suspense and then proceed to analyse these themes.
We see Lila in light coloured clothes in a high angle extreme long shot come from behind the shed from shadow into light. ... It cuts to a POV shot of the house from a lower angle. ... There are 14 cuts, getting progressively faster from the time Lila started to move between herself and the house before she pauses. ... The pause in the editing loads the sequence with anticipation. ... The door is dark and heavy looking, framed by lighter wood on its sides, with a glass front and curtains and a visible door knob. There are 5 cuts alternating between Lila and the door. ... She looks back towards the door, her light clothes setting her apart from the interior of the house. ... In this sequence, Lila seems almost possessed by the spectre of the building. ... Violent scenes are conventionally cut in a highly fragmented manner, and the furious pace of the cuts back and forth between Lila and house are suggestive of possible psychological violence that forces Lila towards the house. ... This combination of mise-en-scene, editing and a prescriptive soundtrack resembles the sequence in Marion’s bedroom as she packs. The camera cuts several times between Marion’s face and the money, reminiscent of the cuts between Lila and the house. ... However, motifs representative of voyeurism [the high hovering hand held camera resembling a bird and the presence of eyes implied by the windows of the house] are also included in the sequence which force the audience to question this. The way Lila investigates the Bates mansion after this sequence alters one’s reading of the sequence.
Approximate Word count = 2025
Approximate Pages = 8.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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