1. PSYCHO BY ALFRED HITCHCOCK
15 SLIDES
Selen Gönül

2. DOMINANT
In this scene the the Norman Baker is the dominant because;
1. Size:He’s the largest thing in the shot also the flagon that he’s holding makes him bigger because
that flogon is the smallest thing in the shot. Also he has a shadow behind him which is symbolic too.
2. Lightning: The bulb spreads the light directly to the flagon and it becomes more white. That makes
the audience focus on the flagon and then to the related object/character which is Norman. His
shadow is highlighted.
3. Color: Flagon has the most light and bright color in the whole shot. Everything is black or ahs it’s
shades but flagon is the most white thing in the shot. Since Norman is holding it audience directly
looks at him.

3. LIGHTING KEY
The lightning key in this shot is high contrast lighting. There is a huge contrast between lights and darks.
There are shadows of objects and characters. Also the genre of this movie is thriller so this kind of
lighting fits the secene best.

4. SHOT AND CAMERA PROXEMICS
Medium shot--shows the human figure from the knees or waist up.
In this scene medium shot is used since we don’t see the characters’ full body. Also we see the
background in focus so the camera doesn’t just focuses on the character’s emotions , it
focuses on the place and the actions.

5. ANGLE
Eye-level shot--the clearest view of an object, but seldom intrinsically dramatic, because it
tends to be the norm.
This scene is shot in eye-level. It is not highly dramatic and no power relationship is being
suggested between the two characters. Also it shows the actions rather thanemotions so eye
level shot is the most proper one.

6. COLOR VALUES
Whole shot is in black and grey’s tone except the flagon. Flagon is bright and white. Also Norman’s
shadow is highlighted. It's not as dominant as the flagon but it still stands out. Norman’s shadow is
symbolic because in a roundabout way he will be the cause of Marion’s death . So his/her mother’s
shadow will collapse on to Marion’s life.

7. LENS/FILTER/STOCK
Wide-angle lens--A lens that takes in a broad area and increases the illusion of depth but sometimes distorts the
edges of the image.
Slow film stock--relatively insensitive to light, it requires a great deal of illumination. The final product tends to
look polished.
Wide angle lens is probably used in this shot because we see a wide background that’s in focus. We see the depth of
the room and the characters aren’t that close to each other so by this shot the director also draws an intangible
verge throughout the characters. Slow film stock is being used because there is an effective light source in the
shot but it doesn’t ruins the shot’s quality contrary it gives the sense of an illumination of Norman’s natural shadow.

8. SUBSIDIARY CONTRAST
The main subsidiary contrast in this shot is Marion because she doesn’t stands out as much as
Norman. Her size is smaller than him and because Norman holds a flagon which is the source of high
contrast he takes most of the attention but Marion’s size is significant and she’s in focus. The other
subsidiary contrast is the flagon. It is the main high contrast object in the shot and it’s color and
brightness leads the audience to the dominant character in the shot. The flagon is also in focus and
it’s size is smaller than most of the other props in the mise-en-scene. Even though it is the most small
object in the scene it creates a huge brightness, color and symbolism.

9. DENSITY
The image is highly detailed because there are a lot of objects in the shot and every object is in
focus. The reason why every object is in focus is that every one of them is significant symbols
to the future. They will be used by the main characters and some of them will be the clues for
the murderer.

10. COMPOSITION
Horizontal and binary composition is used. When we look at the wall we see horizontal lines also this
wall seperates the shot into two as well as the characters. It creates stress in the scene. Also in binary
composition we see parallelism between the two characters. They both are keeping secrets, they are
facing each other almost in the same position.

11. FORM
In this scene open form is used because there is a world going on outside of this scene too. Marion
stole her boss’ money and because of that he’s searching for her. Norman is keeping a secret about her
mother that she has a mental disorder and killed almost every customer who came to the motel. Also
her mother is watching them and audience can’t see these actions by just looking in to this shot.

12. FRAMING
This shot is moderately loose because the characters are placed in the corners of the frame but they still
have room to mover around. Also a part of where Norman is coming from. We also see where Marion is
coming from too. In the shot the Marion’s room is in focus too.

13. DEPTH
Deep-focus shots allow all planes to be in focus at the same time.
Everyting in the frame is in focus so deep focus shot is used. Foreground, background and
middleground are all in focus. All of the objects will be used in the future and they don’t isolate the
characters from the real world.
Foreground: Norman, Marion, flagon
Middleground: Curtains, window, light, door
Background: Bed, suitcase, Curtain in the back, window in the back, cabinet.

14. CHARACTER PLACEMENT
The left and right edges of the frame tend to suggest insignificance because these are the
areas farthest removed from the center of the screen.
Characters are placed not in the middle of the scene, they are placed in the left and right corners of
the frame. This show the insignificance relationship between them because they aren’t close to
each other and they just met. Also Norman is employee in the hotel although no one works in there
and it’s his mother’s hotel and Marion is the customer. There are no powerful figures to discuss in
this scene as well as no vulnerability,aspiration, authority,etc.

15. STAGING POSITIONS
Profile (looking of the frame left or right): More remote than the quarter turn, the character in
profile seems unaware of being observed, lost in his or her own thoughts.
Both characters are shown in profile. The characters are focused on each other, also the outside
world too. We don’t see their whole faces just left or right half of their faces. They are also lost
seperately in their thought too. Marion because she rubbed the place where she was working and
Norman because he has never seen a woman that attractive before because his mother didn’t let
him go out and get interested in women so he’s thinking about the possibility of getting in a
relationship with Marion.

16. CHARACTER PROXEMICS
Social distances: the social distance rages from four feet to about twelve feet. These distances are
usually reserved for impersonal business and casual social gatherings. It's a friendly range in most
cases, yet somewhat more formal than the personal distance.
They aren’t close friends but Norman tries to serve to Marion because she stays in his motel. They
keep the personal verges but they still chat and talk a little bit not so closely though.