Psycho was a revolutionary 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that had a huge box office success. It featured shocking moments like the famous shower scene murder. Through suspenseful techniques and surprising twists, the film kept audiences feeling apprehensive and pushed boundaries for its time. Hitchcock expertly built tension through sound, camera work, and subverting audience expectations to create an iconic and influential work in the thriller genre.

1. Psycho
By Derrick

2. Facts about Psycho
- Psycho was released on the 16th of June 1960 by Paramount Pictures and the
film had a budget of $806,947 but a whopping made 50 million at the box
office. This was a huge amount in the 60s
- Psycho was Hitchcock’s first horror movie and was revolutionary for its time
- Also, it is Hitchcock’s highest grossing film to date
- The film is based on a book that is based on a true story about a murderer
who used to make lampshades out of his victims’ skin
- Hitchcock bought the rights to this book and bought loads of them in order to
keep the ending a surprise

3. Thoughts caused by Psycho
- In Psycho, the audience is made to believe that it is based on a woman who
runs away with $40,000
- The murder becomes a shock, this makes the audience feel apprehensive for
the rest of the film as anything could happen
- The audience don’t know that there is a murderer in the house. They don’t
know when he/she will strike again so it is suspenseful as it could happen any
minute
- Hitchcock strongly believed that apprehension increased as there is less and
less violence which is on screen

4. Conventions within Psycho
- Usually thrillers may contain fast pacing and frequent action. This is found within the
shower scene of Psycho where Marion takes off her clothes and goes in for her
shower. A shadow randomly appears and then she is attacked with a knife
- Also found in the scene where she is in the car and where the Private Investigator
goes upstairs in the house to see Norman’s ‘mother’
- In thrillers, it is usually resourceful heroes who must destroy the plans of more
powerful and better equipped villains in order to save the day
- However, in Psycho, this can be seen to be not very accurate as their is no clear hero
but a clear serial killer who is the villain

5. Devices used within Psycho
The construction of Psycho is what makes it brilliant rather than the story.
- Hitchcock seeks to consistently meet the beyond the audience’s
expectations as there are two major surprises in the movie
1. The shower scene murder
2. The revelation about Norman’s mother

6. Devices used within Psycho continued..
Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used in thrillers a lot.
- When Marion dies, the point-of-view shifts to Norman Bates and this leaves
the audience puzzled.
- In the shower scene, no music is played as she begins her shower. However,
when a shadow appears as she is showering, scary sounding music begins to
play which suggests that something was going to happen before Janet got
attacked.
- As this plays, suddenly the suspense rises within the scene

7. Hitchcock
- He stated that “Thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold
water of fear to see what it's like”
- This definitely applies to Psycho as there were so many different hints and
suspicions within the film
- It has been said that “Psycho is a brilliant excursion into fear that pushes
many of our primal buttons”
- He also stated that the McGuffin is a plot device which causes the action to
happen. In Psycho, the audience doesn’t really care about the McGuffin
which is Marion stealing the money.

8. Narrative Theories
Psycho follow the conventions of thriller by follow two of the narrative theories
through the use of Levi Strauss-Binary Opposition as there are opposed things
towards each other such as a seen to be innocent female with Marion and a man
being Norman.
- Also, Psycho follows the conventions through the use of todorov as there
was at the beginning not much going on then suddenly Marion is killed
which is the disruption then Norman is caught for his crimes and sent to
prison. The new equilibrium could be Marion’s sister and Marion’s husband
potentially starting their own relationship.

9. The Shower Scene
The Mise-en Scene: This scene was set in Marion’s motel room, specifically within
the shower. Marion’s body language showed that there was a sign of relief from her
as she had not been caught for stealing the $40,000 (see 1:00)
Types of Sound: In this scene, there is on-screen sound as we see where the noise
of water is coming from, being the shower itself. But also, parallel sound is used as
Marion is being stabbed with a knife each time she is being striked with it. This is
used for the audience to almost feel the blade themselves, the sound effects are
used for emphasis.

10. The Shower Scene
Camera Work: In the shower scene, they are various camera angles and shots.
Mainly when Marion is showering, a close up is used to show her body language
and to strategically conceal certain parts of her body. By using this, the audience
can see the change of atmosphere in the scene
- The scene is so famous that even people who have not seen the movie are
aware of it.
- The shower scene is seen to be one of the greatest examples of execution in
cinema history