Figure 1Psycho

Psycho Hannah Milliner

Psycho was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1960. The film is about a woman named Marion, who steals $40,000 from her boss. She runs away to be with her lover, but on the way stops at the Bates motel. In which she is killed by one Norman Bates who has a dual personality the second of the two being his controlling mother who died 10 years ago. Throughout the film scenes are edited to swap quickly between different camera angles. One example is the iconic shower scene where Marion meets her fate. As Godoski states, the camera angles help the audience to get into the state of mind the character. The audience wants to escape, but they cant. Everything seems to be closing in and theres nowhere to run. This puts us into the same state of mind as our soon to be deceased main character, making the scene all the more terrifying. (Godoski, 2011) As Godoski mentions the way the camera is placed (fig.2) makes the audience feel in trapped and claustrophobic, the scene makes the audience feel aware of the small space and give the felling that they want to try to escape. The use of close ups and odd angles are used throughout the film not just in the shower scene, it constantly puts the audience into the characters shoes. The close ups also means that the audience are able to see emotions very clearly and is used to create tension. One example of this is when the private investigator is questioning Norman, the more Norman stumbles over his story the closer the camera gets to him each time it moves back towards him.

Figure 2 Shower scene

Within the film Psycho there are many examples that can be considered to be linked to the theories from Freud. Costandi mentions that the attitude show towards motherly figures seen in Hitchcocks films could be linked to Hitchcocks own childhood with his mother. A boys best friend is his mother, Norman Bates tells Marion Crane in Psycho. Freud would have concluded that Hitchcocks attitude towards women, and his obsession with strong mother figures, is probably due to Hitchcocks experiences of his own mother (Costandi, 2006) This could quite possibly be true as later the article quotes Hitchcock in saying the way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them it is quite possible that the opinionated motherly figure is part of his own experiences. Ponce also comments on the use of the use of Freudian theories within Psycho. They explain the theory with a little more detail and focuses on the character Norman A normal childhood would be for everyone to repress these sexual feelings towards ones own parents and output it into other things or people. (Ponce, 2012) In the same article it mentions that children initially grow up feeling jealous of the father figure because it competition for the mothers attention, which results in the feeling of wanting to kill the competition, as animals would

in the wild. Because Norman grew up in a close relationship with his mother, he retains the obsession towards his mother when it should have been divided between toys, and friends like most children would from a young age. So when his mother got into the relationship with someone new, He saw him as a threat and decided to kill them both. Which shows he didnt stabilize the natural urge like most people would.

With the Freudian idea in mind, the shower scene become very elaborate with psychological ideas. When Marion is in the shower her expression changes in a slightly more hopeful one, the shower can be considered to be cleansing her of her sins, because she decided to go back to her home and live up to her consequences this short scene could be considered as a baptism as she washes away the side of her that decided to steal and run away. Psycho has many scenes which can be linked to basic and sexual desires. The main example is the knife used to kill Marion, any weapon could have been used to commit the murder, but because they decided to use a knife means that the murder has to be done in close range, because of its limited range its a more personal weapon, because of this it is linked to crimes of passion, or ones with a personal motive, rather than using a gun, which would suggest an impersonal relation. A knife is also more intrusive, and with Marion being naked in a shower, the two elements combine to create a great feeling of vulnerability.

Bibliography Costandi, M (2006) The Psychology of Alfred Hitchcock http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/10/17/the-psychology-of-alfred-hitchcock/ (Accessed on 21/1/14) Godoski, A (2011) Scenester: Psychos Shower Scene. http://www.screened.com/news/scenester-psychos-shower-scene/2938/ (Accessed on 21/1/14) Ponce, F (2012) Alfred Hitchcock: why is Norman Bates so Psycho? http://sexualdevianceorder.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/alfred-hitchcock-why-is-norman-bates-sopsycho/ (Accessed 21/1/14)

Illustrations Figure.1 Psycho (1960) Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [film poster] America; Paramount studios http://www.filmposters.com/images/posters/7931.jpg (Accessed on 21/1/14) Figure 2. Shower Scene (1960) Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [film still] America; Paramount studios http://vimeo.com/37328822 (Accessed on 21/1/14)