Analyse the Techniques Used by Hitchcock To Create and Maintain Suspense In his Film Psycho
This essay will look at how Alfred Hitchcock created and maintained
suspense in his 1960 motion picture "Psycho". The film Psycho was
originally a book wrote by Robert Bloch, which was based on real life
killings. Psycho was Hitchcock's forty-seventh film. This shows that
Hitchcock was already an experienced film director. Psycho was an
immediate Box-office success, and obtained the slogan "The film you
must see from the start". This is because one of the main characters
is killed early on in the film. Hitchcock's directing carer started in
1922. By 1959 he was one of Hollywood's best-known personalities.
These factors contribute to the suspense and tension in Hitchcock's
film Psycho.
Irony whether verbal or visual plays an important role in the film
Psycho, it also comes around quite frequently. One of the first
examples of visual irony is when Marion is at work getting shown
$40,000 by the client. After she has been given the money she is
sitting under a picture of a swamp, and after she is killed she gets
driven into a swamp, then sinks under it.
Therefore this is a case of visual irony. Another case some people may
class as visual irony is when Bates and Marion are in the bedroom and
there is a vivid outline of Bates' shadow. This could show that Bates
has a split personality. Another thing that could show about Bates
split personality is when Bates is standing under a tree that splits
into two branches. A branch for each part of Bates personality.
The cases of verbal irony are as important as the cases of visual
irony. They are more cases of verbal irony than that of visual. For
Example when the traffic cop stops Marian and says, "There are plenty
of motels in this area…I mean…just to be safe." Well she gets to a
motel to be safe yet she dies in this motel. A different case of
verbal irony is when Marion is buying a new car and the car salesman
Suspense is only one of Hitchcock’s many techniques and themes. His themes range from the obvious violence, to the depths of human interaction and sex. From Rear Window to Psycho, Hitchcock’s unique themes are present and evident. Rear Window starts with something we all do at times, which is nosing in and stalking on others business, and turns it into a mysterious investigation leaving the viewer second guessing their neighbors at home. Psycho on the other hand, drags
Development of Suspense by Hitchcock in Psycho 'Psycho,' the somewhat infamous film by Alfred Hitchcock was produced in 1961, a time when the American censors, The Hays Office, still dominated the film industry with their strict rules and principles. It earned its notoriety by defying the traditional cinematic convections of that time and pushing the boundaries of what could be shown in mainstream cinema. The rules implemented by The Hays Office were far stricter than they are today, and Hitchcock uses all available means to reach and go slightly beyond the set limit. Using clever and different camera angles, he implies things that are not shown. He proves that innuendoes can portray the same image and retract the same audience responses as blatant actions and pictures.
The 1960s brought about what some have argued is the first slasher film Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Hitchcock was able to cast major Hollywood stars to actor in his thriller. He cast a young, handsome Anthony Perkins in the lead and a major star in Janet Leigh, whom Hitchcock kills in the beginning of the movie. In that day it was unheard of now it’s done in movies such as Wes Cravens 1996 movie Scream killing off a major star such as Drew Barrymore. According to FilmmakerIQ.com Psycho “shocked audiences into believing horror could be more than B-Film Fare (14)”.
Irony causes an interesting effect towards the reader causing them to expect the unexpected while conveying entertaining content. Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is fully written with suspenseful and intriguing irony. The narrator could not have stated a better way to express his insanity than murdering the poor old man after self pro-claiming that he is sane. Edgar Allan Poe's technique to portray constant irony is substantially more effective than in any other short story because Poe created a “mad” man in Tell Tale Heart who considers himself “sane”, making the narrator himself ironic. Edgar Allan Poe presents verbal irony in an obvious way. During the story, the narrator attempts to prove to the readers that he is sane. Unfortunately,
“Poor decisions and bad luck are contingencies of most horror films” (Wesley Morris). The 1960’s thriller, Psycho, is no exception. It has been acclaimed as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films because of its use of psychopathic elements to create what has come to be known as a “slasher films”, a subcategory of horror films. It evolved the horror genre from monsters and the supernatural to the human condition and the monster living inside. The motion picture Psycho tells the story of a Marion Crane, a secretary who flees Phoenix, Arizona with $40,000 she steals from her boss. Days later she arrives to the Bates Motel in Oregon. At the isolated, vacant motel, she meets the owner Norman Bates who shows her hospitality. Later, however, we find
Psycho is an American horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960 based on a 1959 novel with the same name. Alfred Hitchcock typically uses certain elements in almost all of his films. In Psycho the following elements appear; blonde woman, conversation that is not important to the story, alcohol, Hitchcock appearance, Mcguffin, pursuit, the camera looks around, a P.O.V., creating suspense by letting the audience in on a secret, mother figure, birds, stairs, and a narrow escape.
My Thesis aims at observing the suspense and fear showed through themes and techniques in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock’s movies Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Wrong Man, and The Man Who Knew To Much. He controlled when the audience felt certain emotions by filming with different camera cuts, close ups, different camera angles, contrasting between light to dark scenes, and adding certain music to different scenes.
Perhaps no other film changed so drastically Hollywood's perception of the horror film as did PSYCHO. More surprising is the fact that this still unnerving horror classic was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a filmmaker who never relied upon shock values until this film. Here Hitchcock indulged in nudity, bloodbaths, necrophilia, transvestism, schizophrenia, and a host of other taboos and got away with it, simply because he was Hitchcock.
Cinematography of Hitchcocks Psycho Alfred Hitchcock is renown as a master cinematographer (and editor), notwithstanding his overall brilliance in the craft of film. His choice of black and white film for 1960 was regarded within the film industry as unconventional since color was perhaps at least five years the new standard. But this worked tremendously well. After all, despite the typical filmgoer’s dislike for black and white film, Psycho is popularly heralded among film buffs as his finest cinematic achievement; so much so, that the man, a big
Norman Bates is arguably the most unforgettable character in the horror genre. His movements, voice and aura at first radiate a shy young man but transform into something more sinister as the movie Psycho (Hitchcock, USA, 1960) progresses. How has the director, Alfred Hitchcock, achieved this? Norman Bates was a careful construct: the casting, body language, lighting and even the subtle use of sound and mise-en-scène created the character.
Throughout Psycho, Hitchcock utilises all of these devises to intensify the horror of the plot. It is mainly through the shadows and camera angles that Hitchcock succeeds in inciting fear into the audience and solidifying the genre Psycho. The shadows contrast the characters, depicting them in a form of their true self through darkness and light, whereas camera angles tell the same story but in a different way. Utilising angles that don’t show the whole scene, hides key aspects from the audience and also greatly influences what is unfolding throughout the scene. One scene which solidifies all points discussed is the shower scene.
Psycho is a suspense-horror film written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was loosely adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 suspense novel, Psycho. A majority of the movie was filmed in 1960 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary from Arizona who steals $40,000 from her employer’s client. She takes that money and drives off to California to meet her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in order to start a new life. After a long drive, she pulls off the main highway and ends up taking refuge at an isolated motel owned and managed by a deranged Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, symbols, character and point of view are three literary aspects used in the film to manipulate the audience’s emotions and to build suspense in the film.
“It is said that analyzing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it” written by artist-historian, Laura Mulvey, she discusses the issues that arise when studying beauty. Examining and focusing on feminine beauty to the point of destroying it, has been a constant theme in cinema for decades. Director, Alfred Hitchcock’s has created 65 films in his 50-year long career, Hitchcock is now a common household name, being one of the most widely influential directors of the 20th century. Nicknamed “The Master of Suspense,” he made a name for himself by his incredible ability to visualize his subconscious fears and desires and turn them into a masterpiece. Throughout Hitchcock’s successful career, his films have a common theme of objectifying women through the
Alfred Hitchcock’s unique sense of filmmaking and directing has allowed him to become a very famous and well known film maker of his time. He uses similar recurring themes, elements, and techniques in many of his films to engage the viewers in more than just the film, but the meaning and focus behind the story.
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.