Hitchcock's Psycho

Psycho Essay
The psychological thriller, Psycho (1960) starring Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates) and Janet Leigh (Marion Crane), was directed and produced by the master of suspense and auteur, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock uses techniques such as cinematography, mis-en-scene, stylistic devices and motifs to express his manipulation into positioning the reader in a specific way.
A theme that is vastly repeated in a variety of Hitchcock’s works, is the theme of Voyeurism, used majorly in the scene where Norman is ‘peeping’ on Marion through the secret peephole in the motel. He uses Voyeurism to position the reader in a specific way, through the use of camera angles, brilliantly placed cover-ups and well thought out techniques. At the start of the

Hitchcock uses camera angles, themes and mis-en-scene to exploit certain weaknesses of these characters. When Marion entered the parlour, she was destined to be caught in a trap, as she walked straight into one, which eventually lead to her death. This major theme of traps is supported by the quotations said by Norman and Marion, “Sometimes we deliberately step into those traps” and “I walked into mine”. Norman also refers to birds while he’s talking about scratching and clawing his way out of his private trap, meanwhile he’s petting his stuffed bird, looking at Marion as if she’s his next victim. Throughout the first half of the film, Marion was portrayed as the victim, being manipulated by Norman and his gentleman act, ultimately leading to the audience being manipulated along with her. Hitchcock purposely positions the viewers to feel sympathy for Marion by using various techniques such as mis-en-scene. The mis-en-scene within the parlour scene is one of utmost importance, from the lack of sound, to the way the camera is positioned, it creates an understanding from the position of the audience. For example, the camera angles purposely show the birds in profile, as it links to the predatory nature within the film. The knife that Marion was killed with is represented by the beak of the

During the entire film, mirrors were placed in multiple different positions to portray the importance of good vs evil. For example, before she leaves Phoenix with the money, she looks into the mirror at her own expression and wonders if she should take the money and be ‘evil’ or give the money back and be ‘good’, this is shown by her guilty expression showing her remorseful side. Another example is, Hitchcock always positions the camera to make the lighting shine on Marion’s face and mostly always keeping Norman in the dark, representing Marion as the good and Norman as the evil. In the scene where Marion first walks into the Bates Motel, she is first seen in the reflection of the mirror, prior to her physical body even making an appearance. Norman is then shown in the mirror as well, portraying that he also has an immoral side and now they are both trapped in the immoral side of their personalities together. During the ‘clean-up’ scene, the moment of detachment is clear, with the use of mis-en-scene, the camera clearly detaches from Marion and re-attaches to Norman. The sympathy of the audience shifts while he’s cleaning up the aftermath of Marion’s death, as the viewers believe that the mother killed Marion, not Norman. This is supported by the mis-en-scene and the quote said by Norman as he finds Marion dead, “Mother, oh Mother! The blood!”. As Norman shuts off