Peeping Tom Film Analysis

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In this essay I will be analysing the use of cinematography in two films, using Peeping Tom (1960) directed by Michael Powell and Psycho (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The reason why I choose these two films is because although they are from the same genre, and from the same period, the methods both films use are similar and at the same time completely different. To begin with, the cinematography in Peeping Tom is very clever and subjective especially in the murder scenes. The main character uses the tripod of his 16mm film camera in order to murder people, and showing the audience his footage rather than shooting it how the rest of the film is shot creating a suspense and tension that without this method wouldn’t be as powerful. The …show more content…

Moving on too Psycho, Hitchcock both produced and directed the movie, so he had “ a great deal of involvement in the actual planning and filming of Phsyco. His originality in this area constibuted greatly to the unique nature of the film” . Hitchcock successfully made the audience feel like they were “right inside the situation instead of leaving the to watch it from outside, from a distance”. As a director he broke the actions into details “ cutting from one to the other, so that each detail is forced in turn on the attention of the audience and reveals its psychological meaning.” Another scene that works very well in the film is the pan of Norman going up the stairs to his mother’s room and then taking her to the fruit cellar. In this shot Hitchcock cleverly hides his mothers face with a long shot which ends in an overhead view of Norman carrying her – “This beautifully photographed shot meant to hide the face of Norman’s mother is an example of how Hitchcock uses cinematography to guide our eyes in whichever direction he pleases supporting the …show more content…

It is intelligent blocking of the character and lighting placement, as there is a single light hanging from the ceiling, which after Marion screams gets knocked, causing the shadows to move menacingly along the wall. This clever idea adds to the horror of the scene with the horrific skeleton. The skeleton is also very brightly lit compared with the rest of the room bringing out the horror of how it looks. It is almost lit as if with a spotlight from camera-left, creating almost black on one side of the skeleton. Psycho famously makes use of double images in scenes. This is symbolic of the split personality of Bates/Mother. This is achieved in a variety of ways, sometimes a mirror or reflection in a window is used, at other times a strong key light casting a harsh shadow is used instead. This effect is very well used, as harsh shadows such as that if overused could create an unnatural look to the shot, thus distracting the audience, but Hitchcock was just subtle enough in its use to instead be a clever thing which hopefully subliminally hints to the audience about the upcoming

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