Theme Of Lighting In Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho

For most aspects in life, we take lighting and general vision for granted. When we flick a switch we

expect it to turn on and we also expect it to let us see. The same is for film, but it’s a little bit more

complicated than just flicking on a switch and pointing a light. “…lighting allows you to adjust and

manipulate the impression conveyed on the screen. You do this by carefully controlling the strength

and quality of the light, by arranging its angle and coverage.” (Millerson, pg. 16, 2013). As for the

mise-en-scene in any film, everything we see has a meaning. But the thing about lighting is we see it,

and we expect it to be there, but sometimes if blends so well into the story we don’t even notice it,

so we don’t question

All are relevant to the film that I will be applying the study of lighting

to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho.

“To me, if there’s an achievement to lighting and photography in film, it’s because nothing stands

out, it all works as a piece. And you feel that these actors are in this situation and the audience is not

thrown by a pretty picture or by bad lighting.”

- Roger Deakin (Cinematographer)

The French term, ‘Noir’ translates to ‘Black’ in English however we also use it describe a genre of film

that is indicative to the lighting style. But it is more than just lighting and narrative; there is also a

reason why the high contrast of black to white is used. “Beyond narrative, it becomes part of

character as well. Noir was the birth of the protagonist who is not so clearly defined as purely good

or evil.” (Brown, 2012) We could argue that what isn’t seen is just as important as what is seen. For

example, in Fig 1.0 the light on Marion’s face is an excellent reference for the quote just mentioned.

At this point in the film, she has stolen the money and is driving to an undisclosed location, we

Odd angles and voyeuristic

perspectives and themes place the audience

members in a place they don’t normally find

themselves and alert them of what they may not

have noticed otherwise.”

(A. Driscoll, 2015)

To conclude, I think we can agree that there is no ‘right’ way to light a scene, only a more

appropriate way. The lighting in Psycho worked well because the dark and sinister story was

met with the ‘correct’ use of lighting for the job. Lighting in film is something we take for

granted. People get awards for excellent cinematography but that shot they got the award

for would not have been possible if not for this phenomenon we call lighting. In a dark

room, the camera is irrelevant, its purpose is muted and is only operational again when light

hits the lens. “The first consideration in lighting a set is the nature of the story… The mood

of the scene within the story is equally important… The light that establishes the mood of

the set is the first lamp I turn on.” (Geuens, 2000). It allowed us to see what we needed to at

certain points in the story but also left out specific details for the audience to keep on

guessing until the end, what is seen is just as important as what isn’t