Psycho: Image analysis 2

This scene From PSYCHO is without doubt the most famous in the movie. It works so well because it uses editing and cinematography so well to create it suspense, panic and shock

 Hitchcock uses editing really well to build the tension. The scene starts with slow montage with long takes to drag out the scene and beginning to builds the tension. He does this with Marion getting undress and packing up her suitcase ready to return to Phoenix,  activities that really have no real significant in the film. But as the killer strikes the use of quick montage kicks in to cause a jump of the scene. This is an example of collision cutting which Hitchcock uses well to exaggerate the juxtaposition setting in the scene (slow->fast). Hitchcock as an auteur really comes through with his use of montage comes from his great passion for Russian montage film. An example of this technique is in the movie Battleship Potemkin (1925) with the Odessa Steps scene. The film director only had music and visual to create emotion, and they did it so well. So Hitchcock wanted to deliver the same kind of effect with his movies.

 Hitchcock also uses all different shots to create the scene. Close ups of the knife to Marion shows the violence of the death. Point of view shots shows the kill through both Marion’s eyes, but also the killer’s. Thus was something rarely done before. 

With Hitchcock he uses all the tools to create the scares. And we can see it works with how the scene is still remembered today as a reflection of Hitchcock as an “auteur.”