Psycho Opening Analysis

1. Textual Analysis

2. Context
• Economic
• Geographical
• Historical
• Institutional
• Political
• Social
• Technological
These are the contexts suggested by IBO. The first thing to realise is that not all of
them are obviously relevant all of the time, so the first thing to do is to select the
best ones. For the opening of Psycho, I want to focus on social, economic and
institutional contexts.

3. Social Context
"Most films of the '50s are secret ads for the American way of life," David Thomson writes. "Psycho is a
warning about its lies and limits.“ Even here, we see how relationships are formed by concerns about money
and respectability rather than, as well as, love. That cynicism is very typical of Hitchcock. Later, we will see
how the film “blows apart the concept of the nuclear family.” We see that already from the bitter talk about
ex-wives and the financial and social pressures which push people towards marriage.
Sex between a divorced man and an unmarried woman would
have been frowned upon in early 60s America. Hitchcock
emphasises the seediness of it by removing any conventional
signifiers of romance – it’s during the day, in a cheap hotel, and
they both need to rush off to get to work.
Dominant representations of gender are evident. He treats the
situation as a joke, she is concerned for what people will think.
She wants to get married, he seems less than keen. In terms of
power, he has it all; he can make her ‘respectable’ by marrying
her.

4. Economic Context
We’re in a city, and the story is one of working people and
financial pressure. Although there was a financial recession
in 1960, post-war America experienced a lengthy financial
expansion, and that meant more people moving to cities,
working for big companies and living with the sorts of
pressures Marion and Sam display here. We might express
it as the professional sphere invading the personal sphere.
At
We will see later that Marion is entirely motivated by
money concerns. Norman, later, lives where he does
because possessions – the hotel- keep him there. Sam is
reluctant to marry Marion because of money.
A Marxist critic might point out that the film can be read as a critique of capitalism – money (or property)
appears to buy freedom in this film, but in reality it is a destructive force. The financial, working world is
binarily opposed to the natural world of love, sex and relationships in this scene.

5. Institutional Context
At the time Psycho was made, studios worked
according to the dictates of the Motion Picture
Production Code (usually called the Hays Code
after the person who ran the organisation)
which enforced it. It was a list of rules and
suggestions for things which could or could not
be shown.
This was regarded as very restrictive (the code
started in the 1930s – by the end of the 60s,
studios were openly ignoring it and it
collapsed.) Psycho was a big part of this- it
blatantly breaks a lot of the rules. Some of the
rules forbade the showing of full-size beds,
underwear, lustful kissing, any criticism of
marriage, and nakedness. How much of that
gets broken in the opening scene? More here!

6. Film Elements
• Cinematography (such as colour,
composition, exposure, framing, focus
scale, movement, shot type, and so on)
• Critical response and reception
• Editing (such as continuity, cut, dissolve,
match, montage, pace, transition, and
so on)
• Filmmakers’ influences, intentions and
vision
• Genre, codes and conventions
• Mise-en-scène (such as acting and
figure behaviour, art direction, costume
and make up, décor, lighting, set and
setting, space, and so on)
• Motifs, symbols and themes
• Narrative structure
• Sound (such as dialogue, sound editing,
sound effects and foley, soundtrack and
music or score, diegetic and non-
diegetic, and so on)
These are the elements suggested by IBO. The focus of the textual analysis is really
on this part of the project; the detailed analysis is worth twice as many marks as
the context.
You don’t necessarily need to discuss everything, but generally, you want to choose
an extract that gives you plenty of detail to talk about. (Our extract is probably not
ideal – all in one location, with no big changes in pace or tone.)
Note, this is not an essay plan or a list you must follow. They are just suggestions, in
no particular order of importance.

7. Cinematography and Editing
• Long, unbroken opening shot creates a realist, urban feeling. Diegesis
of the film is real and recogniseable; makes the later events easier to
accept.
• The camera ‘pokes through’ the window to spy on the lovers. Creepy,
voyeuristic, very typical of Hitchcock. (Watch ‘Rear Window.’)
• Editing, what there is of it, is basic continuity or ‘invisible’ editing. This
is mainstream cinema, working within the Institutional Mode of
Representation.
• Lighting is naturalistic – light sources are the open windows. Slight
chiaroscuro effect, appropriate to a film where the characters are
neither wholly good or bad.

8. Genre
• What genre is it? Often credited with creating the psych-thriller or
slasher sub-genres. Is this clear from this extract? Not particularly, so
we should probably find another clip!
• At this stage audiences were probably expecting a fairly routine
thriller; the narrative sets us up to expect Marion and Sam to do
something wrong or desperate so they can be together.

9. Mise-en-scene
• Bars (of light, usually) are often used
to connote entrapment in
expressionist or noir film (this isn’t
either of those, but it’s coming from a
similar place)
• Clothes – represent defensiveness and
concealment (note when she puts her
blouse on, she is ‘moving away’ from
him, resisting his charms.) Colour is
important too – here, her underwear
is white. Later, when she commits the
crime, it is black…

10. Mise-en-scene
• Windows – when Sam talks about getting out of debt. Windows
represent freedom.

11. Motifs, symbols and themes
• Birds, Marion CRANE lives (is trapped)
in PHOENIX. Caged, stuffed and
trapped birds are hugely important in
Psycho; most obviously, in Norman’s
home.
• Mirrors. Often used to represent
human duality (i.e. the mix of good
and bad.) Throughout the film,
Marion is often NOT looking at her
own reflection; suggests she lacks
introspection, is not fully aware of
what she is doing

12. Motifs, symbols and themes
• Mothers – ‘…turn mother’s picture to the wall…’ Mothers seen as
representative of snooping, oppressiveness. Specifically, Sam is saying
they would disapprove of any sexual behavior. Obvious
foreshadowing of the later plot.
• Gender. Psycho, like many slashers and many of Hitchcock’s films,
lends itself to a study of the theme of gender. The film can be read as
a study of masculine violence or ‘psychosis.’ Even here, as we’ve seen,
the man has power over the women – he is the one who can make
her ‘respectable.’

13. Narrative Structure
• Normal opening – establishing shots to get the Todorovian narrative
established.
• Some enigma – how will they get their relationship established?
• Some characterization – Marion is ‘good’ here (associated with
white.)
• Some binary opposition – money vs freedom
• Some foreshadowing – the mother, the mention of money.

14. Sound
• Very conventional, Institutional Mode of Representation
• Romantic music as they agree to marry contrasts hugely with the
disjointed ‘stabbing; music from the opening cedits.

15. Critical response
• How was the film received when it came out? What about now –
does it have the same reputation?
• Go look on IMDB for reviews. Try to find at least two – preferably, two
that offer different opinions and which say something to provoke a
reaction in you. Quote them and comment on them in your work.
• Remember, the important thing is what YOU SAY about the critical
response. There’s little credit available for simply quoting what
someone else says.
• If nothing else, read this and this. This review from 1960 might be
interesting for social-historical context.

16. Relationships within the film text
• This is the final thing you are assessed on, and it is harder to
understand. At a basic level, note that I have been making reference
to other parts of Psycho throughout. I have also referred to other
films by Hitchcock.
• More importantly, though, I need to establish links between the
context and the detail of the film. An example:
• Neutral-angle establishing mid shot of Marion, lying on the
bed in a state of undress (in direct contravention of the
Hays Code.) This shot reflects the gender roles of the time;
women were sexualised and seen to be subservient, so the
man has the power here and the woman is seen as a
passive, sexual object.