The document discusses the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho" and analyzes various elements of its plot, characters, and famous shower scene. It examines how the film subverts audience expectations through shocking plot twists, uses suspense and music to build tension, and features an unexpected villain in Norman Bates. The shower scene is discussed as one of the most iconic and influential scenes in film history due to Hitchcock's use of editing and suggestion over explicit violence.

1. “PSYCHO” (1960)
This thriller includes
suspense, tension and
excitement.

2. PSYCHO (1960)
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:
Joseph Stefano (screenplay), Robert Bloch (novel)
Stars:
Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles

3. HITCHCOCK THOUGHTS
The audience know there is a murderer in the house.
They don’t know when s/he will strike again but to be
suspenseful they must know it could happen any minute.
However the audience think that it’s the mother who has
been committing the mother, but it actually wasn’t, it
was the man who owned the hotel who was committing
it.
Hitchcock stressed that as the apprehension increases
there is less and less violence on screen.

4. HITCHCOCK THOUGHTS
In “Psycho” the audience initially think the film is about
$40,000 and the murder becomes a shock. This shock
makes the audience apprehensive for the rest of the film
– anything could happen / anyone could be killed.
This shocks the audience and makes them feel
apprehensive for the rest of the film, because now
anything may possibly happen, or anybody could be
killed but the audience doesn’t know who.

5. “PSYCHO” (1960)
“Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent
action,”
This was especially applied when the young blonde was
taking a shower, unexpectedly you see a shadow behind
the curtain with a knife. Then all of a sudden the you
lady is being stabbed, this creates a sense of suspense
because everything is happening in the heat of the
moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WtDmbr9xyY
Also the audience were in belief that this young women
was going to be the main character, but all of a sudden
her life was taken which left the audience wondering who
will be the new main character.

6. “PSYCHO” (1960)
“Resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more
powerful and better equipped villains.”
In this movie you could say that Sam and Lila are the
heros, as they were the ones who found out that
something wasn’t right about her sister going missing.
So they hired out an investigator to help find her sister,
but then he also went missing so they took it amongst
themselves to go and find them. Then they found out
that Norman was behind this, and they called the police
and got justice for what happened to Marlon and the
inspector.

7. NORMAN BATES
Hitchcock said it is important to avoid cliché and
repetition – particularly with regard to character – eg
murderers can be charming and the heroes flawed.
Norman Bates was based on two characters. It was based
on Ed Gein

8. “DEVICES SUCH AS SUSPENSE, RED
HERRINGS AND CLIFFHANGERS ARE
USED EXTENSIVELY.”
Story-wise, Psycho is not extraordinary; its true brilliance
lies in its construction.
Hitchcock has developed the film in such a way that it
consistently flouts audience expectations.
There are two major surprises:
1. the shower scene murder
2. the final revelation about Mother.

9. “DEVICES SUCH AS SUSPENSE, RED
HERRINGS AND CLIFFHANGERS ARE
USED EXTENSIVELY.”
A viewer who sees the film for the first time without
knowing about either will experience the full impact of
what Hitchcock intended.
The greatest shock for the uninitiated is the early exit of
Janet Leigh.
This is doubly unexpected because, to this point, the
screenplay had tricked us into accepting Marion as the
main character.

10. “DEVICES SUCH AS SUSPENSE, RED HERRINGS
AND CLIFFHANGERS ARE USED EXTENSIVELY.”
When she dies and the point-of-view shifts to Norman
Bates', the audience is puzzled.
In order to keep this crucial aspect of the film secret
when Psycho opened in 1960, there were no advance
screenings and no one was admitted to a showing after
the feature had started.

11. “PSYCHO” (1960) AND
THRILLER CONVENTIONS.
“Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers
are used extensively.”
Find examples of this in “Psycho” Be specific!
Suspense – how built up?
What part does the music play in building the suspense?

12. “PSYCHO” (1960) AND
THRILLER CONVENTIONS.
“A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents
obstacles the hero must overcome.”
Is this true of “Psycho” ?
Who is the villain?

13. “”THE MCGUFFIN”
Hitchcock said the McGuffin is the plot device that
causes the action to happen.
The McGuffin usually comes in the first part of the film
and sometimes returns at the end.
In his thrillers the audience don’t really care about the
McGuffin.
In this film the McGuffin is Marion stealing the money.

14. “PSYCHO”
Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience, "to put their
toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like”
Has he succeeded in this film?
“Psycho is a brilliant excursion into fear that pushes many
of our primal buttons”

15. DO THESE NARRATIVE THEORIES APPLY
TO THIS FILM?
WHERE? WHEN? BE SPECIFIC!
Explain why narrative is so important to this thriller – what conventions
does it follow? Does it follow?:
1. Classic Hollywood narratives – linear (chronological), few, if any,
sub-plots, tendency towards closure at end of film.
2. Vladimir Propp – character types – analysed traditional folk stories
– 8 key character roles e.g.
Hero/Villain/Helper/Donor(Provider)/Father/Dispatcher/Princess/F
alse Hero - N.B. one character can perform more than one role –
how many in your thriller?
3. Todorov – equilibrium – disruption – resolution – new equilibrium

16. DO THESE NARRATIVE THEORIES APPLY
TO THIS FILM?
WHERE? WHEN? BE SPECIFIC!
4. Roland Barthes: all texts are ‘complex’ bundles of meaning.
Enigma codes (problems introduced) – usually in ‘disruption’ stage.
Open – not resolved at end
Closed texts – resolved at end
Polysemic texts – lots of different meanings
5. Levi Strauss – Binary Opposition –
narratives can be organised through binary opposition - two things opposed – often
dominant vs subordinate - e.g. male/female, hero/villain
6.Linear narrative – no sub plots
7. Three Act Structure = the typical Hollywood narrative = set up (25% time)
/confrontation (50%) /climax (Final 25% of film time)

17. DID YOU KNOW?
When “Psycho” was initially released in
1960, it was a huge box office hit (there are
stories of 3-mile long lines at drive-in
entrances

18. THE SHOWER SCENE
.
Whenever anyone speaks about
Psycho, the first images that come
to mind are those of Janet Leigh
being hacked to death in the shower.
The scene is so famous that even
people who have not seen the film
are aware of it.

19. DO YOU AGREE?
The shower scene alone stands as one of the
greatest single examples of execution and editing
in the history of cinema.

20. THE SHOWER SCENE
Bernard Herrmann's strident,
discordant music has been used in
countless other movies to denote the
appearance of a “Psycho."

21. GENIUS!
The brilliance of the scene lies in the editing.
A frame-by-frame analysis reveals that Hitchcock left a
lot to the audience’s imagination.

22. THE SHOWER SCENE
We actually see:
• a knife
• blood (actually chocolate syrup),
• water,
• a woman's naked body (with certain parts
strategically concealed from the camera),
• Only a brief showing of the blade
penetrating the flesh.

23. THE SHOWER SCENE
The full horror of the murder is only hinted at on-screen.
It takes the power of the viewer's imagination to fill in
the blanks

24. ANALYSE THE SHOWER SCENE IN
TERMS OF MEDIA LANGUAGE.
Camera work: angle, shot, movement,
position; high or low tilt; long, medium or
close up; wide shot, over the shoulder,
zoom, reverse shot, point of view, tracking,
pan, steadycam, rolling, hand held, deep
focus etc.
Editing: speed (long or short take); Style –
straight cut, dissolve, fade, wipe, jump cut;
shot/reverse shot, Eyeline match, Action
match, Montage, Slow motion, Graphic
match, Ellipsis (showing what happens
before and after – audience fill in the

25. ANALYSE A KEY SCENE IN TERMS OF MEDIA
LANGUAGE (CONTINUED).
Sound: diegetic/non-diegetic,
parallel/contrapuntal, on screen/off screen,
sound effects, sound bridges, pace,
dialogue and music.
Mise en Scene: setting/location, props;
hair/make up/costume; positioning of
characters in frame (deep focus); body
language/facial expression; colour –
denotation/connotation; lighting – high
key/low key; SFX.

26. REPRESENTATION OF
WOMEN IN
“PSYCHO”
Consider apply Laura Mulvey’s theory of The Male Gaze.
Laura Mulvey – “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”
(1975). She said:

27. THE REPRESENTATION OF
WOMEN IN “PSYCHO”.
The male gaze =
women viewed as the objects of male erotic
desire – in film and audience
men active / women passive.
Women do not have agency – they do not
move the plot forward.
The audience is forced to identify with male
gaze.
Cinema reflects patriarchal (male dominated)
society