800 Word Essay - Unit 26

1. In thispiece of work, I will be givingan 800-wordessayabouttwo films,one thatisa remake of the
otherone.The filmsIhave chosenwill be Psycho(1960) and Psycho(1998). The reasonwhyI chose
these twofilmsisbecause theyare iconicfilms,thathave alotof historyandback storywhich
meansI can findclearand detail information.
In the filmindustryit’svastlyknownthatthe greaterthe budgetthe more possibilitiesare available.
The 1960’s Psychohad a budge reportedof $806,947, comparedto the 1998 Psycho’sbudgetwhich
was $60 million.Thisshowsthatinflationof productionbudgetthroughouttime. Forthe 1960’s
Psychoit wasfundedbyAlfredHitchcockhimself,thisisbecauseParamountdidnotwanttogive
hima big budget,sohe usedthe moneyhe got fromside projectat Universal studiostofundthe
film.Howevercomparedtothe 1998 versionof Psychowhere the filmwasfundedbyUniversal
Pictures. Inthe 1960’s the taxationinthe entertainmentindustrywasthatthe ownerof the project
ad to pay the distributorsandlicensesset bythe government.Forexample if therewasafilmthat
cost £400 to make,and£200 to distribute,butthe filmonlymake £100 in a yearthenthe
distributorscantake the £100 made from the movie the ownerwouldbe indebtof how evermuch
he owes.
In the 1960’s the style changedalot butthe main clothingstyle atthe time was culottes,go-go
boots,box-shapedPVCdressesandotherPVCclotheswerepopular. Formenitwasmainlysuitsand
smart wear.
The 1960’s Psychowasunderthe Slasher/Thrillergenre andthe 1998 Psychowasunderthe
Mystery/Thrillergenres.The filmsbothcome underthe chosengenre becauseinathrilleryou
expectblood,brutal murderandearpiercingmusicetc.Eventhoughthe 1998 Psychoisa remake is
exactlythe same,youcan understandwhyit’saMystery/Thriller,thisisbecause duringwhen
Marion ismurdereditisa Thrillerbutonce hersisterandboyfriendstartsearchingforheritbecome
a Mystery,thena ThrillerwhenNormankillsagain.Thisshowsthatthroughoutthe filmsitjumps
back froma ThrillertoMystery.

2. In the 1960’s Psychothe starswere AnthonyPerkins(NormanBates) andJanetLeigh(Marion
Crane).AnthonyPerkinswasabig actor at the time of productionwhichwouldforsure of broughtin
viewerstosee himperform.JanetLeighwasalsoverypopular,maybe evenmore knownthen
Perkins,thismeansthatthe talentof the filmwouldhave broughtalotof attractionto the film.
At the time of the original film,films were beingcutupby organisations surroundinginappropriate
scene,thismeantthatfilmmakershadtouse the camera smarteror use costumesina smart way.
For example inthe 1960 Psychothe showerscene whenthe womeniskilled,AlfredHitchcockmake
sure that the camera stayson the womenface,legsandparts of her body,whichmeantthat
organisationwouldnotfeelthe scene isinappropriate.
ParamountPicturesdistributedthe 1960 Psychohowever, Universal Picturesdistributedthe 1998
Psycho. The 1960s Psychowasa successful movieinthe 60s, itwas inthe top 5 filmof the 60s. The
filmwasfirstdistributedinthe USthenbranchedoutto othercountriesbecause of the popularityof
the film.The 1998 Psychowasalsodistributedworldwide,howeverwasnota popularfilm.

3. The similaritiesbetweenthe filmsisobviousbecausethe 1998 Psychowas a remake of the 60s
version.Inthe film,the same characternamesare usedas well asthe locations.Furthermore the
linesusedthe 1960s versionwasalsousedinthe 1998 film.
At the time of the 1960s Psychocolourwas beingintroducedtofilmandTV howeverthe 60s Psycho
isin blackand white.Thiswasbecause AlfredHitchcockhadtofundthe filmfromhisownmoney,so
to save moneyhe usedblackand white film.Evenyoucouldthinkthathiswouldaffectsales
because he wasusingoldtechnology,it actually addedtothe filmbecause itwasthe one of the first
horrors soblack andwhite made itlookmore dark and evil.
Before Hitchcockmade Psycho (1960), he alsocreatedmassive blockbusterssuchas Vertigo(1958)
and Northby Northwest(1959) whichwere incolourand widescreenfeature films. Therefore, when
Hitchcockmade Psycho(1960) it was a mark of departure fromthe filmshe waspreviouslycreating.
The 1960s Psychowas vertical integrationhowever, itwasnotfullyclearandstructured,for
example,he usedUniversal studios tofilmscene,andhadParamountdistribute the film buthe had
to use hisownfundsto get the cast, crew,locations,propsetc. The 1998 remake was alsovertical
integration,butthiswasmuchclearerwiththe remake because itwasfullycontrolledbyUniversal,
theycontrolledthe pre-production,productionanddistribution.