Psycho shower murder scene analysis

 

 

Camerawork:

 

Firstly, from the start of the scene the main camera shots used are close ups and medium shots these have been used together with tracking to track the lady’s movements as she moves from the bedroom to the bathroom, showing her movements as flowing from one space to the other just like the water in the shower to come, also it shows the emotions on the woman’s face throughout the scene, these shots are kept for a long period of time, the pace is slow, this letting the audience establish the setting where she is but yet let the audience feel curious as prolonged shots may foreshadow that a bad event may happen in the future. Once in the shower most of all the shots of the woman are slightly elevated, this high angle shot used creates the impression that the female character is weak or vulnerable, again foreshadowing something bad to happen to her in the future as if there wasn’t this shot would not have been used. Moreover, a low angle shot or cut away to the shower nozzle with the water rushing towards her (or the audience) this could connote something such as death rushing towards her as her death is imminent. Once the woman had started showering the murderer is introduced to us, this is done by using a fluent pan across to the left into an obscure form of a two shot, this two shot has been used to show some connection or relationship between these two characters but the way the murderer has been obscured tells us that the relationship isn’t in the good way but something bad has happened between them or is going to happen between them. Furthermore, once the curtain had been pulled to reveal the murderer a slight de-elevated shot has been used to present him, this low angle shot to show that in this scene the murderer is more dominant and the woman is the vulnerable one. This vulnerability is then exaggerated by using a birds-eye view shot, as it is so high up it is like death is looming over her aging foreshadowing her death. Also once the murderer had raised his knife there is a zoom in on the woman’s mouth, the zoom is staggered and not fluent this showing chaos and danger.

 

Editing

 

At the start of the scene the pace of the shots is very slow and prolonged this allows the audience to establish the setting and the events leading up to the main scene, this slowness also creates curiosity in the audience as they know something must happen soon as the prolonged shots with nothing in is getting to the point its uncomfortable to watch as nothing is happening so this indicates a change in the plot is imminent. As the scene progresses the pace of the cuts gradually gets faster, again signifying that something is going to happen, once the attack with the knife begins the rate of cuts is at its fastest and is also in synch with each jab of the knife, this creating the sense of chaos and adds tension. Also during the stabbing cut a ways to a thunderstorm setting have been used, this adding pathetic fallacy to the scene that relates to the actions happening in the scene, the stabbing is frantic and violent just like a thunderstorm. After the stabbing has took place the rate of cuts finally starts to slow again, this has been used maybe to show the woman’s death being slow and drawn out, each cut getting further from each other each time maybe miming the heart of the woman slowing to the point it stops, this shown by a long period of no cuts what so ever. Furthermore, a graphic match has been used in the form of a plug hole relating to the woman’s eye, it starts with a fluent pan across from the woman’s body to water spiralling filled with blood going down the plug hole, maybe representing her life slowly draining away, once the transition between the plug and eye has been used, the no movement in the woman’s eye finalises the idea that her life has in fact drained away and she is dead.

 

Sound

 

Diegetic:

Once the scene starts there is very minimal diegetic sound used, the only sound that can be really heard is the shower running in the background, this silent beginning is a contrast to most scenes in thriller as in many thrillers contain a lot of diegetic sounds and or ambient sound, this contrast seen as weird but once you think about it actually adds more tension than if there was any sound actually happening during the scene, as it is so weird to see in thrillers it adds curiosity and the audience know that something must happen in the scene to come to break this silence as that is how conventional thrillers go, with only the shower going and the woman in it also but still no other sound the audience are in suspense and are waiting for a queue to show a change in plot and for the scene to suddenly come to life with action, this queue is the noise made when the curtains are suddenly pulled aside, this is then when the scene gets a  lot more sound usage (see below), moreover this queue is also used again later in the scene to signify the silence to begin again after the woman had been killed and she pulled the shower curtains down, this signifying her death, that all life is drained from her.

 

Non-Diegetic

Weaved into the silence just before the stabbing scene started as I mentioned above is a soundtrack, the pitch low and the notes slow and prolonged almost creating an eerie atmosphere, creating mystery that why is it so quiet, the audience anticipating a change in tempo of the scene. Then once the curtain queue is added the main iconic ‘jabbing’ soundtrack begins, with each jab a very high pitched note from a violin would be played, this high pitched note almost ‘piercing’ to listen to imitates the piercing of the knife going into the woman sharply just like the sound goes into the audiences ears, almost painful to listen just like the stabbing would also be painful. And again this chaotic pace is then interjected once the stabbing is finished by once again the curtain being ripped from its pole, this then leads back to the eerie music heard at the beginning before the stabbing, this change from chaotic back to quite slow paced also can connote the slow and painful death of the woman, this then resulting to another change back to silence, this finalising the idea that she is in fact dead.

 

Mise-en-scene

 

Costume

In this scene of Psycho there is very little use of costume as the female character is in fact naked and not wearing anything, this could furthermore exaggerate her vulnerability and show that she is weak; it could also show her as an easy target as she is oblivious of what to come.

 

Lighting

Throughout the whole scene the lighting used is always very bright, this could have been used to portray the woman’s innocence or purity, this idea is seen throughout and we can see how this innocence/purity is tainted when she gets murdered the whole of the lighting gets dimmed down a little, signifying something bad has evidentially happened.

 

Actors

The main character used in this Psycho scene is a woman who portrays some stereotypical traits normally seen by women in thrillers. Firstly she is seen as a typical beautiful lady with blonde hair and her body being shown, slightly vulnerable because of the way she is clothed this resulting in her being a kind of damsel in distress kind of persona but due to her secluded setting she is in this time there is no one that can save her from meeting her inevitable death. 

 

Make up

Again same with costume there is a very minalistic style again, the woman is wearing no makeup at all this again showing her purity, this is again tainted when she gets killed and her body gets covered in blood.

 

Props

In the whole of this scene the most important prop we come across is the murder weapon of the knife, this knife is what taints the young woman and used in synch with the non-diegetic soundtrack it creates one of the most iconic scenes in thriller history of which it creates huge amounts of tension and chaos what the audience didn’t see coming.

 

Setting

The main setting for this scene is the bathroom but this bathroom isn’t an ordinary bathroom, it is bright white with no decoration at all, this done so the audience realise that something isn’t quite right, it is too simple, this creating mystery and curiosity in the audiences minds, they know something must happen to disrupt this ‘too perfect’ setting. Moreover this also carries on the idea that the setting represents her purity, it’s white and pure and then is tainted when she gets killed and the whole room and her is tainted by the blood from her wounds.