There are few films that can boast the credit of having revolutionized a genre, and for horror, Psycho is one of those films. The 1960s horror classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the first movies in the slasher sub-genre, and is responsible for moving horror films away from the increasingly corny Universal Monsters of the earlier decades to a more serious threat. The film follows Marion Crane, a secretary who runs away from her home town after stealing a large sum of money from her workplace. While on her way to see her boyfriend she stops at a motel run by a shy young man and his overbearing mother. In this paper, I would like to argue that through subtle hints in the mise-en-scene Hitchcock is able to both foreshadow
…show more content…
Colella writes that in the film the Birds serve as a symbol for fear and death and this symbolism is most obviously found in the parlor scene where Norman and Marion are getting to know each other. At first the conversation is light and friendly and the way the shot is composed reflects this atmosphere as both Marion and Norman are level to the camera and to each other, they are equals, but as the scene moves forward and more personal information is shared, Norman leans in closer making him appear slightly bigger and giving him dominance in the …show more content…
As Norman watches the car slowly sink the camera repeatedly cuts back and forth between the two subjects: a closeup on normans face and a POV shot from Norman’s perspective as he anxiously watches the car. Throughout this entire scene, almost every time the focus is on norman the lighting is set up in a way where only half of his face is lit and the other half is in shadow. This is a subtle way in which Hitchcock uses the mise-en-scene to foreshadow future plot points in the film. In conclusion, Hitchcock is able to masterfully use mise-en-scene (such as props, lighting, camera angles, etc.) to both manipulate his audience, move the plot forward, and foreshadow key plot points. This is interesting because movies are meant to be a form a visual storytelling and Hitchcock never relies completely on dialogue to tell his story or to reveal character traits to us; he uses both in conjunction to create a classic that revitalized horror as a
Colella writes that in the film the Birds serve as a symbol for fear and death and this symbolism is most obviously found in the parlor scene where Norman and Marion are getting to know each other. At first the conversation is light and friendly and the way the shot is composed reflects this atmosphere as both Marion and Norman are level to the camera and to each other, they are equals, but as the scene moves forward and more personal information is shared, Norman leans in closer making him appear slightly bigger and giving him dominance in the …show more content…
As Norman watches the car slowly sink the camera repeatedly cuts back and forth between the two subjects: a closeup on normans face and a POV shot from Norman’s perspective as he anxiously watches the car. Throughout this entire scene, almost every time the focus is on norman the lighting is set up in a way where only half of his face is lit and the other half is in shadow. This is a subtle way in which Hitchcock uses the mise-en-scene to foreshadow future plot points in the film. In conclusion, Hitchcock is able to masterfully use mise-en-scene (such as props, lighting, camera angles, etc.) to both manipulate his audience, move the plot forward, and foreshadow key plot points. This is interesting because movies are meant to be a form a visual storytelling and Hitchcock never relies completely on dialogue to tell his story or to reveal character traits to us; he uses both in conjunction to create a classic that revitalized horror as a