KRISTOPHER BAREHAM
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF PSYCHO
Kristopher Bareham POST PRODUCTION
Textual Analysis of Psycho Micro Elements Sound: Non-diegetic sound and diegetic sound are used exceptionally throughout the film. For example, the high-pitched sounds made by violins added during the first murder adds to the impact of each knife blow, this elicits a response from the audience of fear and a physical reaction the clip. Furthermore, the screams made by the woman further emphasise the danger and terror of the antagonist; making a more effective antagonist. In addition, the dialogue choices fit the tone of the film throughout with Norman Bates having a docile but sinister tone when conversing with any of the characters, the woman has a light happy tone, this suggests naivety in the character with the way she sounds. Camera: The camera work in Psycho has very shot types and various different angles and lengths, for example for the introduction, the shots progressively zoom in to different buildings gradually isolating one room in which the protagonist is in. Also when the protagonist is being interrogated by the policeman, the shots are POV to get the intimidation of the policeman in the face of the audience, isolating any area around the policeman. This is typical of a horror film to give the feeling of isolation Editing: There is little to no editing in the film, the film uses jump cuts sparingly to show and suggest the passage of time. The film is in black and white, however this was not edited in after filming, Hitchcock chose to film his film in black and white. Overall I feel that this has a better effect on the audience as it requires your full attention by drawing you in. Mise-En-Scene: The use of Mise-En-Scene is chosen perfectly as the use of costume creates a colour associated feeling to the character’s as the protagonists are wearing lighter and brighter clothing, whereas the antagonist wears darker colours, like purple and black. This fits the niche of light vs dark, good vs evil which is typically associated with horror films. In addition, the use of props adds effect as it gives a disturbing tone to the film with Norman Bates stuffed collection of animals which are made to look disturbing due to the way the light bounces and catches on the animals. The lighting is used to give a sinister appeal to the antagonist, also how each murder is conducted at night makes the scenes even darker and creepier. Macro Elements Narrative: The narrative is very similar to a horror film as it has a weak female character with a stronger antagonist, also the antagonist has a deformity or mental illness which is commonly associated with the horror genre.
Characters: The protagonist is a conventional horror film protagonist wearing lighter colours and being a woman. This fits the clichÊ of a horror film as the character’s mindset it quite naive and simple. The rest of the protagonists are like the first protagonist as they are wearing lighter clothes, however their mentalities are more mature than the previous protagonist. The antagonist makes a compelling and visually disturbing villain. This is portrayed by the sinister smiles and the disturbing hobbies that he is a part of. The character is also clearly not mentally stable as he dresses as his dead mother to complete the murders, this is shown during the end of film as he has 2 mentality’s in his mind on of his mother and one of himself. The reason he has these is that he had not moved on and at the end of the film. Overall, the film Psycho fits the horror genre perfectly as it has a deranged and strong antagonist and a weak and vulnerable female protagonist. The sound and lighting have a great effect on the suspense throughout the film. The use of props adds to the effect of the antagonist having a creepy atmosphere.