Task B & C - Thriller Research - 'Psycho'

Summary

'Psycho' is a physiological thriller directed by the world famous director Albert Hitchcock. It is about a young woman working at a restaurant who is tired of a life of secrets such as spending her lunch break with her new lover at hotels. She is given the chance to deposit $40,000 at the bank for her employer but instead decides instead to start a new life with her sudden gain in wealth. After a long day of travelling she spends the night at a hotel

Effects Used In The Opening Scene

Instantly we hear fast dramatic music being played whilst the titles of the production team are being presented. This creates tension and suspense with the audience and gains their focus. We then see Alfred Hitchcock's name displayed in the centre of the picture written in white in a big font. For some viewers this gets them engaged as he is one of the most famous directors of his time in the world. Next the title of the film is shown written in a 'slanted' italic font that is unique to the viewers. This is included to make the audience feel scared and the film seems strange to them. The theme in the title sequence is grey bars shooting across the screen. This gives the viewer the feeling that they are locked up. This is the technique of foreshadowing that violence may be a main part of the film. Also used in the title sequence is a black background with a thick white font. This makes the viewer focus solely on the key information displayed on the screen.

The scene opens with a high angle slow pan establishing shot of the environment where the scene is set, high rise buildings in Phoenix, Arizona. This gives the audience an understanding of location. The location, time and date are displayed. This makes the viewer focus on this and creates curiosity as to whether this information is important. Next the camera uses its zoom effect and slowly narrows in on one building. This shot then fades onto a closer shot of the building, where we can see the window open in one of the rooms. Through camera movement it feels like the viewer is actually there, journeying through the window, and is spying on the characters inside. As the camera enters the building the main focus is on the woman lying on the bed. However, we then find that the man shown has a higher status than the woman as he is standing over and as we cannot see his face it creates curiosity as to his identity. The camera then pans around the couple who are now lying on the bed and the dialogue confirms that they are not married and are currently keeping their relationship a secret. This creates an awkward feeling for the audience as having a sexual relationship before marriage was seen as wrong in the 1960's. Adding to this feeling we see a 'two shot' of the woman getting dressed and the man lying on the bed behind her. This again makes the audience feel they are spying on the characters and they have no privacy. However the mood changes as the dialogue changes from sexual to a more romantic feel. This is symbolised by the fact that they are now both wearing clothes and there is calmer and peaceful music being played in the background. However this does not last very long and the man's growing frustration means the music stops and his voice is raised...

Ideas To Take From The Opening

• I really liked the idea of using black and white for the background and titles as it draws the viewer's attention to the key important information.
• I also liked the transitions used in the title sequence and I would like to use this in my thriller as a way of foreshadowing what is to come later in the film.
• I also like the idea of opening the scene with an establishing shot as it is a great way to show the viewers the setting.
• I would also like to take the idea of displaying the date and time to create curiosity and tension with the audience. Is this information significant the viewer wonders? It also grabs their attention.