The master of film making, Alfred Hitchcock proved himself a genius, yet again after the release of his film Psycho. First screening being done in New York this movie rocked at the box office and earned money more than the making. The suspense this movie carries throughout the end of it. It is marvelous and you will be shocked to know how it ends. This movie broke all the barriers for the upcoming films in Hollywood wherein the outlook towards the society changed. The movie went through much criticism but yet was a block buster at the box office.
Psycho is a movie of 1960 starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. Psycho is thriller movie and would definitely thrill you in every manner. The sound of this movie is so engrossing that it builds up more curiosity with each scene that comes. In the movie, Marion Crane escapes with the money she steals from the employer. She moves ahead with it in her car. After reaching a motel where Norman Bates is seen, the entire movie takes a toll.
As the movie begins, the entire city is captured along with the name Phoenix, Arizona and the date. It’s a wide shot which later on zooms inside a room where a couple is making love which gives a feeling of spying and due to sound excites the audience more. The focus is mainly on Marion. The entire room is shown initially and then the attention goes to the character. The shots being medium shots manage to express the message to the audience. In the 1960’s, Americans found it a little vague to sleep with someone before marriage but the beginning of the movie has a complete different perception.
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Next, once she steals the money and goes back to her apartment to pack, the camera zooms in and takes the close up of the money and bag with intriguing music. The music brings in a lot of tension and we would want to know what’s next every single minute. Her face in the entire shot shows a clueless expression in the end she decides to take the money and run away. While she drives the car, she is thinking continuously without blinking her eyes. This shot grabs her expression and is a medium close up shot. As she moves ahead, a wide shot is seen with the city and her car. Her face comes into the picture again having a close up.
She is found suspicious in between which leads her to exchange her car so that she isn’t found. She forgets her way and ends up at Bates Motel. Norman and Marion have a conversation and once she leaves for her room, Norman looks at her through the peephole and extreme close up shot is taken of his eyes while he is looking at her.
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The shower scene is the vital part of the film wherein the suspense of the movie is revealed. This shot was taken for continuously three days from 77 cameras shooting from different angles. The shots are medium shots but mostly are extreme close ups. The zoomed in shots give a more catchy effect than the wide angle. In the end, the extreme close up of the hole is taken which leads to the eyes and then the face of Marion. The sound while the murder happens, the blood dropping, killing with the knife every single thing has added to this scene. It clearly shows violence and destruction.
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The final scene is where Norman is sent behind the bar for all the murders that took place shows how he has grasped his mother’s personality. After the murder, he kept the dead body with him to feel that she was still alive. The shots are mid shots which keep zooming onto his face. His changing expressions according to his thought define the scene well. The voice in the head says “She won’t even harm a fly” that’s when a high angle of shot is taken of the fly.
The movie ends with the car coming out of trash which is a wide shot.
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Psycho changed outlook of how people and society observes this kind of behavior. In spite of facing so many controversies the movie overcame all the negativities, was chosen for the academy awards and the movie won too.
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