Hitchcock's Usage of Unusual Shots
Alfred Hitchcock was an incredible filmmaker, and is still today regarded as one of the best directors of all time. After finishing watching Psycho, it was very obvious to me that Hitchcock took advantage of many unusual camera movements to enhance the viewing experience, making the audience feel more like they were in the scene, watching everything.
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The first unusual shot is when the camera zooms in on a window, then passes through a crack, into the room as a couple is getting dressed after sex (another unusual scene to see in a movie). This shot gave the effect that we were just floating into this scene. (This camera movement has been imitated many times, most notably in two Mel Brooks movies, involving the camera smashing through the glass of a window as it tracks too far forward.) Hitchcock also uses lots of extreme high angles to achieve this effect.
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The first unusual shot is when the camera zooms in on a window, then passes through a crack, into the room as a couple is getting dressed after sex (another unusual scene to see in a movie). This shot gave the effect that we were just floating into this scene. (This camera movement has been imitated many times, most notably in two Mel Brooks movies, involving the camera smashing through the glass of a window as it tracks too far forward.) Hitchcock also uses lots of extreme high angles to achieve this effect.
Two other unusual shots occur during the shower scene. The first one is when you see Marion showering, and you see the silhouette of Norman Bates appear through the shower curtain. This a very scary moment, because the moments leading up to it are full of suspense. No music is played, only natural sounds are heard, making it feel like you are right there in the scene with Marion. The second shot is after the stabbing, when water is seen going down the drain, and the image dissolves to match Marion's open eye.
Why did AH choose to have the drain shot match up with Marion's eye?
Why did AH choose to have the drain shot match up with Marion's eye?
BONUS: Here's a clip from Mel Brooks' High Anxiety (a film devoted to spoofing the movies of Hitchcock), which is a direct parody of the shower scene from Psycho.
What a spoof! I was horrified by Mel Brooks in the shower. (: So funny! Great question about the graphic match. What do you think bloggers? What do you think Noah?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I adore the reference to High Anxiety, quite the spoof indeed Noah. Secondly I got the impression from the drain shot that it represented that Marion was absolutely dead. Her blood was shown draining down the sink, and then her lifeless eye was shown, a shocking but effective means of conveying this message to the audience.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure why Hitchcock chose to have the eye and drain match up, and I asked a similar question in my post. My guess would be that because the drain has her blood in it, it is symbolic of how Marion's life is draining away, literally in both cases. Also, the darkness of the hole just adds to the creepiness.
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