Psycho: Short Review

The opening scene of psycho uses many camera angles and effective mise-en-scene to create dramatic and psychological tensions, its techniques like these that draw the viewer in and make the viewer want to see more.

 The shot above is a first person shot from the perspective of the girl, this shot is put in shortly before the killer is revealed and is quite a calm shot showing that its just the girl alone with the shower, this calmness makes the revelation of the killer more dramatic as it fairly suddenly switches from calm to panic. This is a close up with the object focused in the centre of the shot so the object the director is showing ( the shower) is quite in your face.

This shot is very effective at building up tension as only the viewer can notice that there is a figure lurking behind the shower curtain, this lets the viewer know that something is about to happen and as it is her alone in the shower the viewer assumes it is going to be something bad. Shots like these get your heart pumping before the incident occurs so there is somewhat of a build up effect for the viewer. This shot is also a close up but not as extreme as the shower head as there are two points of focus in view.

This shot is another close up and this is where the director expects the tension in the viewer to peak at a high level as it is revealing the killer. The director intends for you to see the killer but not in too much detail as the lighting from the right hand side causes a shadow over the killers face, also the water from the shower helps blur the detail. What the director does want you to see is the figure of the killer and the large knife being held up in the air, it is made clear by the way the knife is held that the killer is about to use it also the lighting from the right points out the knife quite well. 

This shot is a zoom- in close up from the previous shot of the knife just to add that last bit of tension before it is used. This adds emphasis to the previous shot and is from the perspective of the girl, who has just seen the killer. The knife is composed in the centre of the screen with the killers hair in the right hand side this assures the viewer is only focusing on these two things.

This shot is an extreme close up of the girls mouth area. This shot reveals that the girl has just seen the killer and is terrified. The director chooses to make a close up of the mouth as it truly shows the viewer that she is in extreme fear of the killer and accurately shows her reaction to the previous shot.

This shot is another great example of the directors use of close ups in the opening scene and shows the girl being stabbed viciously by the killer. The girl is falling in the process showing that the killers job is nearly done. This shot is taken from a high angle looking down on both characters effectively showing the event that is taking place.

In conclusion I believe that the main shot type in the opening scene is definitely close up shots and the director is very effective at building up a climax before the killing by switching from calmness to panic very smoothly. The mise-en-scene is mostly made up of shadowy  lighting and loneliness until the killer arrives and there are not many objects etc in the shot, this focuses the viewer on the things the director wants e.g the girl, the killer, the shower, the knife creating a very psychological vibe to the scene.