Psycho Scene Analysis 1

This still image shows the car, motel and the house all in one shot. There is a low expressionist angle looking up to the house showing the power it has over Marion and her car. The dark night-time atmosphere with low key lighting makes the audience feel uneasy and gives the shot an eerie feel. The rain falling down in the shot connotes misery and gloom through the use of pathetic fallacy. This scene shows how Hitchcock uses cinematography to show the audience something isn’t quite right before we even find out about Norman Bates’ life. This scene is a slow montage to build tension before the shower scene, which reflects Hitchcock’s auteur style showing his love of montages. Andrew Sarris’ ‘Notes on the Auteur Theory’ in 1962 shows how all of Hitchcock’s films have the same style and he likes the audience to know they’re watching one of his films without necessarily being told it was made by him.