Psycho scene analysis

In this part of the clip, this shot in particular is a low angle shot and a POV shot in which the female character is looking up to this shower head powering out the shower water. If this is to be a POV shot then I think this type of shot has been chosen to give the audience the perspective of the character, this is done for the effect of in a sense distortion because the water and steam produced from the shower head almost blurs the shot. This as a results creates effect as at this point the audience have no idea what is out of frame, they have no idea what is going on outside of the shot and neither does the character themselves, and this creates tension. The only sound here is the sound of the shower running, this being diegetic sound-this again creates an eerie atmosphere creating more tension for the audience.

Here, there is a close up shot of the female character washing in the shower, however there is some progression in the viewers knowledge and what is possible for them to know, this is because now the audience can see the shower curtain behind her and the distorted scenery in the bathroom. This distortion of scenery being due to the pattern on the shower curtain is intentional as it creates unease and uncertainty for the audience as the audience still does not know what will happen and how something will happen.After this, there is a tracking shot, this shot tracks from the close up shot of the female character and it tracks along the bathroom wall facing outwards towards the outside of the shower and to the door, this creates effect as the audience is slowly being redirected to another point of interest, this movement from the close up of the female character to outside of the shower connotes that the audience is being shown something beyond her knowledge. What is shown as this tracking shot progresses is movement behind the shower curtain, this tracking movement suggests that the audience is about to be hinted at as to what is about to happen yet the character that ends up out of frame has no idea and this creates tension as the audience is expected something to happen.

First of all, this shot is a close up of the killer, a new character in the clip the audience has not seen before. This shot has great effect as this character has just appeared, the shot itself is a POV shot and this is incredibly effective as it makes the audience feel as if they are in the action, the character has literally just pulled back the shower curtain, thus revealing the character showing the most important part of them, their upper half. Here also the audience is introduced to the first prop, this prop being a knife. The knife prop can connote horror, danger and ferocity, the way the prop is being held by the character implies that the knife is going to be used to attack/stab the other character being that it is being held in this manner. The use of costume is present here also, the killer is wearing what seems to be worn out, old robes that may have used to have been white but now due to wear are dirtier, this clothing creates effect as it suggests to the audience that this character is possibly deranged and mentally isolated as people don’t usually walk around in old robes for clothing, this costume can disturb the audience. Finally, the actor here is unidentifiable, this characters face is either covered or just blurred; this is done intentionally to create effect because the audience are intrigued to know who this character and they want to be introduced fully. The shower water is used effectively here as the water actually blocks out the killer’s face, blurring it, this creates effect as it keeps suspense among the audience as the enigma is still there, this enigma being who actually is this killer

This shot in the clip is of the prop of the knife. The rule of thirds is applied here putting all emphasis on the knife in the killers grip. This creates tension as this shot indicates that this prop is going to be of importance and the knife will be used to attack. At this point of the clip the only sound is the scream of the female character who is in the shower, this diagetic sound implies her fear, she is scared and she believes she is going to get stabbed, this creates a tense atmosphere as because of her reaction the audience believes she will be stabbed also. This sound here goes very well with the type of shot, this being a POV shot, this type of shot is very effective here as it shows the audience exactly what this woman is seeing, the use of sound here (scream) creates great tension alongside the shot type as it fully indicates to the audience how horrified this woman is.

This part of the clip features here an extreme close up. This extreme close up is of the female characters mouth open, this shot is in sync the sound, she is screaming. This shot being right after the shot of the killer holding up the knife confirms that she is screaming and she is screaming in fear of her life. The only sound here being of the diagetic sound of her scream, the input of this scream sound massively overpowers the sound of the shower making the audience almost forget she is actually in the shower, this is very effective as this presents the contrast of the two situations there have been in a matter of shots, these being the calm, serene shower to a tense horrifying situation where she fears she is going to be stabbed. The transition from the previous shot to this shot is significant also, this is because the camera zooms in on her mouth, this is very effective and has been used to put emphasis on her screaming and her fear for her life in this situation.

In this part of the clip we have the killer stabbing the female character for the first time. It is a close up shot which also shows the use of the prop, and how key it is. This shot type is very effective as it not only shows the actual action of the stab but it still shows the menacing killer s upper body enacting this. The use of non diegetic sound is present here, this being the sound of the nice puncturing the female character, this implies that the first stab given by the killer has in fact been successful and they have used the prop successfully. Also in this part of the clip more non diegetic sound is present, this being the high violin notes, these high violin notes suggest chaos unravelling, it also horrifies the audience and creates fear for them as high violin notes are often considered uncomfortable to listen to.

Here is a high angle shot and a long shot, this shot shows both characters in this clip, it shows the prop and the setting being the shower in the bathroom, the meaning behind this is the idea that all of this horror is occurring in the shower/bath, which is unexpected considering it is not the typical location for a murder to occur as It is clearly a domestic environment. This shot is used here to put the scene into perspective, it shows the action that occurred in the previous shot at the exact same time but from a different camera position. The sound here now has the high violin notes in consistency. In this part of the clip she is also whimpering, this connoting fear again.

Here is a low angle shot, it shows her trembling and blood dripping onto the bath floor. Thus trembling motions suggests her body weakening because of the damage being caused to it. Framing is used very effectively here as the audience is only shown the blood dripping into the water on the bottom of the bath, the audience has not been shown the actual cut wounds on skin, the producers have decided to keep these out of frame. This is very effective because leaving this out of frame but showing blood and keeping the sounds makes the audience imagine what is actually happening to her body, the amount of blood seen dropping suggests to the audience that she is most definitely being fatally wounded by the killer’s knife.

This part of the clip comes in between her being stabbed to death. It is off a shot of a thunderstorm. This imagery here can be a connotation of her life slowly fading away, the storm representing her life and as it passes as does her life. The sound in this part of the clip is the thunder, this sound could represent another fatal blow to her body from the knife.

This shot here is of the female characters hand on the bathroom wall. The rule of thirds again is used here putting emphasis on her hand, this shot of her hand could signify helplessness, the hand appears to be stretched out therefore this can suggest she is reaching out for any hope left for her. The sound has also dramatically changed in this part of the clip as it is now low violin notes-still non diagetic but lower notes, this can connote the action coming to a close and chaos coming to an end with a fatality.

• These three particular shots are very similar and have been put together in transition.

• Shot one is of the female character’s pupil dilating.

• Shot two is of the female characters bloody draining away down the plughole.

• Shot three is of the female characters eye again, and then it zooms out to her dead face.

• These three shots in the clip arte very effective because the shot of the water spirally down the plughole then transitions to the camera spirally out away from the eye. This was effective as this signifies the life leaving her.