Analysis of ‘Psycho’ shower scene, exploring how film techniques are used to create an effect

The camera work that is used in the ‘Psycho’ shower scene is constantly building tension as it leads up to the murderer coming into the bathroom. Before she is stabbed the camera editing is at a normal slow pace, it shows that she is no rush and isn’t hurrying around. This tells us that she isn’t expecting anything to happen. However, when it comes to the murderer ripping open the shower curtain, that’s when the pace picks up and the editing is a lot quicker. The mise-en-scene is very plain; the whole of the bathroom is white so if any dirty were to get on the tiles then it can be easily spotted. Especially, if it was blood. The woman is naked when she was murdered so it suggests that she is quite venerable to anything that might happen, she is very open and doesn’t have much protection. The sound throughout this scene changes, you have diegetic sounds and you also have non- diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds are the sounds that the character can hear in the scene and non-diegetic is where they can’t hear the sound but we can. A diegetic sound that is in the scene right till the end is the water from the shower, that sound doesn’t stop it carries on even after she has been murdered. However, when she falls and slumps over the bath and the camera is focused on her dilated pupil the running water reverbs, this suggest that the woman is dying but everything is carrying on around her. The non-diegetic sounds that we can hear but the characters can’t are the backing music, this music on begins when the murder pulls aside the shower curtain and begins stabbing her. It is a very high pitched violin recording, the instrument sounds like it is being strummed at the highest and fastest octave it can reach. It gives the audience an impression that the instrument is screaming in pain, this response with the murder scene that it is being played along to.

Shower Head shot

This is a close up shot of the shower head in which the victim is taking a shower with. This low angle shot suggest that this is the victim’s point of view and what she is looking at. If the victim is looking up at the shower head and water is all around her, it suggests the victim won’t be able to hear what is all around her. You also can’t see what is around you or what might be coming through that door because the water is all around an block or disrupting your view. The shot of the shower head is a close up shot which suggests she is looking closely and very close to it, this mean that the sound will be even louder and the view even more distorted to see anything or be aware of anyone. The impact this has on the audience is that they don’t know what is going to happen as much as the victim knows. It is building on that tension and making the audience want to see why this shower head is important.

Murderer and the knife

This is a mid-shot of the murderer and the murder weapon- the knife- we can see that the murderer is a woman but we can’t see her face to know if we have seen her before. The light is shining down over the murderer which has caused a shadow over the murderer’s face. This is shot is showing what the victim is seeing when the curtain has just been pulled back. The knife has been lifted into the air and the murderer looks like she is going to stab the victim. They have made this a close up shot because they want to the impact of the audience to be shock and to also try and see the features but not clearly see them. This shot is the height of the tension it has been building throughout the scene and this is where the audience will see why this scene is about constantly building that tension.

The victim

This is a close up of the victim’s face, you can see that she is looking into the distance and her eyes are every dilated. At this moment the victim is dead. This shot is a normal level close up shot but the camera is on the floor. This creates an impact that after she was dead she died half in the bath and half out, with her head resting on the floor. The mise-en-scene is still the same from the beginning, she is still in the white bathroom, she is also still naked and that tells the audience that even though she is dead there is still a sense of venality to her. She is looking off to the camera, this gives the audience an impact of she is still looking and watching the audience like they know what has happened to her.