Duality In Psycho

975 Words4 Pages
In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was already famous as the screen's master of suspense. The Alfred Hitchcock film was very successful and very well-known in the 1960’s, and is still one of the greatest original horror films today. When he released the famous psychological thriller film ‘Psycho’, it endlessly changed the shape and tone of the screen thriller. The film crew successfully distributed to make the film more thrilling, with all the different shot types and symbolism supports the thriller the film was portraying, mainly in the scenes; shower, parlour and driving scene. Psycho’s success was due, for the reason to the superbly orchestrated publicity and marketing campaign that set new standards for audience manipulation. What isn’t regularly…show more content…
This duality is exemplified through shadows and the objects in the scene. The parlour scene depicts Marion as an innocent, naïve person, the opposite of the immoral woman in the opening scene. Norman’s face is only half perceived, making us believe he has a sense of wickedness, a darker side to him. Marion is positioned on a lower level to Norman and is usually shot front on. This results in us perceiving that she is less powerful and in a vulnerable position with Norman looming over her. Norman is also depicted as the hunter and Marion the prey because of the stuffed birds of prey that are always shown in the background behind Norman. Norman has a large hawk behind him when the camera focuses on his face at a low angle, and Marion has a small bird of prey behind her. These ideas are also reinforced by the objects placed around them, such as the table lamp, which gives off a warm glow to Marion. They are also heavily shadowed suggesting the double nature of Norman. The lighting intensifies the duality of Norman’s character, being both the mother and son, by casting shadows over his face which is a deliberate indication of his two

More about Duality In Psycho

Open Document