Psycho (1960) Image Analysis x 3

This shot is from when Norman is talking to Marion in his office, one of the first things to notice in this scene are props such as the stuffed owl that is on his wall this is a representation of Norman because it is a bird of prey and Norman is a killer. Stuffing dead animals is known as taxidermy it is an odd hobby and connotes that Norman is outside the CDI as well as him living in the secluded motel. This is a medium shot of Norman however the main focus of the image is the owl, the low lighting also gives this image a menacing look and gives the owl a shadow behind it making it look more intimidating and possibly a representation of a darker side that you could link to Norman’s schizophrenia. Norman also mentions how Marion ‘eats like a bird’ which sets of more connotations about her being his prey.

This is a shot from the scene where Marion Crane is killed and one of the first times we see the character Mother. The lighting makes it so that we only see the silhouette of the character adding some mystery to her. This is a medium shot and possibly a point of view shot as well because we can see the image is distorted by the shower water rushing past. This puts us in the shoes of Marion which makes the audience feel scared and fear for their own life. You could also say that the shower water is a use of pathetic fallacy to suit the mood of the scene which is sad/ scary. The weapon she is using is a kitchen knife which could be a very subtle hint towards the mother actually being Norman because the kitchen knife can be seen as a phallic symbol for male power. The shot is a slightly low angle shot connoting the power that the character has in this scene, and you can also see that mother looks like she’s looking down slightly too. The shower scene was a quick montage too which gets the audience excited and even frightened, this was part of Hitchcock’s auteur style.

This image is of Norman’s dead mother and is just before the final girl is attacked. I think that this moment in the film when the corpse turns around connotes death because her face is basically a skull which is a popular representation of the theme of death.  It is a close up shot which gives us a closer look at the mother’s face this adds to the shock of the scene because the audience does not expect this. During this scene there is a swinging light that almost gives the illusion of the mothers eyes moving giving the corpse some life and making the scene even creepier for the audience. The light also adds some element of panic and distortion to the scene. This is also a reference to the real life killer Ed Gein who also dug up his mother and preserved her corpse in 1957 just three years before the release of psycho. Ed Gein was fresh in people’s memories and people where scared of him.