Psycho Analysis

Within the first scene of the film, the audience is presented a low angle-shot with Norman Bates greeting Marion Craine into the parlour of his motel. Straight away Norman is depicted with a bird of prey behind his head; this signifies that Norman is most dominant person at the start of the scene. His instantly turns on a light behind him this has connotations of goodness, therefore having the light behind him shows that Norman has left all goodness behind him in that scene. As the shot is low-angle it is looking up at Norman, positioning him as the most powerful character in the scene, in a controlling manner.  Bates is in the centre of the shot, on the left of him is light and on the right is darkness, Norman choses to sit on the dark side showing that he choosing the dark, evil path which will reflect on his personality.

The next shot is a two shot of Marion and Norman. Norman’s body language try’s to portray him as being nervous and shy as he is leaning forward, trying to get closer and fiddling with his hands. Marion is positioned in the foreground of the shot so she can relate to the audience as she is lit, connoting her as being innocent and pure. Norman, on the hand, blends into darkness reflecting on his as a whole. The visual signifier between them is this huge separation and distance between them. Norman’s gaze is fixed onto her almost as if he has an obsession with her. In the shot, visually the characters poisoning reflect their personality, so Norman is in darkness especially in colour and Marion is in light even in the way she looks, nevertheless Marion is constantly surrounded by birds of prey.

A mid shot of Marion with a light denoted next to her, this is the only light source in the whole scene, so this creates a dark atmosphere for the characters, as the darkness is the most dominant in the entire scene. Marion relates to the light as she is sweet and innocent, her body language is quite relaxed how she is in this protective state as she hunched over. she is surrounded by props constantly to show that she is trapped, looking very isolated ad vulnerable.

A medium close up of Bates’ is presented when his body language is very enclosed, in a defensive position. He is surrounded in the shadow, which was a conscious decision for him to stay in the dark.

Furthermore another medium shot is shown of Norman clinging onto a bird and stroking it. This is for Norman to seeking comfort from his mother when he speaks about her.

A medium, close-up, low angle shot of Norman is shown to present him as being more dangerous. The bigger birds of prey in the background mirror Norman that he is in control in the shot. The shadow on Norman makes him bigger from the light in the background, this happens, as he has been insulted and the birds are in attack mode just like Norman.

A close up of Norman’s face shows smaller birds in the background reflecting that Norman feels weaker and less in control. This has a contrast between shots as in the start he was the most in control in the whole scene. His body language is very intimidating, as Marion has hit a nerve with Norman; he is dominating the scene, as he feels weak. He is calm with himself because as at this point he has made the decision to kill Marion.   

Next a medium close up of Marion denotes her as being worried in her facial expression as Norman intimidates her. All light has gone in this shot as now she is in the darkness with Norman because her death approaches her, she knows she has made a mistake and in a trap, she wants to escape.

Then a low angle shot of Marion is presented. In the background a crow is shown on her shoulder to signify that she is going to die. As she is shown standing over Norman as she has taken over the situation because she has decided to end the conversation.

Finally a high angle shot of Norman is a POV from Marion, the audience is being shared into her view of Norman as if he is a little boy being told off, she views him as very pathetic and by emasculating him.