Psycho Analysis

Psycho Analysis

To begin, in the first shot of this scene we are presented with a low-angle shot, which signifies that Norman bates, is in the controlling manner of the situation. In this part of the scene, when Norman takes Marion into the parlour, he goes over to the light and turns it on which signifies that he is leaving any goodness behind him and also, it has purposefully been done by Hitchcock as that is the side of the room where Marion is going to be sitting, in the light were as Norman is going to be sat in the dark in this scene; this also signifies Norman’s split personality. The way in which Norman is positioned is he is stood in a dominant manner and also the Bird of Prey behind his head makes it look apart of his body and is in attack pose, and also demands Marion to sit down other than inviting her to sit down, which signifies he has power and control over the situation.

Next, is a two-shot/eye-level shot, which shows Marion and Norman sitting down at the exact same time, which signifies to us that Norman is watching Marion carefully. When Norman sits down, he leans forward in the sense that he is getting closer her, intimidating her. In this fixed shot, we are equal level to the characters, however we are much closer to Marion than we are to Norman as she is in the light and Norman is surrounded by darkness. A visual signifier in this shot is how separate Marion and Norman are along with the distance between them. The final thing about this shot is the fact that there are a lot of Birds of Prey surrounding Marion, which signifies intimidation.

Thirdly, the next shot is a mid-shot of Marion with her body language appearing to be quite relaxed, but she is still very protective and a bit uneasy. Another thing about this shot is that there are smaller birds behind her, which are less intimidating to an audience, which signifies weakness, but also they are prey. In this frame, it is full of props and different objects, occupying a small space. Due to the cramped space Marion stands out above all because she is the biggest “object” there and this really signifies the fact that she looks isolated, vulnerable and trapped with in this combined space.

In the next shot, a medium close-up is used in which Norman’s body language appears to be a defensive posture. Another thing about this shot is the way that he is surrounded by darkness which signifies that he is basically the dark character of the whole film; he fact that he is unlit connotes that there is a conscious decision whether to stay in the dark, but there will always be shadow behind him because he is the “bad guy” in the film. The shadow that follows him increases his presence on screen, which again shows intimidation. The final thing about this shot is the way there are bird’s resting which signifies that there has been no decision made whether to kill Marion or not.

Next, is again a medium close-up of, Norman. Norman is sitting now with open body-language whilst stroking one of his birds, however the birds are smaller when he’s sitting down signifying that he is less intimidating when he’s sat down.

Another thing about this scene is the next shot, which is significant in the sense that we are presented with another low angle shot, which firstly is purposefully done to denote his control. In this shot Norman moves forward so he appears bigger in the frame and closes in to Marion, appearing more threatening than he already is. In this shot also, is the larger Birds of Prey which are visually connected to Norman. Lastly, is when Marion insults Norman’s mother, the birds assume in attack position.

Next, is a close-up of Norman’s face, in which case he dominates the screen, another way he does this is by not blinking and not removing his eyes off of Marion which is also very creepy and unusual. At this point in the scene we see that Norman has made his decision on whether Marion would be one of his victims, as he feels insulted by being questioned by his mother, which he is actually being due to his split persona, feeling angry on the spot and feeling pressures for information about his mother and taking her to “some place” and he dislikes it.

In this next shot, we are presented with another close-up, and in this particular case is closer to Marion than in previous shots of her character. Her facial expression shows anxiety and fear due to his outburst, and due to this the light surrounding her has not disappeared and is now in the darkness. She now feels that she has made a mistake and walked into a trap, making her feel uncomfortable.

The second to last shot of this scene, shifts tremendously as Marion has suddenly taken over the control role as we are given a low-angle shot as she stands up, and decides to end the conversation. However, this shot still appears to be threatening as in the background there is a crow about to peck her neck, which signifies some sort of hurt, which in this case is death.

Finally, the last shot is a high-angle shot, mid-shot and a POV shot all in one. We as the audience now can see what Marion is looking down to that being Norman, which appears to him looking weak also looking like a little boy, signifying him looking pathetic. This is an extremely important part of the scene because all of a sudden Norman is emasculated, which is a difference from his controlling and dominant role.