2nd Psycho Image Analysis

This is the scene where Marion is killed by Norman/Norma (Norman's mother). The low key lighting in this scene hides the identity of the murderer, who we later find out is Norman dressed as his mother. This is the first moment in the film where the editing changes to fast-paced and there are quick sequences, as it is the first murder. It is also the first time the audience will associate the film with Ed Gein case which the movie was based on. This demonstrates Janet Staiger’s Audience Theory and the people watching this movie would be terrified as they can now recognise the character as Ed Gein which was the man involved with the case that had only recently happened prior to the release of the film. What viewers found so terrifying was that two years prior to the film’s release, the real Ed Gein was discovered to have killed two women and use their skin to make a costume and pretend to be his mother, and this was shown in Psycho. The murder is brutal for the time period the film was released in, and would be seen as shocking. In the 1960s the Hays Code was pushed to the limits by Psycho and so people wouldn’t have expected this scene at this time of limited films. The cinematography for this scene was mostly close ups/point of view shots which are the best camera angles for showing emotion in a scene and to this movie, emotion is an important concept. The parallel music used in this scene is very successful and has become an iconic sound for murder scenes in horror films as it is loud and unpleasant which usually fits with the events of horror films. The collision cutting used in this scene creates a jump scare which to this day is the most recognisable aspect of a psychological horror. The auteur of this film, Alfred Hitchcock, was well known for being the master of montage editing and this scene is an iconic use of his talents with filmmaking and editing. This scene also portrays the idea of sadism and how the murderer is enjoying seeing Marion in pain and scared by making the stabbing over-exaggerated