How is Tension and Terror Created in the Psycho Shower Scene?

Psycho is a well known and famous horror film that was made in the year 1960. The scene that I am going to concentrate on analysing is the famous shower scene in Psycho. The main denotation of the shower scene in Psycho is that the main charactor, Marion, is staying as a motel and decides that she must have a shower. To her luck, she is murdered whilst in the shower and is left on the bathroom floor dead. Many aspects of this small clip are used to cause tension and terror for the viewing audience. Some aspects include Editing, Mise en Scene, Camera Work, Sound and Costume. These are some of the main topics that I will be focusing on when I analyse the shower scene in Psycho.

The first aspect I would like to focus on is SOUND. At the beginning of the scene, non-diegetic background music is played giving off a calm and relaxed atmosphere. However, the calmness of the music leaves the audience feeling suspicious of what is to happen next. The non-diegetic background music follows through the scene until Marion gets into the shower and the non-diegetic music is turned into diegetic sounds of the water falling from the shower head. Ironically, the water drowns out the non-diegetic background music and forces the audience to focus on the falling water. The falling water can symbolise the falling luck of Marion and she is about to be murdered. Also, it can symbolise Marion's life dripping away from her, just like the dripping water. A sudden burst of piercing, violin music (non-diegetic) interupts the falling water sounds as the murder of Marion begins. This type of piercing sounds is quite horrifying anyway but the timing of the violin scratching especially makes it more horrific as the audience least expect it. It adds to the horror. Finally, at the end of the horrible murder scene, the music becomes slower and similar to the music being played at the beginning of the shower scene. The violin that was being scratched when Marion was getting murdered, is now being played properlly, however in a more deeper and sinister way. This gives the sense of the ending of the bad (the murder) and that it's happened and needs to move on.

The second aspect I would like to focus on is CAMERA WORK AND EDITING. The first evidence of editing is the cut when we see a close up of what Marion is writing, which then cuts to Marion having second thoughts of what she is going to do and a cut to a close up shot of the flushing toilet. This sequence adds up to become a slow paced edit sequence. This was used to create a calm and relaxed mood, giving the audience time to consider and think about the actions Marion is doing.  Close ups of what Marion was writing and the flushing toilet were just used for the importance of the narrative. The next point in the scene where camera work and editing is used is at the beginning of Marion's shower. The audience don't see the full naked body of Marion, but see camera shots of the shoulder up and legs, which assumes that Marion is naked. The fact that Marion is put in a place where she has no clothes on, it puts her in a psychological place of being vulnerable and weak. Therefore, No clothes = No protection from her and the murderer. When Marion is getting stabbed/murdered, the slow paced editing becomes fast paced editing; with fast cuts of the shadowed murderer with knife and Marion being stabbed by the knife. This speeds up adrenaline and the shock of what is happening for the audience; panic, confusion, terror, claustrophobia and aggression. The constant cuts of the two characters are taken from the point of view of the knife because in the majority of this fast paced sequence the knife is seen in the majority of the shots. The last important  editing seen in this scene is the Dissolve Shot from the plughole draining the bloody water to the lifeless eye of murdered Marion. This particular edit symbolises the connotation of blood draining away to the life of Marion's also draining away with it as her life slips away from her.








The last aspect that I shall focus on is the MISE ON SCENE - COSTUME. The costume usually illustrates the personality of the character. From the way Marion looks with well groomed hair neatly done in a bun, it portrays her as a sophisticated and elegant woman. It can also be suggested that Marion is a secretive woman because instead of throwing away her scribbled notes in the bin where someone could see them, she decides to flush them down the toilet where it would be impossible for anyone to find out what she had written. Also, it can be said that she is an independent woman because she is on her own. And she could be seen as a weak victim (following a woman's stereotype), because when she was being attacked by the knife she didn't seem to try to defend herself but to just scream like a typical female would do.

Film Conventions Used in Psycho

Below are a list of Film Conventions that are used in the 1960's film Psycho in the Famous Shower Scene with definitions, effects that it would have on an audience and an example from Psycho.

Non-Diegetic Sounds
(Sounds that the audience can hear but the character can not)
Effect on Audience - Creates suspense by building up tension.
Example from Psycho - Background Music in the Shower Scene before Marion gets murdered.


Diegetic Sounds
(Sounds that both the audience and the characters can hear)
Effect on Audience - Emphasises the horror of what is happening on screen; the narrative.
Example from Psycho - The exaggerated sound of the falling water from the shower head when Marion is in the shower.


Fast Paced Editing
(The speed of the editing is quick)
Effect on Audience - Gives the audience a rush of adrenaline, shock and terror.
Example from Psycho -When Marion is getting stabbed by the knife by the murderer. Constant shots of Marion then Murderer.

Slow Paced Editing

(The speed of the editing is slow)

Effect on Audience - Gives the audience a sense of calmness, tranquil and relaxation.

Example from Psycho -Before the sequence of Marion’s Murder, when she is sat at her table writing and deciding where she will dispose of her writing.

Cut Edit

(A straight forward immediate replacement of one shot of a scene to another)

Effect on Audience - Illustrates to the audience a change of scene or to show the audience an important part of a narrative or a character's reaction or point of view.

Example from Psycho - A cut from the upper half of Marion's body (shoulder up) to an immediate cut of Marion's legs and feet climbing into the shower.

Dissolve Edit

(Where one scene ends and "dissolves" and changes into the beginning of the next scene.)

Effect on Audience - Shows the audience the disappearance of what had happened in the last scene; the last scene is now in the past (history).

Example from Psycho - The plughole in the shower draining the mixure of blood and water dissolves into the lifeless eye of the murdered Marion.

Point of View Shot

(Where the camera is put in a place of a character's point of view)

Effect on Audience -  Let's the audience see the action from the character's eyes; as if the audience was the character themself.

Example from Psycho - The fast paced editing sequence when Marion is getting stabbed by the Murderer; Point of View Shot from the Knife's Point of View.

Panning Shot

(A camera shot that moves either left to right or right to left)

Effect on Audience - Forces the audience to look elsewhere and follow the direction of where the camera is taking them.

Example from Psycho - After the audience see the lifeless Marion left on the bathroom floor, the camera pans left to right away from the murder and Marion and into the hotel room where it stops to the money wrapped in newspaper on the bedside table.

Lighting

(How the scene's lighting is controlled)

Effect on Audience - Adds to setting the scene and atmosphere of the narrative on screen for the audience to experience.

Example from Psycho - The lighting cleverly controlled to be behind the Murderer so that the Murderer's identity is concealed and kept a secret from the audience. The Murderer becomes a sinister outined silhouette of a person.

Mise on Scene

(This is what is seen on the set of a scene but can also mean the costumes, props and make-up of a scene)

Effect on Audience - Makes the set of the scene look realistic or unrealistic due to certain contexts for the audience watching.

Example from Psycho - The opened, unpacked suitcase at the beginning of the scene that Marion walks past to go to the bathroom and flush down the toilet her notes. Shows that Marion doesn't intend to stay at the hotel for very long.

Costume

(The clothes that characters wear in different scenes)

Effect on Audience - Can reflect the audience's view on the character's personality due to what kind of clothes the character is wearing.

Example from Psycho - Elegant bath robe that Marion is wearing seems to be made out of silk, therefore audience see Marion also as an elegant, mature and well-groomed woman.