Psycho Shower Scene

In the Psycho shower scene there are many stills within the clip that are that open up to many questions that the audience may have and that also shock the audience.

This still is showing a medium shot at eye level to what is behind the curtain. The leading lady is just to the right of the shot as it is showing the audience that there is something coming from behind the curtain. This shot is composed using the Golden Mean, the object or person behind the curtain and the women in the foreground. The impact of this shot upon the audience makes them realise that something bad is about to happen as the women in the foreground is oblivious as to what is happening beyond the shower head and her cleaning when actually she isn’t as safe as she thought. The Mise-en-scene in this scene shows the location as a place that is clean, bright and safe. The location of the clip relates to the genre of a thriller as its showing the victim in a place that she thought was safe which adds to the tension of the clip. As the victim is not wearing any clothes it makes her seem even more vulnerable as she is exposed and has no where to hide. As the shower curtain is see-through with a frosted pattern on it we can only just see a distorted view on the person behind it, the use of this prop creates tension as the audience do not know what is behind it. The use of lighting in this shot is effective as the light is coming from the top right hand corner illuminating the women in the foreground and casting the person in the background into shadow which is effective for creating tension and making the audience inquisitive which is done throughout the whole set up of this still.

This is a still of a close up of the murderer after the curtain has been pulled back at eye level with her. This shot is based on the Golden mean as the knife and the unseen face of the murderer are the two points of interest for the audience to see. The impact of this shot is obvious to the audience of what is about to happen, after seeing the victim oblivious to what is about to happen to the curtain being pulled back to reveal the killer poised to commit the murder. The Mise-en-scene in this scene shows the murderer in a very dull and dark coloured costume and very light hair. If the murderer was in bright yellow or green it wouldn’t fit with the genre at all, by putting the villain in dull colours it adds to the sense of mystery as to who the person could be. The knife that is used for the kill looks menacing and looks like it can cause a lot of damage. The water going across the villain obscures the face as to who it could be committing the crime, as does the shadow cast across the face. The lighting comes from the top right hand corner shining down onto the back of the villain. It illuminates the back of the person and the knife in their hand creating more tension for the audience as they cannot see who it is.

This still shows a bird’s eye view of the murder in progress. This shot is based on the rule of thirds as the murderer; the victim and the bath are the three main points of interest. The impact of this still is that this is the only view the audience get of the murder. It shows the victim in a small space, backed up against the wall trying to defend herself but in a very vulnerable position. Even though the murderer is in the corner of the still, this is the most the audience get to see them. From this shot the audience infer that the murderer is a woman due to the long hair and well kept false nails. The murderers face is still obscured by shadows but this time with the addition of the shower curtain poll. This has been framed like this as the angle of this shot would have shown who the murderer was but the poll being put in, keeps the sense of mystery going  as the audience still cant see who it is. The lighting of this still comes in from the top corner straight onto the victim and the back of the murderer to show the exposed victim and to hide the murderer’s identity.

This still is of an extreme close up showing the pupil dilating after the victim has been stabbed. The impact of this still makes the audience slightly uncomfortable after what has happened throughout the rest of the scene. As the pupil is dilating it could suggest that the victim’s life is draining away. This shot isn’t that complex, the lighting comes from the top right corner of the eye but not directly on it as there is no reflection in the pupil. Also there is shadow on the left hand side of the eye. This shot shows the whole movement sped up to create tension as they are witnessing the victim dying after the murder. This shot is also a Graphic Match with the plug whole and then a shot of the eye spinning round. These are graphic matches because they are all circular in shape, the same size and the lines in detail of the eye flow the same way as the other shots.

This still is an extreme close up showing the victim’s blood being washed down the plug hole. The impact of this still could shock the audience as they are seeing the blood of the victim and like the other Graphic Matches it could suggest that the victim’s life is draining away, this shot makes that suggestion even more probable as its actually her blood which is a part of her washing away with the water and draining away into the piping of the plug hole. The light on this shot is directly above making the colours and the reflection of the water a key aspect of the shot.

Overall, the shots that have been looked at make the audience fell tense and uncomfortable throughout the shower scene in the film Psycho which also led to unanswered questions that are open for the rest of the film to answer.