Alfred Hitchcock’s: Psycho
By Shoshana Green
Alfred Hitchcock was an English filmmaker and producer. He was born in England on August 13th, 1899. He died on April 29th, 1980. He spent most of his childhood reading books and studying. When Hitch turned 21, he was hired into the film business as a draftsman. After 5 years, he was directing his first movie. And it wouldn’t be his last. He made at least 50 films before he died of kidney failure. He got married in 1926 to his assistant Alma Reville and had a child named Patricia 2 years after. Alfred Hitchcock was a fantastic filmmaker.
Hitch is still popular today. His movies were psychological thrillers along with the suspense genre. His movies often contain a twist ending that makes people intrigued and makes them consider what they just saw. In his movies, he often portrayed blonde female characters and sometimes even put in his wife as a character. Hitch also liked to put himself in as a bystander. His movie style is different from other filmmaker’s techniques. He keeps the storyline simple, but adds in other things that make it an interesting and good movie. He also used a technique referred to as MacGuffin. The MacGuffin doesn’t really mean anything in movie. It is just used to give the storyline a reason to advance into suspenseful events.
The different techniques Hitch used made his movies well known. One of his most popular movies out there was the movie “Psycho”. This movie was about a woman named Marion Crane who steals 40,000 dollars from a client at the bank she works at. After running off with it, she ends up at the Bates Motel. The young man who runs the motel, Norman Bates, has been under the power of his mother for a while since he lives in the same house as her. Marion Crane realizes this and has sympathy for Norman. When Marion is getting ready for a well-needed sleep, Norman takes interest in her. Soon, Marion’s life ends due to Norman’s curiosity of her.
Throughout this movie, only the unexpected happens. You expect that the mother is the murderer but it turns out that she isn’t. Mostly you are interested in this movie and you don’t want to stop watching it at all. It is supposed to be a horror movie.
In “Psycho”, the characters are very well done. Norman Bates was one of the main characters. He was a seemingly harmless motel manager whose motel is, essentially, in the middle of nowhere. He lives with his “Mother” in a house that is right next door to the motel and is basically controlled by her. He tries to makes friends with Marion Crane but she seems to think he is weird and they didn’t see each other long enough to become friends.
Another main character was Marion Crane. She was working at the bank when a man gave her 40,000 dollars in cash to buy a house. Her employer told her to take the money and put it into a different bank so that they could ask the man to give them a check instead of cash. Rather then taking it to the bank, Marion steals it and is on the run when she reaches the Bates Motel. She hopes to get rest, which she doesn’t get because she is stabbed to death by Norman Bates’ “Mother”.
The last character that I found to be very important to the plot was Milton Arbogast. He was the detective after Marion Crane and the 40,000 dollars that she stole. When he ends up at the Bates Motel and finds out that she’s been there, he comes back to ask Norman Bates’ Mother a few questions, but is immediately killed by her after walking into her house.
The characters and techniques in this movie were not the only things that were well done. The special effects in this movie were top-notch effects for the time this movie was made. One of the biggest special effects in this movie was the blood in the shower scene. Since it was a black and white film, they used a dark colored liquid that was the consistency of blood so that it looked like blood going down the drain. Also, when Arbogast was looking for Norman Bates’ “Mother”, he was walking up the stairs in their house. Then, the Mother ran out of a room next to the stairs and stabbed him before pushing him down the stairs. Arbogast “falling backwards” was a special effect. Another effect used in this movie was when people drove in cars. They weren’t actually driving the cars. It was a stationary car with a moving background rather then a stationary background with a moving car. This effect was used in many of Hitchcock’s movies because the car scenes were used a lot in his movies.
The cinematography in this movie is extremely well done. Since it is filmed in black and white, the shadows in the movie give it an eerie feel, making the movie automatically creepy. The angles in the movie are very odd as well. He probably did this on purpose so that the movie was scarier. In some shots, you even find that Hitchcock has placed mirrors in back of the actors and actresses creating an interesting illusion that you only get from mirrors. Also, you see that people always get out on the right side of the car, which is the opposite side of the steering wheel. I figured that this was so that the people would stay in the shot and the cameramen wouldn’t have to move the cameras around so much as well as keeping a tight shot on the main actors and actresses.
“Psycho” was nominated for 4 Oscars, a DGA Award, a Satellite Award, and a WGA Award. “Psycho” also won an Edgar, a Golden Globe, a National Film Registry, and got 2 Golden Laurels in 2nd and 3rd places. I believe that this movie did deserve the awards that it got because it was a fantastically well-done movie. It had a plot that was interesting and had characters that were well developed. And the cinematography and special effects in the movie were amazing for the year that it was made in.
I thought that this movie was a very well done movie. I was given this movie, but I would’ve chosen it anyways because this movie is a very popular Hitchcock movie and I heard that it was very good from numerous people. After watching it, I found out that it was, in fact, a good movie. My expectations for this movie were high and they were met. I thought that this movie, in particular, was an amazingly well done movie.
Works Cited
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Accounts, By All. "Alfred Hitchcock." Issue 51, 2009 - Senses of Cinema. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/hitchcock.html>.
"Alfred Hitchcock Biography." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://www.essortment.com/all/alfredhitchcock_rzxk.htm>.
"Alfred Hitchcock Movies and Filmography." Mystery Net.com: Online Mysteries, Mystery Games, Mystery Books. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://www.mysterynet.com/hitchcock/filmography/>.
"Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock - Suspense, Camera Angles, Style, Editing, Basics." Borgus.com - Independent Film, Radio, Australia. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm>.
"Psycho (1960) - Awards." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/awards>.
"Psycho (1960) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/>.
"Psycho (film)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(film)>. |
