Psycho image analysis

This is a shot from the shower scene. The low key lighting creates these dark shadows. This can also connote that you can’t see who it really is behind it. This hides the narrative development from us and creates the twist ending, because we don't know whether it was Norman or his mother. The directed light coming in through the back shows that this character is bad. The editing of this scene starts slow. A slow montage like this is to add tension and make the audience panic. Almost as if you don’t know what it going to happen because so much is going on. This then cuts to a fast montage of the attack this is also known as collision cutting from Marion having a nice quiet shower to the loud screams gives off the feeling of panic. Hithcock relied on montage to create suspense and shock as the “auteur” of the film. They use a lot of high angles this could portray that Marion is weak and that something bad is bound to happen. You can also see a lot of close ups this is used to show Marion's upset and sadness. A close up of her mouth shows her screaming which is the use of diegetic sound, but Norman remains eerily silent.