Alfred Hitchcock is associated with the Thriller genre well, known as the “Master of Suspense” and to show the conventions of a thriller that he used well to create tension and suspense I am going to analyse a scene from one of his most famous films; Psycho.
Famous Psycho Scene (1960)
Throughout the sequence there is no dialogue which instantly creates tension; Hitchcock thought you should resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise; this is a key convention of thriller films. The sequence instantly starts with a long shot to introduce the actor Janet Leigh playing Marion Crane in the film. In doing this the audience see the portrayal of woman through Hitchcock’s eyes, another key convention of the thriller genre which is the view of woman as attractive and vulnerable. She is wearing a silk dressing gown which denotes she is weak; this is an intimate moment for the audience as it is showing the archetype of a victim setting up the portrayal of women, that they are sweet and defenceless creating tension as the audience anticipate what could happen to this poor protagonist. Another convention of thriller themes is used; setting up an enigma, this is set up only seconds after the sequence has started. The enigma set up is used by having a close up of the female flushing paper down the toilet alerting that it is a key prop and important in the plot, what has she flushed down the toilet? The location used is normal and realistic meaning when something drastic does happen the audience will be shocked.
Another convention included in this sequence is dramatic irony, in the area over the female’s shoulder a shadowy figure appears but only the audience knows its there, not the character, which creates dramatic irony. The low-key lighting causes a silhouette of the antagonist which is also a common convention used to cause suspense and creates an enigma, who is the dark figured person? Another common convention used in the thriller genre which is seen in this sequence is a re-herring, as a medium shot of the killer getting away it appears to be a woman but later in the film the audience learn that it was in fact a boy dressed up as his mother. Hitchcock makes the audience believe something about the character or event, diverting them away from the truth, so when they do find out the truth more tension and suspense is created.
The murder of Marion Crane is shown through a fast cut montage which adds disorientation and confusion to the audience. Though the impression of violence is done with quick editing, and the killing takes place inside the viewer's head rather than the screen. The use of low angles for the antagonist and high angles for the victim shows the murderer’s power and superiority over her and the vulnerability and weakness of the victim. Pleonastic sound is used to mimic the action of the knife adding resonance to the action taking place creating confusion.
The actual death of Marion Crane is slow, with the non-diegetic sound of a low cello mimicking her slow death. As her life comes to an end all is hear is the diegetic sound of the shower again reminding the audience of the ordinary location which creates suspense and shock that such an event can take place in such an ordinary location. A close up of the shower plug hole is used and is edited with a graphic match of the eye showing the life has been taken out of her. The camera then zooms out at a canted angle to a close up of the female’s final reaction before she died which was fear and panic. The camera then tilts up diagonally to track the female’s bedroom which shows the ordinary location with flower wallpapers feeling a sense of security emphasising the intensity of the event that has just happened. In summary I can identify that the key conventions used in Physco which will help in my own opening sequence of a thriller are:
- Little Dialouge
- Frequent Close ups/Extreme Close ups
- Fast Cuts
- Fast Montage
- Prolonged Shots
- Ordinary Locations
- Pleonastic Sounds
- Dramatic Irony
- Enigma's
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