How Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Used Mise en Scene to Build Tension

welcome today we will be discussing how the nissan sen of alfred hitchcock's psycho helped create tension the sequence i will be using to demonstrate the building of tension is towards the end of the film leading up to enduring the big reveal about norman's mother in this sequence marion's sister lila is walking through the bates house meanwhile sam is occupying norman in the motel as norman runs into the house lila runs to the basement where she discovers the skeleton of mrs bates and norman comes charging in with a knife wearing a wig and dress promptly after sam comes in to grab norman and save lila props and set one of the spookier aspects of this film can be shown through the architecture and style of the bates house this victorian style house is the epitome of haunted horror houses during the first half of the 20th century these houses which at one point were considered displays of wealth and desire from the gilded age became outdated and abandoned making them the perfect canvas for horror mrs bates bedroom has clear victorian inspirations with plenty of frivolous displays of wealth like detailed bed frames like curtains old portraits statues and many more the bed has a prominent imprint in the shape of a body showing that the person who sleeps there doesn't move resulting in the intense imprint this foreshadows the fact that the mother is in fact dead which is why she doesn't move back in the motel we can see a mirror that doubles up sam against norman foreshadowing sam defeating norman the next room lila walks through is what appears to be a child's bedroom with old worn out toys implying abandonedness but then we see a bed that is undone and looks recently used causing a feeling of confusion and mystery once in the basement we meet mrs bates as a corpse she is facing away from the camera with only her hair and gown visible giving the illusion she is alive but once she turns around we can see that she is in fact the corpse and has been dead for quite a while with only small remnants of skin dribbled around her eyes we as the viewer are misdirected into believing that she is in fact alive so we are shocked by the sight of the skeleton once again putting us at unease the basement has unfinished brick walls along with unfinished wood furniture such as shelves and crates there's also plenty of dust clearly visible adding to the unsettling unclean and unsafe environment actors when lila is traveling through the bait's house she moves with caution staying close to walls and leaning against pillars and doorways to avoid being caught these motions make sure the viewer doesn't forget she could be caught at any moment therefore building tension while inspecting mrs bate's bedroom lyla frightens herself with the double mirror when she sees the back of her head in the opposing mirror this is a classic technique to build tension by tricking the viewer into thinking we have reached the jump scare so that when lila calms down she and the audience are more vulnerable to danger and fear in the motel norman is showing many signs of fear like constantly moving his mouth and tapping his finger he feels threatened by sam and his building anxiety is telling us he is about to act out of fear which almost never ends well back in the basement once lila sees mrs bates mrs bate slowly turns around building tension out of the slow mystery of the reveal this reveal frightens lyla so much that when she sees norman she is simply frozen lila sees norman before we do yet creating another mystery of reveal norman charges toward her with the full intent of stabbing her the knife angled towards lila yet we cannot see sam leading us to believe that she will be killed costumes lila is wearing a thick shirt dress with a matching knee-length coat this is a very popular and sleek style from the late 1950s juxtaposing the old age of the house sam is also wearing a thick heavy coat that makes him appear bigger compared to norman who is only wearing a casual thin white dress shirt representing their apparent power imbalance once he arrives in the basement he is wearing a victorian-esque dress along with a gray wig in a ponytail that perfectly resembles mrs bae's hairdo this immediately and clearly reveals the true murderer and provides a type of explanation for the previous occurrences it shows how intensely he believes he is mrs bates and lets us see into his psychoticness [Music] when norman is grabbed by sam the mother's dress and wig begin to slip off this causes him to make a pained facial expression this visually symbolizes his intense attachment to his mother and how when that part of him is being taken away he experiences real agony lighting for the majority of the scene the lighting is quite natural not being the center of attention but there are a few notable moments when lila runs downstairs we can see the contrast between the light of the foyer and the darkness of the basement in the basement when lila sees the real mrs bates she throws her arm back out of figure causing her to hit the light bulb this light bulb swings back and forth for the duration of the scene this panning light creates an unsteady light source invoking a feeling of uncertainty and chaos

Channel: sofia's films n stuff

Views: 2,530

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Id: 0jN9Fzld-Dc

Length: 4min 38sec (278 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 17 2022