Psycho

Psycho is a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The film follows the same base as Hitchcock's other thrillers, there is a McGuffin the $40,000 that the films main character Marion steals, this is what the audience initially thinks the film is about, meaning the murder comes as a massive shock, this makes the audience apprehensive for the rest of the film and is part of why psycho is so brilliant.

The character of Norman Bates went against the cliche of regular murderers by having him being charming this is a disguise as Norman is an odd fellow and this can be seen from when he chats with marion in the parlour of the motel where he has placed all of the birds he has taxidermied.

Throughout the film we hear stories of Norman's mother and he talks about her fondly however we never actually see her apart from when there is a murder but then we only see dark outline of what we assume is the mother in a dress, when it gets to later on in the film however we discover that Norman's mother has actually been dead for some time, we then see that Norman actually dug up his deceased mother shortly after her burial and taxidermied her and moves her around the house as though she were still alive, at the end of the film we see that Norman actually has extreme schizophrenia in which he actually believes he is his own mother and she tells the police about her "sons" murder.

The film uses an enigma as we never see who the murderer is though we can make out at some points a long dress and long hair leading us to believe it is a woman, we also hear about normans mother a lot so it is only natural that we would draw the conclusion that the mother is the murderer, this however is spun on its head when we find out that normans mother has been dead for some time and that she was buried, however when a the protagonists sister goes to inspect the house we discover that norman dug up his mother taxidermic her and keeps her in the house, moving her around and dressing her up , this also links to his schizophrenia as he believes he is his mother and so dons her clothing and murders people.

The murder scene from psycho this is the first time we see anything bad happen in the film and is one of the first times anything risky has been shown in cinema, however nothing bad actually happens it is all editing, the knife never actually touches Marion and there are no cuts or blood at all, as a matter of fact the "blood" is actually chocolate powder as Hitchcock thought it ran better.

Media Theorists and theories.

1.Barthes-enigma Codes.
Enigma=Mystery.
Roland Barthes: all texts are complex bundles of meaning.
Enigma Codes (problem introduced)-usually in 'disruption' stage.
Open texts-Not resolved at the end.
Closed texts-resolved at the end.
Polysemic Texts-lots of different meanings.

2.levi Strauss-Binary opposites.
Levi Strauss said that Narratives can be organised through binary opposition - two things opposed  - often dominant vs subordinate - e.g: male/female, hero/villain.

3.Traditional Hollywood Narrative Structure-3 acts (linear)
Three act structure- the typical Hollywood narrative = set up (25%)/ confrontation (50%)/ climax (final 25% of film time).
Linear (chronological), few, if any, sub-plots, tendency towards closure at the end of the film.

4.Todorov-narrative theory-5 stages.
In 1969 Todorov produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film.
Todorov believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern through various different stages.
Todorov's five stages:
1-A state of Equilibrium(all is as it should be).
2-A disruption of that order by an event.
3-A recognition that the disorder has occurred.
4-An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5-A return, or restoration, of a new Equilibrium.


5.Propp-Character types.
Vladimir propp analysed traditional folk stories and discovered that there are eight main character types: Hero/Villain/Helper/Donor(Provider)/Father/Dispatcher/Princess/False Hero. One character can perform more than one role.

6.Laura Mulvey-visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
Theory of the male gaze=
Women are viewed as objects of male erotic desire-in film and audience.
Men active/Women passive.
Women do not have agency-they do not move the plot forward.
the audience is forced to identify with the male gaze.
Cinema reflects patriarchal (male dominated) society.
Patriarchy and phallocentrism linked-phallus(penis) a symbol of power e.g. in cinema guns=phallus=power.

Thriller Conventions

Thriller is a Genre of media that usually has: Fast pacing, frequent action, resourceful heroes who have to thwart the plans of better equipped villains and Thrillers are usually villain driven plots, the villain presents obstacles that the hero must overcome.

Thrillers use devices such as: suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers, these are all used to draw the viewers attention and help the feel how the characters are feeling cliff hangers are a good example as they are what they say on the tin, for example in north by north-west there is a point where eve Kendall is hanging of of mount Rushmore and roger thorn hill reaches to help here up, this is a cliff hanger as you aren't sure whether he can reach her and if she will plummet to her demise or if roger will save her, when watching this the viewer can feel the danger of the situation.

Thrillers are a flexible Genre and can engage the audience through dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.Hitchcock himself said that Thrillers allow the audience to "put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it is like.

More characteristics of thrillers: thrillers often take place in exotic settings such as foreign cities, the heroes in thrillers are frequently"hard men" accustomed to danger such as policemen or soldiers etc, however they may just be ordinary citizens thrown into the fray accidentally such as roger thorn hill in north by north-west as he is mistaken for someone else.while such heroes are traditionally men, women lead characters have become increasingly popular such as Sigourney Weavers role as Ripley in the movie Alien (1979).

Thrillers often overlap with the genre of mystery but can be easily distinguished by the structure of the plot.In thrillers the hero has to stop the villain from there future plans such as a major heights or mass murder whereas in mysteries the hero usually has to figure out who the villain is after there plan has unfolded murder mysteries for example. Thrillers occur on a much larger scale than mysteries such as mass murder over one person being killed in the kitchen by lady Scarlett with the lead pipe.Dangerous and violent confrontations are standard plot elements of thrillers such as the scene in north by north-west when the bad guys attempt to make Roger Thornhill kill himself whilst driving intoxicated.The climax or mystery films are often when the murderer has been identified however in thrillers the end goal is only reached when the Villains plans have been thwarted by the Hero.

Thrillers are defined by the primary mood that they create: fearful excitement.

in short, if it thrills it is a thriller.

North by North-West

Crop duster scene:

Hitchcock said that thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it is like.

Sound: to begin with there is no noise it is silent, this is due to the fact that nothing important is happening, rarely cars will drive past Cary Grant and you can hear the crop duster in the distance, these sounds are parralel as they match what is happening on screen.
However this all starts to change as the crop duster begins to chase Cary Grant the noise of the plane gets louder and there are a few gunshots. It is when the plane crashes into the tank that the Non Diagetic music begins, the music that is not in the world of the movie the music is parralel as it portrays the danger and mystery of the situation.

Mise-en-Scene: the scene takes plae on a desert road in the middle of nowhere with Cary Grant standing alone, this is used to show that he is vunerable and has no one to help him if trouble arrises

Trailer:

I think the trailer appeals to the audience as it highlits a few key plot points and shows action, romance and suspense which will all entice the audience.

Archetypal Thriller: North by North-West is an archetypal thriller as it has the senses of mystery and suspense plus the major plot points such as a villian driven plot and red herrings.



North by North-West is a very good example of a Villain driven plot, Roger Thornhill only does things according to how the villain wants him to for example when he thinks he is meeting up with the person he is accused of being he is set up and almost murdered by a crop duster.

A Sound Test.