2Psycho essay: Discuss 2 ways in which a film effectively presented its ideas, opinions or information (characters, settings, structure, form, ideas (themes), style/language techniques, lighting, costume, use of visual and/or sound techniques).
The film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, effectively presented the ideas of murder and schizophrenia through the use of characters, with double-sided Norman Bates in particular, and visual techniques as well as sound techniques.
The ideas of murder and schizophrenia were presented well in the movie 'Psycho' through the use of characters. The character of Norman Bates was the central character in the film and had a complex and differing personality. One moment he was shy, kind, lonely Norman Bates, a mummy's boy, and the next he was deadly jealous Mrs. Bates, his late mother. This was because he was affected by schizophrenia, and at times his 'mother' side took over him. We can see this very clearly in the movie in the last scene where Norman is seen dressed in his mothers clothes, running into the fruit cellar with a bread knife and attempting to kill Marion's sister. She yells in fright and her hand knocks a swinging light bulb, sending it swinging back and forth casting fleeting shadows across the mostly decayed skull of Mrs. Bates, making her look almost alive - which of course she is, in Normans mind. Norman has a psychotic grin on his face and a wig on his head which comes off as he is wrestled to the ground by Marion's fiancé, and all is revealed: Norman Bates' mother no longer exists, her presence was kept alive in the body of her son. This is cleverly portrayed in the film, with voiceovers of Norman in conversation with his 'mother' (Norman himself) making us believe that she really does exist, and adding to the horror of the scene where we see 'Mrs. Bates' for who she really is. The idea of schizophrenia is tied up with the idea of murder because while Norman is typically a nice, shy man, when his mother side takes over, 'she' murders all the girls that Norman is attracted to in a jealous fit of rage. In essence, mother-Norman murders all the people that he likes, which sounds like a contradiction, yet Norman passionately believes in the existence of his mother. We see quiet, nice Norman again once the murders are complete, such as after the murder of Marion, when Norman cries 'oh God, mother! Blood! Blood!' then goes about cleaning up after the murders and hiding the evidence, because as Norman said 'you can't do that (put them in an institution or prison) to someone you love, even if you hate them'.
Many visual techniques are used to portray the interlinking ideas of murder and schizophrenia. Long before we find out about Norman's split personality; we see glimpses of a darker side. When Norman has dinner with Marion, he leans forwards as he speaks about putting his mother in an institution, 'someplace', and the lighting hits his eyes at just the right angle to light them up while the rest of his face is in shadow, creating on his face a sinister, weird look, that hints at his true character. Another visual technique used in the movie, Psycho, was the actual casting of the character, Norman. A fairly small, slim man was used - a weak looking man, who could potentially full the mummy's boy role realistically, and one that looked incapable - strength as well as character wise - of killing another person, let alone serial-killing. The shower scene was a very good visual example of how the idea of schizophrenic murder was successfully dealt with in the film. The shower scene showed Marion Crane, a young women who had just been subtly persuaded by Norman to repent of her recent crime, and so was washing herself physically and symbolically in the shower - washing away her sin and guilt, because in the morning she would own up to her crime, pay for it, and start again, guilt free. This worked well to add great emphasis on the shower scene, because at this turning point in the plot we see she has made a good decision to set things right, and it is almost unbelievable that Marion could be murdered at this highpoint. Nevertheless the film goes on with her murder, which is a very shocking sequence because it happens quickly (shown by having lots of edited shots, which flash past from different angles) as the knife stabs at Marion. We see the figure of 'Mrs. Bates' - a figure in a dress with a woman's hat on. This, we are led to assume is Mrs. Bates, and we are given a big surprise at the end when we find out it was actually Norman wearing her dress. The shower scene is filled with screeching, loud, sharp and unpleasant violin music to add to the tension, and it finishes with a shot of Marion's blood going down the drain, the camera follows it, then comes through to Marion's dead staring eye. The camera angles around her eye, then goes to the window where we can see Normans house and hear his cry to his mother, leading us to believe he has just discovered her recent murder. The later murder scene of Arbogast was also well done, because it presented the mixed ideas of schizophrenia and murder successfully, again leading us to believe that Mrs. Bates was killing the people. It was taken as a high angle; birds eye shot so that we could see 'Mrs. Bates' 'hair' (Normans wig) and her dress on a figure who runs out (with the screeching music starting up loudly, giving us stress) and stabs Arbogast with a kitchen knife. This happens quickly and with the loud music, making us excited and anxious as he is murdered, compared with before as he was looking around Normans' house, when the camera shots were long and the music was soft, creating a more relaxed atmosphere.
The ideas of murder and schizophrenia were shown effectively in the film 'Psycho' through the use of character (in particular Norman Bates) and visual and sound techniques, such as voice-over, unpleasant music, and edited shots. The ideas of murder were presented in such a way that they supported the idea of schizophrenia and kept Mrs. Bates' and Norman' true characters a secret until the end.