I decided to watch Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film, Psycho (1h49m)
This was the first time I had ever seen this film, and I was very surprised. I knew the smallest bit about the story from images I had seen - but these were mainly just the shower scene in which Marion Crane is murdered.
The film was full of suspense and left you on the edge of your seat.
Notes I made during the film:
Lots of closeups.
-Repetitive - makes you think about the importance of the object/person/location.
-Gets you to focus on the thing that keeps being seen - builds suspense.
Black and white.
-High contrast.
-Grainy.
-Exposure - sometimes underexposed, other time overexposed, but it works.
Eerie.
-Camera angles.
-Poses the characters do.
-Their expressions.
-The lighting throughout the film.
Use of empty/negative space.
-Interesting.
-Eerie.
-Makes you look around the room - everything catches your eye.
Interesting camera angles.
-Keeps you interested.
-Different.
-Builds suspense.
The Parlour scene.
I found this scene particularly interesting, you see the personality of Norman Bates come through and it makes you wonder. I also found the lighting in this scene to be very powerful.
Norman Bates, owner of Bates Motel, comes across as a shy, but kind man who has a hobby for taxidermy. The use of lighting in this scene drew me in even more. The way the shadows from the frames and the owl were cast onto the wall and the eerie pose of him stroking one of his stuffed animals initially leads you to believe that he is perhaps the killer. But later scenes easily change your mind on who the real killer is.
The owl stares directly into the camera as Norman speaks with Marion Crane, guest at the Bates Motel. I found this interesting, as owls are associated with wisdom and knowledge, but they are also thought to bring bad luck, announce death, or even take away souls and guide the dead on their journey. This makes you question whether Norman is the 'wise owl' there to help, or the 'evil owl' who will take someones life.
