Hitchcocks Psycho Assignment

Logistics
This assignment is due in its entirety no later than Tuesday, October 11.
Part Two must be printed out and turned into the black basket. Please do
not submit online. You may use the beginning of class on Tuesday to print it
out. At this time, I do not anticipate there being any class time set aside to
type this essay; it should be done for homework. You are encouraged to
work on it a little each night, while the movie is fresh in your brain.
Although we will watch the film in its entirety in class, oftentimes multiple
viewings are helpful in writing a paper. The movie will be available for any
student to view throughout the day during study hall. See Mrs. A across the
hall in room 133 (the online learning lab) to view the film as needed (bring
headphones). After school viewing options are also available upon request.
Part ONE
Answer the questions on the attached viewing guide as thoroughly as
possible. These are notes for you to organize your thoughts about the film.
They will not be collected.
Part TWO
Pick one of the following questions below and answer as thoroughly as
possible in 1 page or less. Use examples from the film as supporting
evidence. Depth of thought and analysis is what counts here, not hot air.
1. Consider and describe the mood of this film. How is mood created?
Does the mood change?
2. Dramatic irony refers to a situation in which events or facts not
known to a character on screen are known to another character and/or
the audience. How is dramatic irony used in this film?
3. Discuss how the use of at least 2 Gothic plot devices contributes to
the development of any character in this film.
4. Discuss a memorable scene in terms of Camera Usage/Filming
Technique. Why is your selection an excellent example of this
technique? What impact did it have on the film? Refer to your
handout on How to turn your boring movie into a Hitchcock thriller.

5. A common definition of suspense is: a quality in a work of fiction that

arouses excited expectation or uncertainty about what may happen.
Explore how Hitchcock creates suspense in this film what specific
techniques does he use to manipulate the emotional reaction of his
audience? Include your analysis of whether this was an effective use
of suspense and whether you would have done anything differently
had you been the director.
Psycho Viewing Guide
Main Characters:
Marion Crane
boyfriend)
Norman Bates
(Normans mother)
Lila Crane (Marions sister)
Investigator Arbogast

Sam Loomis (the

Mrs. Bates
Private

1. This film definitely explores the idea of VOYEURISM secretly watching human
behavior, and sometimes, in particular, human behavior. Make a list of places in the
film where this idea is explored. Especially look for moments where we or other
characters watch Marion.

2. At the beginning of the film, Hitchcock makes the audience identify and sympathize
with Marion Crane. How does Hitchcock achieve this?

3. After leaving work, while back at her apartment, what VISUALS does Hitchcocks
camera focus on that show us what decision Marion has made?

4. Hitchcock uses voice-over narration in Psycho. Some of the scenes include when
Marion sees her boss after leaving work, and then again after she buys the new car.
What does Hitchcock tell the viewer with this technique? What sound effects are
applied to the voices?

5. When Marion is driving (after she has the new car),

what SOUNDS and VISUALS create suspense and
make us feel uneasy?

6. When Norman and Marion eat and talk in the parlor, what causes the scene to shift in
tone? What upsets Norman?

7. How is the audience positioned to feel about Norman throughout this scene? What do
you make of the shadow that divides Normans face in half? What does the audience
see around Norman throughout this scene? Compare the shots of Norman with the
shots of Marion. How are they different?

8. Reflect on the conversation when Norman talks about people and traps. He says he
was born into his trap. What is Normans trap?

9. Why do you think Hitchcock used all the stuffed birds in this setting? What might they
be symbolic of? (This might be a good question to answer at the end of the film.)

10. After her meal with Norman, Marion reaches a new decision. What is it and how
does the audience know? (What visual cues does Hitchcock give us?)

11. In the shower scene, explain the metaphor Hitchcock makes when he cuts from an
extreme close-up of the shower drain to an extreme close-up of Marions eye.

12. As briefly as you can, paraphrase what happened to Norman and why he is who he
is according to the psychiatrist.

13. While Hitchcock loves to use dramatic irony to create suspense giving the
audience information that one or more characters do not have he also likes
surprises. List the surprises in this film. (This can include deaths as well as
information that comes as a surprise to us.)

14. Hitchcock believed villains needed to be human that people are not black and
white, simply evil or good. What makes the villain character in Psycho sympathetic
and human? Give specific details to support your answer.

15.

What is the MacGuffin in Psycho?

16. Hitchcock filmed Psycho on a fairly low budget and in black and white, even
though six of his previous seven films had been in color. Does black and white add to
or detract from the impact of the film?

17. According to the established standards of the time, the following provisions applied
to films in 1960:
The sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime,
wrongdoing, evil, or sin
Excessive and lustful kissing, embracing, suggestive gestures and postures
were unacceptable
Explicit nudity was unacceptable
Swearingsuch as the use of the words damn, God, and hellwas
unacceptable
Brutality and gruesomeness had to be treated with the careful limits of good
taste
Taking the above into consideration, do you think Hitchcock got away with a lot in the
making of Psycho? Use specific examples to support your opinion.

Gothic Elements

Suspense-Building Techniques

Decaying, ruined scenery, implying there

was once a thriving world
Menacing-looking castle, house, etc., often
secluded/abandoned/cut-off
Dungeons, catacombs, tombs, crypts,
basements, attics
Labyrinths, dark corridors, winding stairs
Shadows, moonlight and darkness, flickering
candles, dimly lit laps
Extreme landscapes or extreme weather
Ascent up a staircase or hill/mountain
Descent down into basement
Secret passages, hidden doors
Pursued/distressed maiden; threat of harm to
her
Woman threatened by tyrannical male
Revenge, family curse; current generation
suffers for the evil deeds of ancestors
Gore, torture
Doppelganger
Madness
Broken taboos (voyeurism would definitely fit
here)
Inexplicable events that may or may not be
explained in the end
Body-snatching, grave-robbing
High, overwrought emotion
Entrapment, imprisonments (physically or
mentally)
Transformation/metamorphosis (a striking
change in appearance)
Necromancy (communicating with the dead)
Revenant (return of the dead)
Somnambulism (sleepwalking)
Superstition
Metonymies of gloom and horror

Reliance on audience imagination

Implied events and innuendo favored over
something clearly stated or shown
Long, slowed-down scenes that draw out
the anticipation and suspense
Use of Montage
Camera angles (from them side, from
above)
Close-up shots versus medium or far
Lighting
Music, and, just importantly, silence

Other things to look for and

consider:

What are the motivations of each

character?
Note the use of mirrors to reflect true self,
darker self, etc.
Repeated symbols, either visual or
dialogue
The interplay of light and dark (think:
good and evil)
The use of interior monologues
What was the MacGuffin in this movie?
(Remember: the MacGuffin is a gimmicky
plot device in the form of some goal,
desired object, or other motivator that the
protagonist pursues, often with little or no
narrative explanation. The specific nature
of a MacGuffin is typically unimportant to
the overall plot.)

Oh yes, and. . .
VOYEURISM