Psycho Image Analysis 1

 

This image shows us a close up of Normans preserved mum who he placed in the cellar of his house. The scene links closely to the life of the serial killer Ed Gein (who was arrested in 1957, just three years before Psycho was released) because he dug up his mother’s body and preserved the corpse. The use of close ups and low key lighting in this scene adds more tension when the body is turned around and it also scares the audience when they realise that it’s a dead body. With the film being shot in black and white it adds a further dark gloomy effect on the body.

This scene indicates to us how Hitchcock used expressionist camera angles to scare the audience and add tension to each scene. The use of a cellar also creates an uncomfortable atmosphere because audiences at the time would have known the story of Ed Gein. This included the whole audience as it was a major story in the time the film was released.