Analysis of Psycho (1998) Shower Scene

The scene begins with a low angle point of view close up of the shower; this gives the viewer a sense of being in the shower and also lets the viewer know that the shower is going to be a major part in the scene. The scene then moves to an establishing shot where the camera remains still and we see a block behind the shower curtain where we can deduce a person is standing. The shot the then changes to a close up of the person with the knife, this shot takes up the whole shot to emphasise that this is a major part of the scene also there is a lot of mystery in the shot as the attackers face is hidden behind the water from the shower but the knife and hand are clear. Just from this shot it is obvious that this is a thriller movie. The next shot is a low angle close up on the knife, this is used to show the vulnerability of the woman in the shower and the attacking knife.

The scene then moves to an extreme close up reaction shot of the victim screaming, it then cuts quickly back to a point of view shot through the water of the knife coming at the victim. The next shot it goes to is a high angle shot which shows the vulnerability of the victim while she is getting stabbed as we are over the top of everyone in the shot. The next shot in the scene is a high angle shot of the results of the stabbing as the water around the victim is spotted with blood. The scene the cuts to outdoors where there is a storm this emphasises the genre and the chaos inside the room. It then cuts back to a close up of the victim’s hand slowly sliding down the tiled wall leaving a line of blood. This clearly shows the effects of what has happened and the fact that the woman is unable to fight back.

The shot that follows is another extreme close up, this time of the victim’s eye, this shot clearly shows the victims dilated pupil which shows that she is afraid as pupils dilate in stressful situations. The scene then moves on to a mid-shot through the water of the attacker we are still confused as to who the attacker is but we do get a conclusion to the murder. The scene then goes to an extreme close up of the victims blood covered hand grasping at the shower curtain in desperation. It then moves to an extreme close up of the victim’s blood circling down the drain, this could represent the victim’s life draining away.

Next in the scene is an extreme close up of the victim’s eye slowly rotating around, the eye does not move or blink this shows that the woman is now dead and lead to the next shot which is a close up of the woman’s face on the floor showing clearly that she is dead. The shot then move out to show her body has keeled over and the knife marks in her back. The scene then moves to a close-up of a newspaper which has a map highlighted on the front which may be a reason why she was murdered. The last shot of the scene is a mid-shot of the house which is in shadow and the storm in the background.

First Blog

I'm Kirsty Griffith and I am going to write this blog as part of my AS Media Studies work, in this blog I will talk about what films I have watched recently and different media thing used :L