Psycho Shower Scene Analysis

Psycho Shower Scene Analysis

Alfred Hitchcock is a wonderful director and has made many amazing films. One of his most famous movies is Psycho (1960) and along with this famous movie came one of the greatest horror scenes to ever be made. The scene I am speaking of is of course the classic “shower scene”. This is one of the most famous movies scenes of all time. Hitchcock uses point-of-view and direct address editing preceding the famous shower scene in Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock was able to capture innocence, fear, hatred, and beauty all in a scene that lasted a little over two minutes. Alfred Hitchcock brought realism to a grisly scene while using black and white film.

The scene, from the flushing of the toilet to the camera panning back to the bedroom last a mere two minutes and twenty seconds. He uses different camera shot movements, distance & angle, height & level, depth of field and sound in the scene from the time the future victim opens the shower curtain. The scene is set as the victim gets in the shower, there is only diegetic sound used to set the scene. The absence of music and the empty sounds of a bathroom set the scene. I think Hitchcock seeks to get the audience to let their guard down. There is no danger here. No mood music leading up to anything bad. Just the victim getting in a shower, there set used echoes the sounds heard in everyone’s bathroom. A hollow sound - the metal rings sliding along the shower curtain rod, the turning of the faucet. The sound of water hitting tiles and a tub. A very innocent scene shows the audience no foreseen danger. Twenty-three seconds into the scene a shadow is seen through the shower curtain. There is still silence except for the sound of water running in a shower. The shadow seen through the shower curtain looms larger. Suddenly the music starts, as the shower curtain is ripped open. Here the director begins using light to show the good and the evil. Everything outside the shower is filmed in shadows and darkness. Everything inside the shower is very well lit. The music is fast and intense as the scene unfolds a same pace. The knife wielded by the attacker is often seen from below - as if coming down always on the victim - and the audience. Hitchcock uses other camera angles to show the victim being stabbed from above - as if the viewer is given a ride on the knife as it plunges down into her body. There is the sound of the knife making contact with flesh nine times in twenty-four seconds. The music continues at a thundering pace as the scream of the victim is amplified by the shower. The camera continues moving around at multiple angles. Each camera movement is abrupt and sudden. There is no panning in this sequence of filming - the audience is brought into the scene from multiple angles in rapid succession. Then as suddenly as the attack began - it ends. The music changes as the attacker leaves the bathroom.