Then we get this shot– is the camera trucking around his shoulders or is he using his tall, slender body to arch over into the frame? This scene was the most uncomfortable during my viewing because of how absolutely unnatural it feels. He’s hesitating and evading Arbogast’s questions about Marion. Now we obviously know at this point in the film that something is off about Norman. This causes the viewer to grow weary about Norman, realizing quickly that something about him is off. Even the taxidermy birds seem to grow more menacing as each shot of Norman changes. Throughout the entire shot/reverse shot process, Norman gets closer to the camera, is shown from profile or from slightly above and has a distinct light on his face.
It constantly switches the sides and angles of which we see him, some more uncomfortable than others. We’ve only just met him and heard his argument with his mother, but the camera is paying the most attention to him. It is nothing extravagant compared to the view we got of Norman. The camera shows Norman from as many angles as possible.ĭuring the scene where Marion and Norman converse in the parlor, the camera mostly stays stationary on Marion’s face, save for a few zooms in.
This gave a clue to the audience that something was off about this secluded, lonely character and we would have to see for ourselves what was really happening behind closed doors. There were a few scenes that brought forward the role of looking and gazing to an extreme level as Hitchcock came too close to Norman’s face or distorting the audience’s view of him. Perhaps the scary factor, other than the murders, came from the canted camera angles and the uneasy look on Norman Bates’ face. Psycho, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous films, played with cinematography and character blocking like no film had really done before.
0 kommentar(er)
