Psycho Shower Scene Analysis

The camera work in this scene is very much perspective shots, you start the scene with a close up shot of the victim writing on a pad of paper, this gives you an instant connection with the film as you are taking on her point of view, this is then supported by a following mid-shot of her putting the lid on the pen. You either take the point of the view of the victim or a 3^rd person perspective within the start of the scene, however the 3^rd person shots seem to be used for mainly location of what room she is in and what is in the room with her. Whilst she is in the shower the camera takes on another perspective, as she is washing, the camera pans slowly to the left, slowly revealing the killer walking into the bathroom, this is a good way to ease another character into the scene. Most of the shots are either close ups or mid-close ups, these shots help bring the audience closer to the action and also helps show emotion. The use of different points of view helps create an overall chaos to the scene because you are constantly switching characters and therefore crossing emotions.

Throughout the whole scene, the editing is very much the same as what you would find in a conventional thriller, at the start of the scene, the lady moves from one room to the next, this is all very smooth cut, nothing is fast and the transition between shots is steady, this helps give a very relaxed atmosphere to the section of film, as you start getting closer to the part when the killer enters the room, the cuts between scenes become increasingly faster, they also change more to still camera shots, this change it technique from the tracking shot of her walking into the bathroom helps start to foreshadow a sense of irregularity. Once you see the killer, all shots become very sharp and rapid, this brings instant fright and chaos into the scene, the fast shots also represent how everything Is happening so quickly, however straight after she is stabbed, she slumps onto the floor, this is then followed by slow editing again, this helps enhance the fact she has just died, as the most thrilling bit of the scene is sandwiched by two calm sections. The use of a cutaway shot was unusual for a thriller, this was the part of the scene when the killer was stabbing the victim and it cut to the storm, this use of pathetic fallacy is something I feel helps push this to be different and more engaging than a lot of thrillers I have witnessed.

The sound in this thriller is very typical of most thrillers, the diegetic sounds in this scene comes from mainly just the shower, however, noises such as the ripping of the paper and flushing of the toilet will all be diegetic, but as I watched it, I feel the water had a slight bit of echo on it, though this helps enhance the emptiness of the room after the victim has died, as if her life is draining away. The non-diegetic sound within the films is very obvious, but its needed in those places to make you realize it is a thriller, such as the soundtrack, this use of the violin in the background gives it a very eerie feel, the fact that is doesn’t sounds quite in tune also enhances the fact that something is not quite right, furthermore when the lady dies, the music is played in a very low, deep sound, making the death more meaningful and dramatic. Non-diegetic sound is also used for the thunder and the stabbing, though I don’t feel the stabbing noises are particularly realistic, it would not make sense if they were not there.

The main use of lighting comes within the most dramatic point, the light is coming from behind the killer, this helps conceal his/her identity whilst in the next shot it is in the perfect place to fully reflect onto the knife, giving this shot a huge impact on the scene, revealing what the killer is going to do to the victim.