At the start of the scene the protagonist is the young, blonde woman who's alone in a motel room. In a thriller, this is a convention because young women were seen to be vulnerable and easy targets. Especially blondes as they were seen to not be as smart as other women. Having a woman as the protagonist of a thriller makes it easier for them to be targets as they would be seen weaker. Her bathrobe suggest that the movie is set around the 1950s, which is the typical type of clothing very simplistic yet fashionable to when the movie was shot. The scene filmed in a bathroom which is a very confined space. Being a confined space it shows the normality of the room we don't expect nothing horrible to happen; she has no idea that something will happen.
The score is very soft and tense which is creating suspense. In thrillers suspense
is always caused by the score. Small confined spaces are common in
thriller's because it puts characters in a menacing situation making
escape seems impossible. When she's in the bathroom there is a close-up
of paper been flushed down the toilet. The use if an enigma adds mystery
to the scene because we don't know what was written on the paper and
why she ripped it up and threw it away. There is a medium close-up of
the door as well as in a synchronous sound of locking, this further adds
to the suspense being created.
The
protagonist thinks she is alone and locking the door makes her feel
protected. The door serves as barrier to which no one will be able to
get through. However this isn’t the case later in the scene. The close
up of it locking creates drama as well as suspense as the barrier gets
broken through by the antagonist, which we don't know who it is yet.
Many different angles are used and many asynchronous sounds can be heard
such as the crackling of the plastic covering the soap being removed. There is much diegetic sound are those of the paper being flashed down the toilet
and the water running from the shower head. There are many quick cuts
between the water and the protagonist. At this point there is no score
this makes it seem realistic however the silence shows that something is
about to take place and it's foreshadowing what will happen later in
the scene. The 'normality of the scene is further illustrated due to the conventions of thrillers portrayed in this scene and it builds more tension. The montage in the shower creates an ellipsis showing she is in the shower for a while and is unaware of her surroundings.
A wide shot frame to the right side of the frame creates dramatic irony often used in thrillers to create tension as we see somebody walking into the
bathroom, which we saw was locked. That person was able to pick. Due to
the sound of the shower, the protagonists is unable to realise that
somebody is there. The zooming in of the antagonist creates suspense
because we don't know if it is a man or woman. Dramatic irony is being used.There
is pleonastic sounds in the score is used to mimic the stabbing of the
young lady as well as the synchronisation of the curtain being pulled
back score at this point is very jumpy creating action as it's a very
loud and shocks the audience. This is what would be expected from a
thriller to get audience jumping out of their seats. An extreme close-up
of the young woman's mouth and she screams showing her pain and agony.
Quick cuts showing the protagonist being killed by the antagonist’s
knife. The quick cut montage of shots disorientates the viewer.
There is the use of a red herring as the silhouette of the antagonist looks like a woman's but we don't know for sure. Again there is pleonastic sound as she slides and down the wall with little life left and the camera zooms out showing her arm as she reaches for the curtain followed by a close-up of her hand as she grabs the curtain. However she struggles to get up but this shows her attempts to survive. At this point there is no score, it is silent which makes it therefore more dramatic. The only diegetic sound for the water as it is being left open running as the water goes down the drain the camera zeros in on the drain hole attendance are graphic match of her eye deer this creates a motif and symbolises the life been drained out of her. Resuming out of the eye and the stillness shows there is no more life and her she is helpless and there's nobody here to help her we are now at eye level with the protagonists on the floor showing that she is completely dead. The camera then tracks around the room as if from someone's point of view although we're uncertain it can't be the antagonist as we saw him or her as we are still unsure leave the bathroom. An enigma is used and the key prop of a newspaper on the side table there is a low angle of the house which Norman Bates and his mother live then followed by the at asynchronous sound of him yelling saying 'no mother what have you done'. The extreme long shot of the house shows a dark and mysterious house often used in thriller. They would often be dark, quite old which shows that there is a mystery but also danger in the house.
What was effective in Psycho?
For me, I found that the match on action in the shower scene where the water being drained turns into the protagonist's eye was most effective because it made the death more dramatic symbolising life being drained from her.
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