Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director/producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. His stories frequently feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside female characters. 

Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime, although many of the mysteries are meant only to serve thematic elements in the film and the complex psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual undertones.

Notable examples of Hitchcock's suspense-thriller films:

Spellbound (1945)

Notorious (1946)
Psycho (1960) with the classic set piece (the 'shower scene')

The Birds (1963) 

PSYCHO

Psycho has become one of the most recognisable films in cinema history, and is arguably Hitchcock's best known film. It has influenced many other thrillers. I have watched it around a year ago and I enjoyed it, it was very shocking and full of twists and mystery. Here are some analysis f the film:

• When Marion is running away, the long scene of her driving the car in the darkness and in the rain is effective to build up suspense and anticipates the audience that something is going to happen next.

• The owner is suspicious as he is very kind to her but also build up a strange atmosphere when he talks about his mother.

• The shower scene doesn't allow us to identify who the murderer is, this creates tension. The combination of the close up shots with their short duration makes the sequence feel more subjective than it would have been if the images were presented alone or in a wider angle, an example of the technique Hitchcock described as "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience". The music composed by screeching violins, violas, and cellos is helping to build up tension and horror in the scene. This scene inspired many other thrillers scenes in the bath.

• The murder of the protagonist of the film may be shocking to the audience especially because the role was played by the star Janet Leigh.

• Norman's reaction over Marion’s death makes the audience speculate that the killer is the mother. However they had never seen her clearly, this mystery creates suspense.

• The split personality of Norman effectively builds up suspense because it deceives the audience. The audience gets confused between the mother and the son. 

• The end of the film is effective as we can see Norman but hear his mother inside his head. It looks like she still alive inside him and he cannot even control or realise. Finding out that he has a split personality and he dresses as his mother is a twist that makes the film shocking. The slow zooming in until we get a still close up of his face helps to create the last bit of suspense.