I. Overview
Hitchcock's "Psycho" is one of the most famous horror films in Hollywood history, and is often referred to as a cross-age film by later filmmakers. Although the scene of murder in the bathroom in the film is not Hitchcock’s innovation, it has made this passage one of the most classic horror pictures in film history by virtue of its strong personal audiovisual performance techniques. People often regard this passage as one of the most classic horror pictures in film history. For Hitchcock's great contribution to the field of film lens language innovation. In fact, in addition to the climax of the bathroom murder, there are 978 shots in the whole film, a large number of motion shots in the film, with a large number of different conventional tilt shots and fast jump cuts, creating a scene of horror in the fast pace. . The composition of the pictures in the film is rigorous, the scene scheduling is exquisite, and there are metaphors full of profound philosophical implications everywhere, all of which demonstrate Hitchcock's master style.
2. The "third party phantom" constructed by lens language
The movie "Scary" tells the story of a female employee Marion who fled to a motel with stolen money due to her greed. The operator of the hotel, Norman Bates, is a dangerous man with a dual personality. In the film, bates' self side is often polite, but his "mother" side reveals crazy malice to others from time to time.
In my opinion, the most exciting passage in the film is before and after the dinner between Marion and Norman in the room at the service counter. This passage and the subsequent murder passage in the bathroom together create a creepy memory of influence. On the surface, the characters in these two scenes are only Marion and Norman, but because of Norman’s dual personality, when Marion and Bates communicate, ghostly third-party phantoms flash frequently, making people feel in the process of watching the movie. An out-of-order confusion and restlessness creates a sense of horror that is extremely torn and powerless. In addition, metaphors such as the holes in the wall virtually draw the audience into the situation, making the audience the third party in the whole event.
Below I will only try to appreciate the unique charm of Hitchcock in creating this "third party phantom" by analyzing the three aspects of photography skills, scene scheduling, and light and shadow effects only from the perspective of audiovisual language.
1. Photography skills
1.1 Clever white space
Before this shot, Marion heard Norman's argument with his "mother" in the room. At this moment, Marion, who was waiting at the door of Room 1, was waiting for Norman to come over, hoping to communicate with him. Here, Hitchcock made Marion stare at the darkness for three seconds through the blank composition. Until Norman walked up with the plate. In this composition, the audience, like Marion, panicked and eagerly expected Norman to appear in front of them, trying to understand what happened between him and his mother. Not only the darkness and the unknown increase the sense of instability and panic between Marion and the audience, but the long-term blank space makes this instability and panic even more torment.
1.2 The third pair of eyes: the hole in the wall and the perspective of God in the bathroom
From the moment Norman removed the painting on the wall and exposed the hole, the audience unknowingly became the complicity of the peeping scene. In this very close-up, Norman's eyes peeped into the picture that the audience wanted to see. In the next shot, Hitchcock succeeded in making the audience a third party.
In the scene of the murder in the bathroom, the repeated rapid jumps make people overwhelmed. However, with the emergence of a god’s perspective, Hitchcock brutally pushed the whole picture of the murder scene to the audience, impacting and tearing the audience’s already fragile heart. .
1.3 The magical effect of the photographic angle
The difference between these two shots occurred after Marion suggested that Noman should resist "mother". In the head-up shot, Norman is still humble and polite, while the appearance of the elevation lens and the forward posture of Norman's body in the screen are all in Thinking of the audience's suggestion, Norman became another person. In addition, whether it is the shadow in the previous head-up lens, or the owl with wings spread out in the corner of the wall in the rear elevation lens, they symbolize the third party to a certain extent. Hitchcock's meticulous work in the composition of photography can give you a glimpse of these two lenses.
2. Scene scheduling:
2.1 Ingenious foreshadowing in the change of character's posture
Similarly, in the aforementioned angle of photography, Hitchcock has demonstrated superb scene management ability. Norman's posture leaned forward to backward, and accompanied by key lines, he described his helplessness in being unable to get rid of the influence of "mother". Norman leans back, and the owl with spread wings in the corner occupies the center of his sight, suddenly highlighting the strong restraint of the "mother" personality on Norman. After the character's posture changes, the metaphor of the specimen itself is revealed to the audience, as if the "mother" has been floating above the room, watching what is happening in the room, this kind of scheduling ability is admirable.
2.2 Ingenious two paintings
Exquisite metaphors and symbols can be seen everywhere in the film, taking the two paintings on the wall of Room 1 as an example. After the murder, Norman rushed into Room 1 and found Marion tragically killed in the bathtub. In panic, Norman turned and leaned against the wall outside the bathroom. One painting fell to the ground, and the other was hung on the wall, watching. Norman. In the previous dinner scene, Norman once said that Marion and his "mother" are like birds. It can be said to be a clever echo here. The bird on the ground suggests the dead Marion, and the bird on the wall symbolizes the "mother". Even after Marion tragically died in the bathtub, in such a scene, Hitchcock still created a terrifying scene containing three people, and the ghostly third party phantom is always entwined in this eerie Bates motel. .
3. Light and shadow effect
The use of light and shadow set a solid tone for the horror atmosphere of this film. The film was produced at the end of the 1950s, when color films were already emerging, but Hitchcock still chose black and white images. In this black and white movie, the shadow is like a ghost, always hovering in front of the audience. For example, after Marion learned of the existence of "Mother", Norman's shadow appeared on the window outside Room 1. The shadow together with Norman and Marion formed a picture of the existence of a third party.
In the film "The Cry", the master Hitchcock's lens language ability is breathtaking. The above views on the "third party phantom" are just some personal opinions, and more comprehensive and in-depth study of the master's works is needed in the future.
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