Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in 13 August 1899 and died in 29 April 1980. He was a British film producer and director. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen, while remaining a British subject. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyerism. He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime, although many of the mysteries function as decoys or "MacGuffins" meant only to serve thematic elements in the film and the extremely complex psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual undertones.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else."


Psycho.Psycho is a 1960's American Horror film that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film starred Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film itself is based upon the screenplay by Joseph Stefano who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film itself was lightly inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein, whom lived just 40 miles from Bloch.
The film shows an encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh) who is hiding at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motels disturbed owner , Norman Bates (Perkins), and the consequences after their encounter.

Psycho initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted a re-review which was overwhelmingly positive and led to four Academy Award nominations. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and is highly praised as a work of cinematic art by international critics.The film spawned two sequels, a prequel, a remake, and a television movie spin-off. In 1992, the film was selected to be preserved by The Library of Congress at The National Film Registry.

Jennifers Body analysis- Myself, Harri Long, Becky Roydhouse and Amber Holt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BIhwM94kgM&feature=youtu.be

The Ring opening analysis - Lukes presentation

The horror film 'The Ring' displayed a wide range of points to do with the 4 elements; Mise-en-scene, camera angles/movements, sound and editing.


As the scene began, the clouds were in a deep shade of grey and moved across the sky very quickly which could possibly be showing a countdown to how long the woman had to live after she watched the tape. As we became engrossed deeper in the forest, more trees began appearing as we neared her house, which could be revealing how shes getting more and more trapped as the time goes by. We immediately understand that the ring is a symbol of death and will eventually be the thing that kills her. When she looks through the window after the tracking shot to the house through the forest, the lighting on her face is red which could symbolise the danger that she is in and how death is looking at her in the face, yet she's unaware of when it is going to get her. This being because red is a colour that is the colour of blood and is usually used when trying to warn someone of danger.


The fact that the telephone is in almost every shot that she is shown in could be revealing how there is no escaping what is going to happen and how the thought of death is always present in her mind since she got the phonecall that told her she only had a week to survive after watching the tape. As the camera moves closer into her face, we see extreme vunerability in her face of her unknown future, and as the camera moves from a close up to an extreme close up on her face, the fear that she is feeling is being revealed more and more. The fact that the man then begins to destroy the house and everything in it could be revealing how he feels that they no longer have control over whats happening and the ring has taken complete control of their lives and no matter how hard they try, they will never be able to redeem that power back.


The music begins to get softer and quieter as the audience feels something bad is about to happen, this being because by having subtle music in the background, it is almost trying to relax the audience even though they know in the back of their mind that something is about to happen, so it builds great suspense as it leads up to it. But also, I think that soft music was used in an ironic sense because what the characters are going through is very scary and not nice to think of it, but death is almost being portrayed as an innocent thing just through the way that the tone of background music displays.


As the woman  becomes more and more in trouble and closer to death, we notice that the lighting of the scenes become a deeper shade of red, showing that perhaps is showing the audience that she is closer to danger, yet she doesn't know because she can't see what the audience are seeing, so the audience feel her dangerous situation through the lighting that is used. The camera shots show a close up of the womans face in full focus, yet the man in the background is out of focus, which could be showing how the ring is only after the woman and is not interested in the man. As they begin to smash the floor and make it all fall in could be showing how they are getting closer to death and moving further in towards hell. The camera also begins to follow the woman in a way that the audience are now in the point of view of the ring and as we are watching her, we are watching her in a way that the ring would be.


The use of light and dark shows the contrast between life and death and also heaven and hell, because all of the light is shining above the surface which is showing the two people still alive, so they are in a safe place, yet below the surface, underneath the floorboards is in complete darkness and whats beyond it cannot be seen, but also because its underneath them, it could be revealing how it is hell. The upshot of the two people from underneath the floor shows a vunerable and scared expression on both of their faces as they await death, but the fact that the camera is looking up at them from below could be showing how death is staring at them in the face, and there is no escaping from it now because it is too late.

When she asks a question to her partner, the camera pans and moves to a view of the television which could be showing how the ring is answering her question for her because it has control of her life now and no one else can be involved in it. As the object falls through the floorboards it could be representing the woman falling to her death and although she has no idea of this being the way that she is going to die, the audience pick up on the different hints given to them and begin to have an idea as to how she is going to die. But also, it shows how the ring thinks of a human being as nothing more than a useless object because it was thrown down there with no hesitation just as her life is going to be.

When it reaches the moment when she dies, as she is falling and hits the bottom in which she is no dead, we notice that whereas the television screen was blurry before when she was alive, it has no completely blacked out, this perhaps being because she is now dead and the tele symbolised her life and now that she is dead the tele has stopped working.

Silence of the lambs opening analysis - George, Ben, Toby and Doms presentation

The horror film 'Silence of the lambs' displayed a wide range of points to do with the 4 elements; Mise-en-scene, camera angles/movements, sound and editing.


The opening scene began as an establishing shot of the forest with the credits and names of actors in the film appearing and disapearing sharply, immediately putting the audience on the edge of their seats because of the sudden jumps from one name to the next, which also links in with the genre of the film so that people immediately know that it is a horror film before it has even properly begun. The camera then goes on to perform a tracking camera movement of the main woman character in this scene, this comes across to the audience as if the woman is being watched and preyed upon, therefore the camera is being the predator in the shot. Also, the fact that there is always fog behind in the background could be a way of telling the audience that something bad is always going to happen because the fog blocks the clear vision so no body knows what could be lying beyond it. 

The other surrounding sounds that can be heard as the woman is running through the forest are the cooing of a crow which leaves a sense of evil within the film as crows are generally seen as quite mysterious and scary, also as she runs, we notice the sound of crunching leaves that could be symbolising death as they sound like the crushing of bones, so the audience feel tension building as we study to see what is going to happen to her as she runs deeper into the isolated forest.


The first close up that we see of the woman shows great determination on her face and as she studies a rope that is infront of her, we see how she is willing to overcome an obstacles that get in her way. I feel that this close up is also a way of showing the characteristics of the character to give the audience an inkling as to what she is like as a person before the film properly begins. As she begins being introduced to the audience in a deeper manor, the sound begins to change; the music behind her gets louder and more dramatic, and the pace of her panting gets quicker and louder perhaps signalling a lack of breath that may link to something that happens to her further on in the film.

Also, the music begins to change as each scene changes and jolts from one scene to the next, which gives a sense of the woman being followed in the way that the general pace of the film gets faster, the closer she gets to her destination. When she climbs the rope, we see that that side is very dull and the lighting is fairly dark, yet when she has succeeded in climbing the rope, there is light on the other side, perhaps showing that for every task she has to complete, she will always come out better on the other side.


When she approachs the prison we see that when she is walking down the steps, the bars of the prison are red which could be revealing that she is descending into hell and to her death in which she will be trapped. The fact that the camera is filming the people from behind the bars also links back to the fact of her being followed as she was in the forest, so perhaps that that person has followed her all the way here and continues to now. The humming tone that appears is contradictory as humming is usual seen as an innocent tone whereas seeing that it is in a horror movie, its like there is evil hiding behind the innocence. The over shoulder shot of both characters could be showing how they are on par with eachother and share the power and how there is not one dominant character over the other.

As the two characters approach the bars in which they walk through, there is a slight beeping noise behind them which could perhaps be revealing a countdown to get in there so that they remain safe, and then once they have reached the actual prison itself we notice how there is a bold contrast between the two colours red and white, perhaps showing how although the woman has a pure and sincere side to her, contrasting that she also has a dangerous fighting side, which would be the red overpowering the white in her personality.

As she approaches one of the worst prisonners in the jail, we notice that the only noise we an hear are the ones of her footsteps when she walks, which could be showing that when there was music there she wasn't alone and people were watching her, yet now that that background music has been taken away and all that can be heard is her footsteps, she is in a vunerable situation because she is all on her own so if anything happens to her, she has to defend herself with nobody else there to protect her.


As she reaches the end of the corridor, we see that there is light at the end perhaps revealing how she has survived and escaped away from all bad because the light has overtaken the darkness that followed her on her journey to the end. But then she is met by the worst man in the prison who, unlike all of the other prisonners, is isolated and kept behind a perspecs glass, yet although he is worse, we is better kept and cleaner than that off the other prisonners which could be showing how even the best and uperclass people can still perform bad things. Also, the way that whenever he is asked a question, he answers back with a question himself so that he avoids answering what he is meant to could reveal how he is trying to hide something but is very clever as he knows exactly what he is doing to prevent the truth arising.

Silent Hill opening analysis - Akshay, Catherine, Georgia and Emmas presentation

The horror film 'Silent Hill' displayed a wide range of points to do with the 4 elements; Mise-en-scene, camera angles/movements, sound and editing.

The opening sequence to the film began with haunting music from a piano in the background as the credits began to roll which links well to the genre of the film so immediately as it started, the genre was easily identifiable. The colours of the film changed from blue/white to red which could be showing that perhaps where the feeling of the film to begin with as she was running through the forest was cold and calm now that the daughter is in danger the colour changes to red to show how the danger that the characters are facing as they are trying to save her, but also could be showing the love that the mother shows for her daughter and how she is willing to put her life at danger in mind of saving her daughter from dying. The first character that was both heard and seen in the film was the character of the mother, so this tells the audience who is the main character in the film already, before it has even properly begun.

The character of the husband in the film was in darkness which could tell the audience that he wasn't a particularly significant character in the film as the mothers role was always in the light and being shown whereas his character was in the dark and was rarely shown. The change from scene to scene showed a slow fade which displayed varied character angles between each frame. There was also a lot of light in the background which could be an incling ahead of what is happening currently in the film as to what is going to happen next. It could be showing how even though they are all in danger now, it will all be okay in the end because light is being displayed in the background in these opening frames to the film.


The mother in the film is shown in a mid shot which could be showing her vunerable state during that particular part of the film, it also reveals a wedding rind on a peice of thread around her neck, this possibly showing that she keeps it there for safe keeping incase she loses it, so she knows that it is always going to be there, but also this could be revealing how shes a very family orientated person and she believes in very traditionnal family values, but by having the wedding ring around  her neck rather than on her finger could be showing how although she is very traditionnal, she also likes to reinvent things in her own way, so she is  very dependent on herself and doesn't rely on anybody else because perhaps she believes she can do everything on her own and needs help from no one.

In the particular scene when she picks up the teddy bear, we feel a sense of danger because we as an audience then realise that it is infact a child that  has been lost, so frightens the audience even more so because children are less likely to be able to fend for themselves when put in a dangerous situation. We can immediately see that  the mother and daughter have a stronger bond than that of the father and the daughter because both the child and the mother wear a blue item of clothing; the mother in blue shorts and the little girl in an al blue outfit, whereas the father wears no blue clothing which could be showing how he is quite distant and not so bonded to the rest of the family and likes to be his own person.


The setting in the film adds to the horror of the movie, as the house is isolated on its own so it's showing  how the family are all alone, so if they get into danger they are all alone and it is harder for them to find help. When the mother is running through the forest in the opening sequence, we hear a variety of sounds that typically relate to a forest; crunching of leaves as she runs over them, heavy breathing and panting, also the sounds of flowing water. Even though these are all typical noises that would be heard in a forest, the fact that it is filmed in the darkness it adds to the scare and unknowing of what is going to happen because we cannot see where the noises are coming from properly, which adds a lot of drama and tension to the shot.


When the scene moves on and the little girl is put into a dangerous situation as she sleep walks, we notice that the music in the fillm is the same of that in the video game that the film was based upon, so when this music is played, for the people who have played the video game, they know what's going to happen so it adds drama and suspense. The names of the characters in the film are also the same of those in the video game so having played the video game, people may have an inkling into what is going to happen to those  characters. Also, the long deep notes in the background music sound like a singing choir which is very haunting but also could link back to a religious connotation of the people praying  for their child to be safe.


As the car was passing, the pace of the film became very fast paced and jumpy which could possibly be almost a countdown to how long is left to save the daughter, so the audience almost rely on the music to save the daughter in hope that she gets saved in time. The types of camera shots hat surround this scene are also very canted which could be used to disorientate the audience to show them how the parents are perhaps feeling.


The lighting and colours used in near the final scene to the opening show the variety in the charcters personalties. The mother (Rose) is surrounded by red lighting, showing how she is willing to put her life in danger for her own daughters wellfare, and how she will do anything for her. The daughter (Sharon) is surrounded by very bright white lighting which could be revealing how she is very pure and innocent yet as the other girl whom which she dreams about is in dark dull lighting reveals how perhaps she has an evil side and even though she is portrayed very innocently in her girly nightwear, deep down she has a side of evil that she cannot control.

The Grudge opening analysis - Daryls Presentation

The horror film 'The Grudge' displayed a wide range of points to do with the 4 elements; Mise-en-scene, camera angles/movements, sound and editing.

When watching the opening to the film, some aspecs that were noticed were how at the beginning there was a match on action shot that showed the main female character performing the same action yet the scenery behind her jumping from one setting to another.

Also, another point that was noticed was how as the main female character began walking down a narrow corridor, we as an audience felt on par with her as the camera was focused straight on her, so we felt the vunerable state that she was feeling. As she moved closer towards the camera at the end of the corridor, the lighting faded and became a lot darker which left the audience feeling intimidated as she was walking closer to the camera in which we were viewing her from.

Also, the fact that the light got darker as she dres closer to the end of the corridor could relate to the fact of her feeling lost and venturing into the unknown, as when she began walking across the corridor she knew where she was heading yet, now that there is darkness at the other end and she can't see what awaiting her at the end, it gives the character a sense of panic and builds a lot of tension as we are unsure of what is to come as she reaches the end. Also, the part where the candle flame began flickering could be showing how the characters were feeling, this being shaken up and vunerable, which also puts the audience in the same frame of mind as the characters which makes them feel scared.


The scene where the two women; both the older woman and the young woman were sitting together on the sofa showed how differently the two women had been affected by 'The Grudge'. Both the woman were wearing different shades of blue clothing; the older woman wearing a deeper shade of navy/blue, which could possibly be due the fact that she had already been affected by the grudge and how far she had been affected whereas the younger woman was wearing a purer light blue shade which could possibly be stating that she hadn't been affected by the grudge yet so therefore still shows a sign of purity in that sense where the old woman didn't because she had already been affected.

 The furniture surrounding the two women were shades of darker colours such as browns and blacks which could link back to the fact of it having already been affected, and as the furniture was the darkest shade used, showing that it is the most affected part by the grudge.

The over all lighting of the film at the beginning had a light blueish tint, and seeing that blue is usually asocsiated with cold, this could be how the two women could be feeling when they were in the presense of the grudge, and that the whole atmosphere surrounding them was cold and the feeling of being alone.