Building an Atmosphere: Technical and Cinematic Elements in Psycho

Hitchcock’s Psycho accomplishes an extraordinary feat: each choice made, from the soundtrack to the title sequence, from the color grading to the camerawork, develop an intense atmosphere of suspense. Not only that, but these cinematic and theatrical elements also serve to enhance the devastating twist and change in tone. Most importantly, Alfred Hitchcock sculpts a harsh and disjointed, almost frantic, viewing experience which reflects the tension and suspense pervading the film.

From the very beginning, Psycho focuses on building a suspenseful panic. The title sequence features the text splitting apart and puzzling back together. It establishes the film as feeling disjointed and confused. It also serves to visually reflect the murders to come. The way the text moves and breaks emulates a sort of dismemberment; the jagged movement echoes the stiff jaggedness of the stabbings. In addition, the title sequence is accompanied by the movie’s infamous score. The music is quick and abrupt. The orchestral score is redundant: it showcases the same brief pattern of notes over and over again, in varying pitches. As the music gets higher pitched, the tension builds. It auditorily allows for the same disjointed tension. The viewer becomes anxious, though doesn’t immediately understand why.

This disjointed tone continues throughout the film. When Marion dies, the film cuts to a series of fast, confused close ups. The viewer sees the knife, then the drain, then her eye, then the shower head, then the drain, then her eye, and so on. The quick cuts are tightly framed, not allowing for the full, broader picture at any time. In doing so, Hitchcock doesn’t allow the suspense preceding Marion’s death to break; instead, it becomes more suffocating. The audience immediately knows there is more to come. The close ups are claustrophobic. The sequence possesses a frantic quality, mirroring the viewer’s panic. It furthers the confusion of the scene. This scene marks a major twist; the main character has died only a third of the way through, leaving the viewer questioning what comes next. Once again, the music contributes to the tension of the scene. It becomes screeching, exacerbating the panic in Marion’s screams.

The sharp cuts are then juxtaposed with a slow, lingering sequence, showing Norman Bates cleaning the murder scene. The shots do not change angles as much, nor does the camera physically move as much. However, this in itself retains the frantic disjointedness of the rest of the film. It feels out of place in comparison to the preceding scene. It enables the viewer to wallow in the chaotic emotions and confusion caused by Marion’s murder, enhancing the confusion in turn. Furthermore, it reads as simply unnatural. The sequence feels too calm. As such, the suspense is able to slowly simmer and build more.

The color grading also adds to the feel of Psycho. The film was not shot in color, making for a palette of blacks, whites, and grays. These colors create a harshness to the visuals, resembling the thematic disjointedness. This amplifies the ideas of corruption and evil that pervade the movie. Black and white are so frequently correlated with bad and good, and Hitchcock uses this association to build up suspense and themes of corruption. This is seen, for instance, when Marion changes from white undergarments to her black undergarments following her thievery. Furthermore, Norman notably wears a long black dress when taking on his mother’s identity and committing the murders, in contrast to the other characters’ more varied and lighter outfits.

The black and white appearance also serves to amplify the use of shadows. The lighting techniques used in Psycho often emphasize shadows and glares. For example, after cleaning up Marion’s death, Norman is only sidelit. This paints over half his face in shadows, obscuring it. This, in turn, reveals a level of mystery. It obscures his full expression. He has, to the viewer’s knowledge, at least acted as an accomplice to murder, and so he proves tainted. He is overshadowed by his actions, and they take over the Norman first presented to the audience. It creates confusion and sharper edges. Similarly, when Norman attempts to kill Lila, the light is in constant motion, creating a rotational shadow effect. The fast-paced shadows and glares created by this lighting exacerbates the confusion and panic of the scene. Once again, it develops a confused, frantic atmosphere. The scene is harsh and disjointed.

Overall, one of the reasons Psycho is so effective is thanks to the ingenious technical and cinematic techniques. They come together to set a nuanced tone, which proves harsh, abrupt, and disjointed. This mood increases suspense and panic, which amplifies the powerful storyline.