Teron Ingram Lit Log #1 4.8.22 Ms. Giknis

Instead of the movie being called Psycho I would name it either The Boy and His Mother. This title sounds basic but it does sound really scary and it would shock the audience to find out his mother is actually dead at the end of the film. For the poster I just used a simple close up shot of Norman Bates with It saying “Alfred Hitchcock’s The Boy and His Mother in red to represent blood. Not too much going on so I don’t give out a lot of detail just from the poster. I would make a dark and creepy movie trailer and poster to advertise it to the viewers because if it looks good it will draw attention from an audience that likes these types of movies. My decisions would communicate the meaning of the film by exploring both two main ideas which are mental help issues and the relationship a boy and his mother has. In 1960 mental health issues were seen completely differently compared to 2022. The views on mental health issues in the 50s and 60s are that you are considered a lunatic and defective and were sent off to asylums. My decisions would communicate the tone of the film by keeping it suspenseful. This movie did a great job to draw suspense. Watching this film in the 60s would have you on your feet from start to finish. Throughout the whole movie you knew something was going to happen just didn’t know when. Something in my head told me Marion was going to die at some point during the movie, we just didn’t know who was going to kill her or when she was going to die.​​ My decisions would communicate the genre by keeping it the same as the original film with horror, thriller, psychological horror, slasher and mystery being the genres. This movie killed it , and it really changed horror films. Overall the film was good. I really enjoy it even though I’m not big on horror movies. My one negative is I would change the pace of the film because at times it felt slow and some scenes felt dragged out for way too long making me bored and lose a little interest while watching it. Other than that this film is really good and it was definitely ahead of its time for many reasons such as the drawing suspense, camera shots, unique plot and mystery.

I’m doing this movie title and poster lit log on Psycho (1960) because I feel like the poster could have been a lot better, however, this might spoil bits and pieces of the movie but it would look pretty awesome.

Dissociation - is a break in how your mind handles information. You may feel disconnected from your thoughts, feelings, memories, and surroundings. It can affect your sense of identity and your perception of time. The symptoms often go away on their own.

I changed the name to dissociate because that word means split personalities, something that is a big thing in Psycho. The element of personality is reflected a lot in this movie because there’s an atmosphere of the unknown. My poster doesn’t spoil anything for the movie but provides a simple yet complicated view of what the movie is about. Only when you get to a later point in the movie you’ll realize what the title is talking about. My poster also reflects the theme of the movie and that anyone could be in their alternate personality and you wouldn’t even know. I think dissociating fits the title for psycho because well it outlines that someone has another personality. It reflects how your mind does certain things to handle tough situations and I believe that Norman had this condition because he killed his mother and father’ he convinced himself that his mom was still there which is quite a dilemma that builds up so much suspense. The thought of being two people at once makes my mind feel strange but good at the same time because of how interesting it is to act like someone else. The poster I made this way split in half because I felt that split personalities fit the poster in a way that made it simple. I wanted to make it as simple as possible while still conveying my point of view on the movie psycho. The genre of the film is more or so a psychological thriller and is one of the most popular slashers being one of the first-ever to be a really big hit. I love slasher movies but this one is one of the few with a genuinely interesting story that kept me intrigued till the very end even if the plot midway changed. I think people would like this poster because of how simple yet complicated it is. It reflects the movie psycho well in a way we haven’t seen before. It’s a new take on psycho making the personalities the big focus. It’s the point of view that gets me and how interesting that can be because it can be so different depending on the person and you can tell the difference between the two sides even if it’s black and white. There’s nothing like watching psycho for the first time and that’s what I went through. It showed me a masterpiece of a slasher while keeping the atmosphere the same from beginning to end which is tough, especially being such an old film. So many elements here that are in other movies and shows brought me to a different place. Overall I want people to get a different perspective out of this movie poster.

In the process of renaming Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, I referred back to a short but meaningful quote that I thought captured the film’s message seamlessly. When Jeffries and Stella are keeping a lookout for Lisa, Stella asks to use Jeff’s “portable keyhole” (referring to the telephoto camera). This quote stuck out to me because it so simply outlined the moral dilemma faced by the characters in the movie. On one hand, it is a simple method that can be used to view the personal lives of others, and on the other hand, it is a flagrant violation of privacy. It is entirely up to the individual whether they should decide to take advantage of this “keyhole” or not. This metaphor also shows that those who are being watched have a false sense of security, as the keyhole is far less apparent to the observed than it is to the observer. For these reasons, I chose “Keyhole” to be the revised name of this classic film. Now for envisioning the movie poster for Keyhole, one of the main themes I wanted to reflect in the design was that nothing Jefferies observed would affect him directly. These were the affairs of someone else, yet he felt the dying need to view the events as they played out - almost as though he was watching a puppet show. To represent this in my poster, I decided to depict a room in a dollhouse, where one doll is trying to murder the other with a knife. In the background, an eye can be seen peering through a window, watching this whole scene play out. This is supposed to be the eye of Jefferies, with the knowledge that he is removed and completely unaffected by the events occurring. This illustrates to the viewer that the film incorporates psychological themes as well as action. In the making of the poster, I referenced a 1950s dollhouse, using colored pencil outlined with pen to create the scene. I also referenced a photo of Jimmy Stewart’s eye to ensure that it was realistic, making it distinct from the cartoonish setting of the dollhouse. This further supports the idea that Jeffries is physically, as well as emotionally removed from the situation, possibly not even considering the murder to be authentic. Finally, to create the film title, I used gray block lettering, which is supposed to be reminiscent of a metal key or latch.

I chose the film “Psycho” because it was a very interesting movie to play around with. It helped Alfred Hitchcock to be the textbook for most modern day horror films, with its major plot twists and elongated angst building scenes. I renamed it “Paranoid” because the main two characters suffered from paranoia. Marion became paranoid after she stole a large sum of money and a car. She felt like she was being followed and that she would eventually get caught and imprisoned. Normen suffered from paranoia, however his paranoia was a result of his mental condition. His delusions centered around a girl he thought had bad intentions because she suggested he put his mother into a better home. I made the context of the title relate to both the victim and murderer. I allowed the words to be split to represent Norman’s Obsessive Split Personality Disorder (SPD). The boy could also represent Norman’s SPD as there appears to be two arms, one is hanging to the side and the other is holding a knife. Furthermore, the man standing still with a black silhouette of a hand holding a knife says to moviegoers, the kid isn’t innocent and is a killer, like how Normen was sweet and paranoid in the beginning but ended up killing Marion. Additionally, the “I” that is laying on the floor represents Marion, who eventually lies dead on the floor. Marion gets stabbed in the shower, so I also allowed the letters to bleed because she dies via knife and gets “split”, just in a different way. These elements will help to communicate the meaning of the movie. Additionally, the second ‘a’ covers some of the knife with blood on it because the knife isn’t supposed to be the main focus. In the movie the murder is only the second part of the movie so I slightly hid the knife. This will help to communicate the tone of the movie. The whole photo produces an eerie feeling but by adding the knife and blood, it could be identified as a horror movie. I would advertise this poster only at dusk. I feel the time of day would add to the creepiness. I would change the genre from a thriller to a murder mystery because the way the movie is portrayed it is a “who done it” film.

One could argue that the whole idea of a thriller or horror film is to scare or make the viewer anxious. The whole point is to frighten the audience! Without good suspense, many of our all time favorite horror movies would be unknown. Suspense is the key to this unique genre of filmmaking. Alfred Hitchcock uses drawn-out scenes, dark settings, and unsettling music to create suspense in the movie Psycho. Long, uneventful scenes really help convince the viewer that something exciting or scary is going to happen soon. Usually they’re right, but good directors will have many scenes like this so that when something really does happen, we’re not ready for it at all. In Psycho, right after Marion steals all the money from the bank and is on the run, there are super long scenes where she’s driving, driving, driving with suspenseful music playing. She’s then pulled over by a cop, and eventually let go after a questionably suspicious conversation with the cop. Marion then goes on to buy a used car, and we see the same cop parked across the street watching her. These drawn out scenes build suspense because we feel like the cop is on to her. We feel like soon that the cop will confront her or arrest her because he knows what she’s up to, but it never happens. It’s like putting a gun up to someone’s head and keeping it there, only to never pull the trigger. Dark scenes also really help set the mood in an eerie scene. Stereotypically, we were all afraid of the dark at some point in our lives. We can’t see much, and we have no idea what is lurking in the shadows or what’s waiting for us. We are afraid of what we can’t see. In horror films, dark settings, when used correctly, can create extremely frightening scenes. For instance, when Lila enters the grandmother’s house to search for her, she goes into the dark basement, where we, as the viewers, suspect the grandma to be. As Lila walks through, the cellar is cast with dark shadows and a lack of light. The scene is drawn-out, and shows the audience all the different dark crevices of the basement. This method of creating suspense is extremely effective because we as the audience are unable to get a full view of the characters surroundings, therefore leading us to worry what is behind the darkness. Finally, suspenseful music ties it all together. Without a good soundtrack, many spooky scenes would just be bland and feel like nothing is going to happen. Exciting piano and high-pitched electronic noises are played throughout the movie Psycho in order to get people on the edge of their seats. Why this type of music makes you feel this way, I don’t know, but the fact that it is energizing, loud, and sharply noted keeps you fully engaged and wondering what’s coming. For instance, when Marion is driving in the super stormy weather; it’s pouring rain, thunder is crashing all around her, and the darkness of night surrounds her small vehicle with weak headlights. She’s on the run with her money, and she needs somewhere to go. A scene like this that is so uneventful, usually would bore the viewer half to death. But, there is a nifty little soundtrack that goes with it. The suspenseful music being played encourages the audience to believe that something is just about to happen. The scary music and long scenes go hand in hand. Frightening music also helps the director mess with the viewers, by playing this type of music when nothing is about to happen, and then when something really petrifying is about to take place, we are caught completely off guard. In conclusion, Alfred Hitchcock uses a wide variety of cinematic techniques and elements, such as long, drawn-out scenes, dark settings, and frightening music to create thrilling suspense in the movie Psycho. When used correctly, these techniques can really take your movie to the next level. For its time, Psycho is an extremely well thought out and intelligent film in terms of its psychological impact on the audience, and in terms of the plot in general. The idea that one of the main characters, Norman Bates, has a disorder where he mentally is embodied by his mother, would be something completely unheard of in the 60’s. Just the fact that Alfred Hitchcock thought in depth enough to come up with a (at the time) groundbreaking idea, and then decorate it perfectly with suspenseful scenes and eerie actors and actresses really sets this film above all others.