Psycho Image Analysis 2

 

This image takes place in the aftermath of the famous shower scene with an extreme close up of Marion’s eye which makes the audience slightly unsettled due to how claustrophobic the shot is. The shot is also a canted, expressionist angle to make the image more disorientating which helps the audience feel sympathy for Marion. The camera then follows the teardrop and blood down the plughole of the bath connoting that her life is thrown away and was indispensable to Norman Bates.

During the shower scene she is killed with a knife which is a phallic symbol of Norman’s power and dominance and further shows Marion as a victim. There are several clues from the beginning of the film that suggest she will be the female victim. The fact that she is stereotypically blonde (you can see some of her hair in the upper right corner) and sexually active with Sam tells us this.

This scene shows Hitchcock’s auteur style as it is part of a collision cut of quick (shower attack scene) to slow montage. Hitchcock is famous for these slow montages which create tension and suspense and collision cutting from quiet to loud and slow to quick to make the audience jump/shudder. This is due to Hitchcock’s love of Soviet Montage films like Battleship Potemkim



Psycho Image Analysis 1

This scene from Psycho gives us our first insight into the serial killer Norman Bates with a low, expressionist angle emphasizing his power over Marion while also giving him a slightly sinister atmosphere. The bird of prey mounted in the corner of the room suggests that Norman is just as dangerous and that Marion is his prey. This is more obvious as Marion’s surname is Crane which is a type of bird. Also Norman says that she “eats like a bird” which further suggests this.

 The room has low key lighting to make the scene darker and to emphasize the shadows of Norman and the birds of prey. However this contrasts with Norman’s speech in the film which portrays him as more likeable and vulnerable than his Ed Gein real-life counterpart which is who this film is based on.

The fact that it is based on this serial killer shocked audiences even more as it was still very recent (Gein was arrested in 1957) and due to the first television news reports the real life horror was now more accessible to people all over America. It was not just restricted to the state.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 3

The third image is from the end of the film when Ana says goodbye to Michael and sails away. On the right hand side of the image you can see the American flag which supports the context of America versus the world with the zombies representing terrorists. The flag also connotes freedom both for the boat and America in general. The American flag is used in quite a lot of horror films including The Hills Have Eyes (2006) when the hero kills a mutant by stabbing him in the head with the American flag.

The characters who survive to the boat are the ‘underdogs’ of the film: the young girl (Nicole), the dog, the final girl (Ana), the black guy (Kenneth) and the male victim (Terry) which is unexpected by the audience and shows the forward-thinking nature of horror films. This close up of Ana is used to make the scene sadder as Michael has sacrificed himself for Ana. However, due to their escape the ending can be deemed open until extra clips during the end credits give the audience the real ending.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 2

This image is from the van scene in the film and takes part in the quick montage that is used due to its action horror genre. This scene also uses a handheld camera to create the sense of panic.

Due to the action sub-genre of the film the zombies are a lot quicker than those in the original. The zombies speed makes them a bigger threat and as a result they are scarier and we, unlike the original, do not feel any sympathy for them. Because this film had a bigger budget there was more money spent on zombie extras which also makes the film more daunting. This is shown in the image where we can see 20 zombie extras.

In this shot we can see Michael protecting the mall. Michael is based on Stephen from the original Dawn of the Dead (1979) and fits the “male hero” stereotype. Unlike Stephen, Michael is more likeable due to being an ordinary guy (he works at “Best Buy”) and he is very honest – he admits he was a bad husband but a good dad.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 Image 1

I picked this image as it shows the historical context more than others. This image (along with the opening credits) suggests that the origin of the zombie virus is the Middle East and feeds off of the fear of terrorism at the time of the film’s release due to the 9/11 Twin Towers terrorist attack in 2001.Whilst this image is shown the song “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash is played which is about biblical Armageddon. This helps set the tone for the film from the beginning.  

The shot has been edited to use a filter so that it looks aged which immerses the audience into the film because it feels like it’s already happened. The high, expressionist angle is also important as it ‘looks down’ on the Muslims like they are powerless and are of lesser worth than the rest of the world that is suffering. This links back to the historical context once again and relates to the patriotism that is a theme of the film.

Audience Research 1: Practise Poster

Horror Sub-Genre Pie Chart