Editing: 750 Word Analysis

750 Word Analysis: Psycho (1960)

Psycho uses a wide range of editing devices to capture the audiences attention. One of these devices is the usage of straight cuts. This can be seen as the most common method so that the audience are so accustomed to seeing these that we rarely notice them when they occur. In Psycho, these cuts predominantly focus on the woman and her actions/ behaviour. She seems troubled whilst writing some maths calculations. The close up shot of the notepad highlights the significance to what was written. As she walks into the bath, we get a close up shot of the shower head. This closeup may indicate that this is her safe space where she can relax and I guess, have some privacy. As the character enjoys her shower, we see a dark shadow appear through the shower curtains. The use of low-key lighting makes this shadow appear and due to this, the whole atmosphere shifts from being quite intimate and calm to suspenseful and creepy. The use of non-dietetic sound (sounds that have been edited in that the characters cannot hear but the audience can), sets the tone for the scene. The iconic Psycho soundtrack and musical scores plays a prominent role in establishing the effect that Hitchcock wanted to convey upon the audience. Which is that through the dramatic music, the audience get a feel of how sinister this scene is. As the murderer pulls back the curtains and begins to stab the woman, an interesting mix of cuts and angles are used. As the murderer makes each stab, the scene cuts and so the cuts represent each stab. The transition between each cut also represents each stab. Nonetheless, due to nudity reasons, we as an audience do not see the knife going into the flesh as this would then be appropriate for some ages. As the woman screams for dear life and undergoes this attack, the murderer quickly escapes and the fact that he continues to remain in the shadows indicates how he must be a sinful person. Using a close up shot on her hand (after she has been stabbed multiple times) we get a sense that her body is deteriorating with connotations of weakness and loss. As she slowly lowers down into the bath, we get a close up of the drain hole and as the water goes down, we see the woman's blood being washed away as well. This can suggest how easily life can be lost and the fragility of life can sometimes be taken for granted. The diegetic sound (sounds that have not been edited in which the audience can hear), of the water going down the drain hole also emphasises this loss of life and sense of fragility. No transitions have been used, just straight cuts. In terms of mise-en-scene, there aren't many costumes as this is a shower scene and pretty much the only piece of clothing worn by her is a bath robe. This lack of clothing gives a much simplistic ambience to the scene. in addition to this, the lack of dialogue in this scene also suggests that there may not be any relationship between the the woman and the murderer and also makes the scene much more intense as it's filmed all action based. There is also a lot of irony in this scene as in the beginning of the scene, the woman is happy and content but this is all disrupted by the villain in which the end of the scene is followed by the woman's death.  Lastly, the match cut of the drain hole to the eye of the woman also emphasises how she is dead. The closeup of the eye which is then slowly zoomed out reassures the audience that this scene is coming to an end and that the damage has been done.