Alfred Hitchcock has been called ‘the Master of Suspense’, considering ‘psycho’ state how effectively he achieves the element of suspense in this film

Alfred Hitchcock has been called the prevail of Suspense, considering psycho state how effectively he achieves the element of misgiving in this contract. The film Pycho is k presentlyn for its scruple. The dictionary definition of suspense is the zealous un sealedty the reference feels while waiting for an event. Its an attraction/repulsion response, or that oooooh errrrr feeling I personally think that suspense is the feeling of not hold outing whats ab come to the fore to happen, feeling unsure of how to react to the next occasion that happens.It puts you in to a state uncertainty or excitement, like you atomic number 18 waiting for a decision. It makes you feel a degree of apprehension or anxiety. Alfred Hitchcock was brought up in a strict Roman Catholic environment. He always knew exactly what was right and what was pervert and was aware of other(a) peoples wrong doings. This comes across in the film. Marion was the first woman to be murdered and she was alike the first person to be seen as immoral, she was seen in white underclothes in the first place setting as she was in bed with a man she was having an affair with.This provides her flaunting her sexuality. She was also seen flushing the toilet just originally she was murdered. This is another(prenominal) thing that Hitchcock was brought up to think was immoral also Hitchcock was a misogynist. This s get the better of explain why he k maded off the main female caliber in the film. Work vie a grand part in Hitchcocks life, he was a workaholic infact. People would describe Hitchcock as obsessive with his films beca employ he would devote his life to and take so much pride in them. Psycho was released in 1960.The morals and attitudes of people were a lot varied in 1960 to what they are now. There were far more of the population who attend church and would call themselves christian. Also thither was a much surer sense datum of definite rights and wrongs moral and immoral behaviour was much more distinctly defined. In the film this comes through clearly. In 1960, men were thought to be superior to woman they certainly occupied the higher status in their occupations. Marion is at work and the man who has come in to speak with her gaffer is talking toing to her.He looks old and arrogant. He is boasting about how full-bodied he is, telling Marion about how he is profaneing a rest home for his daughter. He is trying to chat up Marion just now she ignores him. He sits on her desk so that he is at a higher level than her to array that he is more important. Marion is seen in her underwear. This was a very rare thing to see in any film in 1960. Before she steal the bullion she was seen in white underwear which is shocking enough. After she has taken the money, she is seen once again in her underwear save this time it is black.White is seen as a pure colour so this is why she was wearing white before she stole the money where as black is not pure, a ill-go tten colour, this is why she was wearing black after she had stolen the money, to symbolise that she has become immoral. The audience preempt now expect something bad to happen. Just before Marion steps into the shower were she gets murdered she flushes a check put down the toilet. Films would never show a toilet organism flushed in 1960. It was looked up on as an immoral thing to be seen. Now, in 2003, seeing individual flush a toilet on a film is totally normal.The film starts with a shot of Marion and surface-to-air missile (her secret boyfriend) in bed. They talk about running away and getting married. Marion goes into work that day as if everything is normal. She sits down at her desk when her boss walks in with a man. The man sits down on her desk and starts telling Marion about the $40000 he has in cash to buy a residence and he gives Marion the $40000 to put in the bank entirely Marion steals the money so that she can get married. She drives to a motel the Bates Mote l, and gets herself a room.She spends old talking with Norman Bates, the owner, and consequently goes to her room for a shower simply as she has a shower someone murders her. Norman past takes Marions ashes and puts it in a river. Marions sister, Lila, realises she is missing and asks Sam if he knows where she is, he doesnt. Arbogast is a detective who trys to retrieve Marion so he goes to the motel to see if she is in that location but Norman says that he doesnt remember her. Arbogast still suspects something so he goes to Normans fellowship however as he goes up the stairs, he also gets murdered.Sam and Lila realise that Arbogast hasnt returned so Sam goes to the motel to look for him but he cant find him so because Sam and Lila go endure to the motel. Marions sister goes into the house to look for Normans have as Sam and Lila think that she knows something. Lila goes down to the basement and finds a skeleton of Normans mother just as Norman comes in to the root cellar dressed as his mother with a glossa to kill Lila but Sam stops him. Normans mother was dead but he believed she was still alive, for example, he would pretend to be her and it was Norman being his mother who had murdered Arbogast and Marion.This is a horror/thriller film. It focuses on an individual who is mentally ill and it explores some of the possible consiqueses of mental illness. This is one of the most roaring of Hitchcock films. This could be due to the amount of suspense in it. Hitchcock has used very successful techniques of creating suspense. There are many another(prenominal) scenes in Psycho that are nail-biting for example the shower scene where editing was used in a bold and sharp way. The shower scene, in which Marion was brutally murdered, was a huge hit with its audiences.This is because is was so suspensive. The quick cuts the entire stabbing lasted only cardinal seconds, the sound effects you could hear the tearing of the flesh as the natural language b roke the skin but you never actually saw the knife cut the skin, the harmony all strings, very high pitched, the sort of euphony that makes you cringe and know that something big is about to happen, all created a salient amount of suspense. When Marion is in the shower we see the door of the bathroom free, but Marion doesnt. Seeing this makes us pay attention, at this top the suspense starts. accordingly the music starts and we see the knife. At this point we are almost certain that she is going to be murdered. Then the murderer pulls back the curtain and Marion screams. In my opinion, this is the most suspenseful point in the murder. As she is being stabbed, in that respect are alternate shots of Marion and the knife and the music is very loud and fast. When the murderer has gone, everything slows down as Marion slides down the wall and falls to the ground. There is a finale up on the blood going down the batten down hole after the photographic photographic camera has very slowly zoomed in on it.There is thence a closure up on Marions eye, as she lies dead on the ground, and the music is very low and slow and then all the action is over and the level of suspense suddenly drops. This plays with the temper of the audience, it takes them from a state of tension or anticipation, building up to the point were the murder is commited and then giving the audience a kind of release. The music plays a big part in creating suspense. The music used in Psycho is very sinister, high pitched and high tempo. The music not only creates suspense, it adds a certain amount of tension.As the camera focuses on different things, the music tempo and pitch changed to build suspense, for example, as the camera pans across the room with the money in it the music is a average tempo but as the camera zooms in on the money the tempo of the music shoots up. This draws your attention to the money. Another of the most suspenseful scenes in Psycho is where Arbogast is murdered . He walks in to the house slowly and curiosly. This is suspenseful as the audience know hes looking for something and are waiting to see what it is.As he walks up the stairs, the audience see a door open slowly. This builds the tension and anxiety that the audience feel. We see someone step out of the room, at this point the music that was heard when Marion was murdered was played. The audience now associate this music with murder. The person who stepped out of the room starts to walk quickly over to Arbogast on the stairs. The music is very loud and quick at this point. The audiences heart rate is automatically increased and they are more exited/uncertain.You then again hear him being stabbed but dont actually see it. As Arbogast falls down the stairs, the camera is above him, and he then falls to the floor and the murderer stabs him again, then the music suddenly stops and the camera cuts straight to a different scene. All through that scene there is a lot of suspense. There is a great deal of suspense created in the scene where Lila goes to talk to Normans mother. Lila walks down to the cellar. The audience thinks she is down there because Norman had said previously that he was taking her down there.When Lila walks into the cellar, she sees the back of who she thinks is Normans mother. She turns Normans mother around and find only the skeleton of her. Throughout this scene there is slow low music playing until she sees the skeleton then the music speeds up. We then see Norman running in to the cellar dressed as a woman. This confuses the audience but builds the suspense as the audience are unsure. When Norman walks into the cellar the music changes to the music played for the previous two murders.The music automaticly creates suspense as the audience usurp there will be another murder. At this point, the audience nowadays suspect that he is going to murder Marions sister but then we see Sam who stops him from murdering her. This creates suspense because it is a twist to what has happened with the other murders, so we do not know what to expect. As Sam fights with Norman he knocks the light bulb so it is swaying. There is a close up of the skeleton, it is in the iniquity, then in the light, then in the shadow again etc. because of the light bulb swaying.The audience feels calm at this point as the light bulb swaying slowly and quietly gives the seal that the drama is over. When Marion is driving away from Phoenix with the stolen money, the audience hear the voices in Marion head. We hear the voice of her boss, what he might say if he name out she had stolen the money. This is suspenseful because we are thinking what if her boss does know she stole the money what would he do? The voices make the audience feel nervous because they hear what Marion is thinking, and therefore they are put in Marions position.We interpret with Marion because we know what she is thinking. Although she stole the money, we dont feel sorry for Cassidy (the man whose money it was) he is a very arrogant man, he boasted about how much money he has and he tries to flirt with Marion. He doesnt respect Marion he thinks he can easily get her because of his money. He says I never carry as much as I can afford to lose. This tells us that he can afford to lose the money and it would be good to use the money for a good cause.If Marion had stolen the money from a charity, we would not sympathise with her because she is taking the money from a worthy cause. When Marion and Norman are in the parlour, Marion talks about Normans mother. She suggests he puts her into a mental home. Normans reaction to this jot builds suspense. He gets very angry and looks like he could get aggressive. He often compares people to birds as stuffing birds is his hobby. When Marion suggests his mother could go to a mental home, Norman compares his mother to one of his stuffed birds on the wall, he says how she is as harmless as one of them.He says how a mother is a boys best friend which makes us believe that he is very close to his mother but he is closer to her then anyone expected. Hitchcock has the title The Master of Suspense. I personally dont think that he deserves that title for this film. In 1960 he may have deserved it for this film as it was the first film like this, but now, in the year 2003, there are many films like this. It has suspense but I dont think it has enough suspense for him to have that title. Psycho is a horror/thriller film and it achieves the title of being a horror/thriller film better than it achieves the title of a suspenseful film.