When it came to the famous shower scene, Hitchcock mentions that "The point is to draw the audience right inside the situation instead of leaving them to watch it from outside, from a distance. And you can do this only by breaking the action into details a cutting from one to the other so that each detail is forced, in turn, on the attention of the audience and reveals a psychological meaning.”
As the killer slowly approaches suspense is created through the music. The camera slowly points towards a dark shadow or silhouette slowly becoming bigger as the killer approaches the main character. The classic violins play their high-stringed and high-pitched tune. The camera then cuts to shot where we can clearly see the reaction shot of her terrified face, making it the most powerful shot of the sequence. Then we get an extreme close up of Marion's gaping mouth as we hear her scream. The music simultaneously plays a screechy tune as it coincides with the blood curdling scream.This gives the viewer a greater feeling of her terror as the shot intensifies the dramatic effect of the scene.
For the next couple of shots, we can clearly see the brawl of the "mother" and Marion as the struggle conveys Marion’s current vulnerability. The stabbing creates tension and terror as we hear a sound effect in each stab, emphasising the impact of it; the audience would be horrified at this point as they would doubt at each moment whether the protagonist of the story would make it. The next two shots are significant as this is where Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates his editing skills as he cuts from one shot to another, each rapidly shifting towards the next with several close-ups to make the audience feel insecure. The camera shifts to Marion flailing and taking the force of the stab and this enlarges the emotion of pain and fear the audience feel for Marion.
When the murder was committed, a powerful shot shows Marion with her arm out stretched, grabbing the curtain with desperation seemingly trying to hold on for her life, before she leans forward and collapses. This shot creates sympathy from the audience as Marion’s hand is shot extremely close as her face is blurred, making it seem that it is reaching out for us but we can’t help her.
The following shot is of her blood swirling down the plughole. This may reflect and symbolise her sins washing away. The editing in the following shot becomes one of the most powerful shots as it cuts from the circular drain to this extreme close up shot of Marion's eye, gradually zooming out circularly.
The last important shot in the scene has the camera panning across to the bedside table to remind us of the money.
As the killer slowly approaches suspense is created through the music. The camera slowly points towards a dark shadow or silhouette slowly becoming bigger as the killer approaches the main character. The classic violins play their high-stringed and high-pitched tune. The camera then cuts to shot where we can clearly see the reaction shot of her terrified face, making it the most powerful shot of the sequence. Then we get an extreme close up of Marion's gaping mouth as we hear her scream. The music simultaneously plays a screechy tune as it coincides with the blood curdling scream.This gives the viewer a greater feeling of her terror as the shot intensifies the dramatic effect of the scene.
For the next couple of shots, we can clearly see the brawl of the "mother" and Marion as the struggle conveys Marion’s current vulnerability. The stabbing creates tension and terror as we hear a sound effect in each stab, emphasising the impact of it; the audience would be horrified at this point as they would doubt at each moment whether the protagonist of the story would make it. The next two shots are significant as this is where Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates his editing skills as he cuts from one shot to another, each rapidly shifting towards the next with several close-ups to make the audience feel insecure. The camera shifts to Marion flailing and taking the force of the stab and this enlarges the emotion of pain and fear the audience feel for Marion.
When the murder was committed, a powerful shot shows Marion with her arm out stretched, grabbing the curtain with desperation seemingly trying to hold on for her life, before she leans forward and collapses. This shot creates sympathy from the audience as Marion’s hand is shot extremely close as her face is blurred, making it seem that it is reaching out for us but we can’t help her.
The following shot is of her blood swirling down the plughole. This may reflect and symbolise her sins washing away. The editing in the following shot becomes one of the most powerful shots as it cuts from the circular drain to this extreme close up shot of Marion's eye, gradually zooming out circularly.
The last important shot in the scene has the camera panning across to the bedside table to remind us of the money.
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