How have camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en –scene been used in the film ‘Psyco’ shower scene to build tension?

How have camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en –scene been used in the film ‘Psyco’ shower scene to build tension?

Question: How have camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en –scene been used in the film ‘Psyco’ shower scene to build tension?

This screen shot is the first of the shower scene, the rule of thirds has been used as the shower head is in the middle and water is running round the outside roughly in the same direction. The shot type is a Point Of View which means that the camera is showing it from the victim’s perspective. There is high key lighting used in this shot to show the pureness of the water, there is also diegetic sound as the water is being used as a cover for the killer to sneak up without her noticing. The shot is also very low as the women is seen as the weaker gender, this could also show that she has no power compared to the killer. As it is a low angle shot which is he point of view it would be very hard to then see others when in this position. Water is generally associated with pure and clean objects, as the women gets in the shower she is pure. There is a graphic match between the clean water and the red bloody water as it goes down the plug hole. We know this because it came out pure but then went in red and bloody. This shot also shows that the women might not be taking care of what is going on around her meaning that if something happens she would not be prepared.  Altogether this shot shows that the women in this film are made to look weak and that she may not be ready for about what is about to happen to her this creates more dramatic tension by the audience not know what will come round the corner.

 

In this still of the shower scene high key lighting has been used because the audience can see a silhouette of a woman. The face has been covered so it gives a sense of mystery of who she or he is. This creates tension with the audience by them not knowing who the person is or what there face looks like. This shot is close up as it shows the outline of a face and the murder weapon of a knife. This shot is also a point of view shot, meaning this is what the victim would see. This also creates more tension because the audience is in the victims shoes.  The costume of the killer looks like it already has blood of the cuffs of the shirt meaning that this is not the first person that he or she has killed. The shirt is white which show purity and it has blood on it which shows evil within the shirt. The way the killer is holding the knife shows that he or she is not there by accident. With the audience seeing that the knife is being held in an aggressive way they may feel scared of worried which means more dramatic tension has been made.     

In this still the golden mean has been used this is good because it show that the audience has to look all the way across the screen. A high angle mid shot has been used just to show the killers power and the victims struggling force. Multiple stab wounds can be seen in this shot and this can create tension because the audience may feel like he is not going to stop until she is dead. They may also think that the killer’s power is unfair and want to stop this.  Once again the killers silhouette can be seen which is outlined to be a female. High key lighting lets us see that the outline is a female and that she is a lot stronger than the other one. The victim is struggling over power of the knife this maybe because she wasn’t ready or the killer is not a female. The bathroom is clean and white whereas after the scene it is a crime scene and bloody.  The audience mood may want to help the victim. This may create dramatic tension with the audience.