Introduction
On August 13th 1899, a baby boy was brought into the world, in Leyton England. That baby boy would grow up to be a legend, heard of and respected by millions of people worldwide who would give him the title, The Master of Horror. That baby was called Alfred Joseph Hitchcock.
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock attended St Ignatius College, School of Engineering and Navigation and The University of London, at which he studied art. He became part of the film industry by writing title cards for silent films. Hard work saw him become in 1922 assistant director, completing his first film in 1925, called The Pleasure Garden.
Hitchcock had a long career in film, directing over fifty films, in England and in the USA. He made many films which are considered classics, such as The Birds, Dial M for Murder, The 39 Steps, and Psycho. He was knighted in 1979 and died in his sleep on the 29th April 1980.
Male Dominance
At the start of Psycho, we see Marion Crane as a strong character. She intends to stick with the man she loves, although even he thinks she would better off without him. Hitchcock shows her equality to Sam by using two shots of them both standing together, to show that they are on the same level and in sync, neither is more dominant. He uses mid shots and close ups of them both for the same effect, if he used high angles or low angles, it would have made them seem vulnerable. When Sam gives into Marion’s demands of a respectable relationship, haunting violin music begins which is contrapuntal to the romantic scene. Hitchcock uses it to show Marion’s surprise that Sam had given into her, showing his dominance over her, what he says goes. This shows her role as a subservient female who needs permission and support from a man. Both Sam and Marion are wearing white. White is often used to symbolise purity, and is used to by Hitchcock to show the couples innocence, they are not aware of the real world as they often hide from it. The light colours of their clothing contrasts with the dark furnishings and light of them which tells the audience they are better than their surroundings, they are destined for bigger things. Alfred creates this feeling of hopefulness in the audience, so that when things start going wrong for the couple the audience feel more sympathetic to the couple. The camera is fluid, and uses panning, zoom to close-ups, and clean cuts, which are used to give the audience a comfortable feeling, the editing doesn’t create a sense of awkwardness of disorientation so the audience do not expect the events that will later unfold.
The theme of male dominance is explored in the very next scene, where Marion goes to work. The boss and a client, Mr Cassidy enters the shot and both are standing, whereas Marion and her female colleague are sitting. This is used to show both men’s power over the women. Mr Cassidy had the power to jeopardise their jobs, and the boss has the power to fire them. Mr Cassidy sits on Marion’s desk, disrespecting her right to personal space, and also keeps his hat on throughout the whole scene, when it is seen as polite to remove ones hat when you enter a building. Hitchcock uses this blatant dismissal of normal codes and conventions of respectfulness to show Mr Cassidy’s power as a rich man over Marion. It does not matter if she finds him rude, her opinion as a female and a worker is irrelevant. The office is full of clutter and files, which represent the journey Marion, will take. She will soon to get herself into a huge mess, which forces her to become secretive and withdrawn, like the files. Hitchcock uses the colour of clothing to make Marion stand out as the most important character in the work scene. Mr Cassidy, her colleague and her boss all wear the same dark colour, contrasting with her white outfit, drawing the audience’s eye to her. When the men first enter, a car horn is heard which alerts the girls to their presence. This sound signifies the arrival of money into Marion’s life, the $40,000 she steals to make a life with same. It’s a startling warning sound that makes the audience feel uncomfortable and also symbolises that the money will do no good to Marion, it will only endanger her. When Mr Cassidy leans over the desk, a lot of over the shoulder shots are used. These are used to by Hitchcock to show Mr Cassidy’s sleaziness by showing his face as he eagerly looks at Marion, and to show Marion’s repulsion towards him. Hitchcock also uses a low angle shot of Mr Cassidy and a high angle shot of Marion to assert his role of dominance over her. He looks intimidating whereas Marion looks vulnerable. The editing is clean cut, and follows the 180 degree rule to lull the audience into a false sense of security.
Later, in the film, Marion is driving to where Sam lives but she feels tired and pulls over and falls asleep. She is awoken the next day by a police officer. The police officer is first shown in an extreme long shot, used by Hitchcock to reveal the officers entire uniform, to make the audience feel worried for Marion, his uniform signifies his power, and as a man he is seen as physically stronger, so if he decides to stop Marion, he can. The camera pans and follows his movements as he raps on the window and there is a high angle of Marion. This angle makes her seem childish and innocent as she is slightly curled up with a blanket, however as she wakes extreme close ups are used on her face as she talks to the office which reveal her panic, this shots make the audience feel awkward an uncomfortable, they are too close to Marion and the police office, who is also shown using extreme close ups, the audience wishes to take a step back. Hitchcock creates this feeling in the audience to increase their apprehension of what the officer will do to Marion, which engages them in the film. The officer wears tinted sunglasses and hat; his identifiable facial features are never presented to the audience. This creates a feeling of suspicion towards the officer, and a fear of what he is capable of as his emotions are masked. He stands taller than Marion, asserting his dominance, and when Marion roots in her bag for her license, he is on the outside of the car frame, Marion has put up barriers between them in order to protect herself. The officer is shown looking over her left shoulder, the shoulder typically associated with the presence of the devil, which signifies that he is suspicious of her, he knows that she is up to no good and he sees through her pretence. Hitchcock uses a male officer instead of a policewoman because using a woman would have created a sense of equality between the two women. Instead a powerful, serious male figure is used to make the audience understand that compared to men like him, Marion is a weak character, which is shown when she does what he says, such as when he instructs her to turn off the car. Hitchcock uses shot reverse shots to establish continuity throughout this scene. The cuts are quick and clean, so the audience doesn’t feel disorientated and knows exactly what is going on. Hitchcock uses sound to alert the audience that the police officer is following Marion. Without the jerking violin music, it might take them sometime to notice the car, and the music also creates a jumpy atmosphere in the audience, they desperately want Marion to get away from this man.
After arriving at Bates motel, Norman Bates invites Marion into the parlour for supper and she accepts. As they walk into the parlour, the haunting violin music can be heard, which is contrapuntal to the scene, so far Bates is represented as a slightly odd but kind man. The music helps the audience understand there is more to Bates than meets the eye. As they sit too talk, Marion is shown on a sofa next to an electric light and telephone. This shows that she is up to date with the real world, and is world weary. In contrast, Bates is shown in the dark next to an unlit candle which shows his ignorance of what the world had become and how he is alone at the motel. Hitchcock uses clean jump cuts between the two, which speed up as they begin to talk more patiently to show the pace of the conversation and the potential danger that Marion is in. Hitchcock uses mid shots at the start of the scene and so the audience view both characters as equals. However as the scene progresses, Hitchcock uses low angles of Bates as Bates leans forwards to show that he is the dominating gender, and that Marion should be careful around him. As Bates explains his fascination with stuffing birds, he raises his arm and tilts his head slightly, a recreation of Hitler’s famous pose. Hitchcock uses this to create tension in the audience, they feel uncomfortable with Bates sitting like this, and want him to lower his hand. Hitchcock uses another low angle shot of Bates, which has the big bird of prey towering above him in the background. This is used to convey to the audience, that like the birds, Bates is a hunter and Marion will be his prey. At the suggestion of putting Bates’ mother in a mad house, the violin music resumes to symbolise that Marion is on dangerous ground by insulting Bates’ mother. The music adds to Bates stern tone when he argues with Marion, revealing that he knows what mad houses are like from the inside. This makes the audience feel awkward; they worry about how Bates knows what asylums are like, and worry for Marion’s safety. The music returns again when Bates checks Marion’s name in the sign in book, creating a feeling of apprehension, the audience begin to wonder what he will do to her because she lied. The painting that Bates removes from the wall to spy on Marion is a painting of a naked woman. This painting shows Bates’ disrespect and dominance over women, he sees them as objects to be looked at, and this is proved when he spies on Marion through a hole drilled in the wall. Hitchcock used Bates voyeurism to make the audience feel uncomfortable and awkward, they are seeing things through his eyes, a side they do not want to be on, they are suspicious and frightened of him and are repulsed that they are voyeurs with him.
Hitchcock uses Marion’s killing to make the audience feel uncomfortable, awkward and scared. It takes place in the shower, which already makes the audience feel uneasy as Marion is naked and they feel like they are spying on her again. Her nakedness makes her seem very vulnerable. When she pulls the shower curtain across, it lets off a harsh high pitched noise, similar to that of a scream, which has a foreboding effect on the audience, as they are worried about what is going to happen to Marion. The camera cuts are quick clean cuts, and as the figure approaches Marion is in the right hand corner to show the darkness as it gets nearer to the curtain. Marion then steps out of shot, so the audience’s full attention is on the figure. The curtain is pulled back and the high pitched wailing music starts, which sounds like screaming, which makes the audience jump and recoil in shock, just like Marion does. When Marion is being attacked, Hitchcock uses a lot of different angles to create a feeling of disorientation in the audience, for examples Hitchcock jump cuts from high angles of Marion to show her vulnerability, to close ups of her face to show her panic and terror. He also uses shots of her naked navel to increase the audiences discomfort, they don’t want to see the images he is presenting, and they feel part of the crime. As Marion slides down the wall, the music slows down, representing her heartbeat slowing as she is dying. She raises her arm towards the audience which makes it seem like she is trying to get help from the audience, this makes them feel guilty and tainted, as though by watching the scene unfold and being unable to help her, they were as bad as her murderer. Her blood mixes with the water and swirls down the drain, which then fades to a shot of her eye. Hitchcock uses this fade to show that the life is draining out of Marion, just like the water. As the camera zooms out from her eye, we see a tear, this tear shows her vulnerability and gentleness as a woman, and we feel sorry for her. Throughout the scene the audience assumes it is Norman Bates who is the attacker as we had previously learned that his mother was not well. However as the attacker flees the room we see it is a woman’s figure that runs from the scene. This confuses the audience as it is contrary to the representation that men are stronger more dominate, and violent, a representation Alfred Hitchcock has been presenting throughout the film. It makes the audience question whether or not a female is capable of committing such a crime and confuses them, making them feel uneasy.
Bates discovery of her body is used to show his male dominance over Marion, even in death. As he returns to the scene, the violin music starts again to symbolise that the killer has returned to his crime. He appears shocked, and Hitchcock uses a close up of his face as he puts his hand over his own mouth, to confuse the audience, on one hand they think he is the killer and on the other they are not too sure. As he falls back into the wall, a picture of a small bird falls, representing Marion’s death, she had succumbed to the bigger bird of prey. Norman turns the lights off, which makes the room darker, and henceforth makes the audience feel more nervous, and sceptical of Bates, they question why he is trying to cover up the murder and how he can do it so calmly. Bates shows disrespect to Marion’s femininity when he covers her body with the shower curtain, as it is see through, and does not show any respect to the dead. When he carries the body out of the door, her carries her bridal like to show that she had become his possession, like women stereotypically become when they wed their husbands. This represents the male dominance over females. She has become a trophy for him, like his stuffed birds. Hitchcock uses an extreme close up of Bates bloodied hands, to convey to the audience that he is the murderer and he is to blame. Throughout the scene the camera follows Norman’s movements often zooming in and out on him as he gets nearer to the camera. Clean cuts are used to change the shots, which give a calming effect on the audience after the chaos they had just witnessed.
The Power Struggles of Man
The first power struggle of man shown by Hitchcock is the power struggle between Mr Cassidy and Marion’s boss. Marion enters the room, and addresses her boss asking for some time off. Mr Cassidy jumps in and gives her permission, even though he has no right to. We see with a slight tilt of the head Marion’s boss looking at Mr Cassidy, as if wondering why he has cut in. Mr Cassidy still has his hat on showing no regards to common curtsey as if almost challenging Marion’s boss to tell him to take it off. However the whole scene is shown from a slight over the shoulder shot from the boss. This shows that all though Mr Cassidy is telling people what to do, the boss is in full control, if he is really against Marion leaving, he can stop her. The audience respect the boss for staying calm and giving Marion permission, which leads to them sympathising with him when Marion steals from him and betrays his trust. The only sound used in the scene is diegetic sound. This shows that the boss is not a fancy man, and is hardworking, completely the opposite to Mr Cassidy.
The second power struggle is between Bates and the Detective Marion’s sister and Sam has employed. The Detective is well put together in a nice suit, with a hat on, contrasting with Bates’ dark casual sweater. Hitchcock uses their clothes to show that although Bates was able to dominate and control Marion, he would find it hard to push such an authoritative figure around. Hitchcock uses two shots to show both men, so the audience can compare them, and see the difference as Bates begins to lose his composure when the Detective questions him about Marion. As the Detective begins to pick apart Bates’ story, Bates begins to stutter, which shows his nervousness around the Detective, he knows the Detective has the power to find out what he had done to Marion and punish him for it. In comparison, the detective has a stern, steady voice, showing that he is the one in control; he is pushing Bates around and testing his limits. The camera pans a lot, following the men and there are a lot of shot reverse shots between the two men to highlight their differences. Hitchcock uses an extreme low shot, underneath Bates throat when Bates goes to look at the register. Bates is chewing, and the effect is unsettling on the audience. They are reminded that although the Detective appears to be in control of the situation, Bates is still dangerous, and a murderer. Close ups are used to show the tension between the men. Bates is sweating, whereas the Detective is calmed and collected. The audience almost feel sorry for Bates as he deals with the onslaught of the Detectives questions. Bates is losing the mind battle between the two men, and after the Detective asks to see Mrs Bates, Bates tells the Detective to leave. This confrontation between the men is cleverly devised by Hitchcock to show that although Bates was able to outwit women, he did not have the mental ability to deal with men in the same way.
The third and final power struggle between men is between Bates and Sam. The audience become aware of the tension between the two, when Bates attempts to leave the office and Sam steps in the way, trapping him in the doorway. Sam is shown as the dominant one, with the power to control Bates. Hitchcock uses continued conversation to show the passing of time from where the scene has cut from the men to Marion’s sister exploring the house. This scene changes are achieved by clean cuts, so the audience does not get confused. The men are shown in a two shot, far apart at first, but in the second as tension increases, they become close together, eye to eye, with the only the desk between them. They are both trying to stare the other out, to win the power struggle. Hitchcock uses the dialogue between the men to create an angry atmosphere between the two. As Bates chews, his jaw clenches showing his fury at Sam. Bates shouts at Sam to shut up, and storms off, showing that Sam won the first mental power struggle. In the parlour, the men are shown by a two shot, with Bates close to the camera and Sam in the background to show Bates reaction when he realises the sister is going to try and find his mother. The camera pans and follows the Bates stretch down to grab the ornament that he strikes Sam with. Bates has won the second part of the power struggle by resorting to violence.
Mother Knows Best
In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, men appear the more dominant gender, easily controlling women, and engaging in power struggles with each other. However he turns his own representation on its head by using Norman Bates’ Mother’s character. Ten years ago, Bates killed his own mother, and to try and erase his guilt he stole her corpse and gave her a personality by talking and thinking for her. This soon spun out of control until he became her, half his mind was his mother. In this psychological battle between male and female, the female side wins, dominating Bates’ mind for periods at a time, such as when Bates kills Marion, it is his mother who is in control. Hitchcock suggests the idea that no matter how dominate or strong a man might be, he will always be subservient to his own mothers will and wishes. This dominance of Mother over son is shown at the end of the film where Bates is in locked in a room. There are bars on a window showing that he is trapped in the room. Bates is sitting on the chair, wrapped up in a blanket like an old lady. The voice over sounding his thoughts are an old woman’s voice, which shows that the vicious woman inside him has become dominant and is in control. The camera zooms into Bates face, and shows a close up of the fly on his hand, to emphasise the woman’s point that she was going to give the impression that she couldn’t hurt a fly. The scene then fades to the next. Hitchcock uses this scene to represent that although Bates is a man, and it was his male body that carried out the crimes, the source of the aggression and vindictiveness was a woman and her jealousy, symbolising that woman are a force to be reckoned with.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Albert Hitchcock represents gender in the following way; men are able to manipulate and control woman, and are aggressive to each other, engaging in power struggles, but they will always be dominated and controlled by their mothers, whose power over their sons enables them to keep their sons close and have supremacy over their lives.
Mother of Pearl - opening sequence
INT. BEDROOM. DAWN 1
The opening to Mother of Pearl is all filmed either in, or around Emma’s house. This is to portray that even when you think you are safe, you are not. The scene starts with the camera panning around the corner of Emma’s room as though someone is entering the room. It lingers slightly on the red handprints on the way to present the danger to the audience, and zooms in on Emma’s face. The mise-en-scene in the room is used to represent Emma’s character. The cuddly toys show that she is innocent, the guitar and work on the table show that she is hardworking and determined. Emma is tossing, turning, and murmuring as she has a nightmare. The camera zooms slowly out. She sits up in alarm and screams. The scream is used to startle the audience and to prepare them for the events that will unfold.
EXT. GARDEN. DAWN 2
A close up is shown of the garden floor, where the audience later learn that Pearl is buried. The camera then pans round and zooms into Emma’s window. We see the light turn on, so we know Emma has got out of bed, and then she pulls the curtains across, and opens the window, to represent that she has allowed evil to enter her home. She pulls on a chequered green t-shirt as green represents bad luck, then walks out of shot. We see her walk out of shot so that we wonder where she is going.
INT. LANDING AND STAIRS. DAWN 3
Emma leaves the room, absentmindedly slightly trailing her hand on the handprints as she does so. She then begins to walk down the stairs. The shot changes so that Emma can be seen going down stairs through the banister, so the bars make it look like she is trapped. The bars are white, which represents that the thing that is trapping her was not always evil. The next shot is a low angle shot from the bottom of the stairs to watch Emma coming down. It makes Emma seem intimidating, which leads the audience to the false interpretation that she is safe.
INT. HALLWAY. 4
Emma switches on the light to make the audience feel comfortable, and therefore doesn’t prepare them for the appearance of Catherine. Emma peers into the mirror, and wipes sleep from her eye. This is fairly slow, so the audience have time to settle into the scene and get comfortable. As Emma shut her eye, Catherine suddenly appears behind her, but when she opens her eyes, Catherine is gone. Emma walks away from the mirror oblivious.
INT. KITCHEN. 5
Emma walks into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of water. We see this done using shot reverse shot of the glass being filled and off Emma’s face. This is again, to lull the audience into a false sense of security. Emma turn’s way from the sink and takes a sip of the water when sudden clashes of noise makes her jump, and drop the glass which smashes. The smashing of the glass represents Emma’s loss of control over the situation.
INT. HALLWAY TO LIVING ROOM 6
Emma rushes down the hallway into the living room to locate the noise, which we see is emitting for the television. Emma frantically searches for the remote to turn the television down. We can hear the shopping channel advertise a mother of pearl necklace. Emma turns the television down, but Pearl had already appeared on screen.
PEARL
“One, Two, Three, Emma I can see”
Here is a close up of Emma’s face as she looks startled and slightly frightened. She steps back to a mid-shot.
PEARL
“Four, five, six, beware my tricks”
As soon as Pearl says tricks, doors slamming can be heard upstairs, (non diegetic sound). Emma spins round wildly, and the camera pans to spin round with her, all the while staying at a close up of Emma’s scared face. As the slamming gets nearer a gust of wind rushes into the room, knocking the DVDs off of the counter, and pushing Emma over, as she falls, she knocks the Barbie off of the table. Audiences with keen eyes will notice that the dolls head has changes position so that it always appears to be looking at Emma. This is used to show Pearl’s presence in the room. The tin the doll was sitting on has ‘the age of innocence’ written on its side to show that Pearl was corrupted at an early age. Emma gets up shakily to her feet, as Pearl speaks there is a shot reverse shot between Emma and the Barbie.
PEARL
“7, 8, 9 I’ll watch you cry”
As the shot changes to the Barbie we can see a tear on the Barbie's face, this is used to make the audience feel apprehensive. Emma looks increasingly frightened, at a mid-shot and Catherine appears behind from a crouch and begins to strangle her with the mother of pearl necklace that was shown earlier on the shopping channel. Emma throws her head back and there is a blood red tear that has rolled down her cheek, this is to startle and worry the audience Emma finishes the chant to show that she is now possessed.
EMMA
“Ten”
The scene cuts our before Emma has finished saying ten, so this overlaps onto the title screen which has the movie name animation, This all then fades to black, which will make the audience feel uncomfortable because they can’t see what’s happening and don’t know what’s going on next.
