Relationship Between Shots

The 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho, is one that I truly appreciate. He is able to build up these characters and story through his meticulous shots. The last scene in Psycho is one that gives me the chills.

            The camera follows the police officer down the hallway to give someone a blanket. One of the officers is guarding the door, and as the door opens the camera stops outside of the door, you can only see the guarding officer standing across from the camera as the other officer goes inside to give this person a blanket. We hear a “thank you” from an older female voice, but see no one. The officer locks the door and it cuts to Norman sitting on the left side of the screen on a chair with the blanket wrapped around him in this empty room with a mug on the floor. The camera slowly zooms closer into Norman as the narration of his mother speaking continues. It becomes clear that Norman is the mother in this scene and the thoughts are happening in his head as he thinks he is his mother. He nods his head as he sits there and the thoughts continue to be narrated as she blames Norman for the killings.

            “They’re probably watching me, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am”, the mother says as the camera zooms into to a close up of Norman as his eyes wonder around the room to imply he is being watched. He looks down and a smooth cut is made to show a close up of the back of his hand resting on the blanket while a fly lands on him, and the mother continues to say she isn’t even going to swat the fly. This cuts to a mid shot of Norman as his head slowly comes up with his gaze still aimed down towards his hand. His head and gaze slowly look up and directly to the camera with a creepy grin. He is addressing the audience at this point and gives this scene a further creepier vibe. This shot of him directly looking into the camera and grinning fades smoothly into the car being pulled out of the ground, however if one looks closely durin the fade, you can see how as the shot fades Hitchcock manages to overlap a skull-like face on top of Norman’s face. This perhaps symbolizes the dead mother taking form through Norman’s mind. Norman and his mother are one and his mind is like the empty room projected in this scene; just Norman’s body and his mind taking over to believe he is his mother. The eerie music in this  scene also add to the overall creepy vibes and chills that it gives off as we learn that Norman believes he is his mother. The cuts are seamless and so smooth, they go very well the music and give plenty of time to develop feelings for the way the film ends.