Critical Investigation: Scene analysis

Normas Death:

This entire scene uses continuity editing and is in a linear narrative to ensure the smooth transition of time to avoid disorientation of the audience as the events are already quite hard to follow. To begin, the lighting is blue toned throughout this clip which is a conventional colour used in the horror genre. The use of mood lighting here is perhaps to achieve a practical or aesthetic effect but more likely to create an ominous, eerie and menacing atmosphere. This effect is successful at the mood the director intends to create, as the colour blue typically holds connotations of sadness. Also, in Iran, blue is symbolic of mourning which is especially relevant and is foreshadowing of the events that will follow. To continue with the use of lighting, it is mainly low-key lighting but there are still many shadows which add to the ambiguity of the actions that will occur. This creates enigma. 

This scene begins with a medium shot of the two main characters of the show; Norma and Norman who is watching over her. The camera then pans to Norman walking away from the bed. Immediately, the audience feel fearful of what his next actions will be. This is achieved by his unpromising demeanour and facial expression. Here, we can say this entire scene so far is an enigma code as we are unsure of what Norman will do or what will follow. Moreover, the lack of sound and over emphasis on the creaking, breathing and other generic, small, diegetic noises reinforces the genre of horror whilst adding tension. This, therefore helps the audience to anticipate with apprehension or fear.

The next shot, following immediately from Norman leaving the bedroom, is to the stairs of the basement. The jump cut here is very abrupt which makes it effective as the audience’s attention is forced to focus on Norman so they are aware that something is going to happen. This is also an example of enigma code. The shot of Norman is an establishing shot and a long shot. This enables the audience to see the basement which gives the impression of something bad happening as well as being a fairly disconcerting setting and conventional of horror. What is most interesting about this specific shot is that it is taken at a low angle. This gives the subject of the shot an impression of dominance. This is significant as we, as the audience are given a reminder of the power he holds. This is because earlier in the show we are aware of the fact that the boiler in the basement, if turned on before being fixed, could release fatal fumes. This is an example of foreshadowing and although some viewers may not realise this. The basement is almost identical to the one in ‘Psycho,’ which not only gives the audience the pleasure of recognition but also forces the audience to realise the reality of what will inevitably happen, this is an example of intertextuality. This scene highlights on this as the tense mood suggests the build up to this reality is perhaps soon to come. Norman walks down the stairs, towards the camera and then the camera moves to behind the shelf of lethal chemicals and faces Norman walking closer to the boiler. This is an example of an action code. During this part of the sequence, slow, sorrowful music begins to build up. This is another action code as the audience are likely to believe something tragic will happen.

As Norman tears the caution tape off the boiler, opens and lights it, the light music becomes louder and more eerie. The camera zooms in slowly until it is directly in front of the fire and Norman’s face. This shot is a medium close up. This may have been intentionally used to focus on the character’s expression as he is quite neutral which adds to the disturbing nature of his actions. The camera tilts upwards into the boiler and a tracking shot is used. Here the pace increases significantly. The camera follows through a pipe and follows Norman as we can see the vents being closed through the pipe. The camera shots rotate between being in the pipe and to the house where we can see Norman closing the vents. This gives the audience a slightly disorientated effect. The music here is a especially interesting in the editing of this scene as it is an example of contrapuntal sound.

The use of contrapuntal sound is generally used to evoke a reaction of shock or to emphasise the feeling of disgust or horror towards what is happening. Here, we could also argue that the use of contrapuntal sound highlights how disturbed and conflicted Norman Bates’ mind is as he is in a state of out-of-body experience. The song used here, ‘Mr Sandman,’ is very obviously a deliberate choice as it is a traditional pop song which heavily juxtaposes with the sinister actions we can see. However, the context of the song could link to the ideas or intentions the director perhaps had. Mr. Sandman was the mythological creature who threw "sand" on people to put them to sleep to give them good dreams. In Norman’s warped state of mind, it may have been likely that he felt he was doing good by putting his mother in a ‘dream’ forever. Whilst this music is playing more close up’s of Norman are shown and what strikes me as interesting is the use of the shutters of the vents shutting and covering his face. This is an example of a fade out is very clever as it serves the idea of him trying to hide and shows the demented aspect of his personality. Eventually his dark ‘side’ will overtake everything which correlates to the actions he is about to commit. Finally, he returns back to the bedroom where Norma is sleeping, lays down with her and leaves the vent open in their room.

The pace decreases again. The camera work that follows, is notably picturesque and striking. The camera slowly pans around the rest of the house. The audience are given very delicate but eerie shots of the rest of the house until we enter the basement and return back to the boiler where we see an extreme close up of the fire. The scene ends with this shot suggesting the fate that will come next is menacing. This along with the contrapuntal music leaves the scene ending on a very sinister tone and is an example of a cliffhanger.

Moving into Bates Motel

The scene begins with tranquil landscape shots. The first shot we see is as seen on the left - the sea. The waves overlap each other slowly creating a sense of ease in audiences. Following this is a panning shot - demonstrating the sheer magnitude and beauty of nature. Paired to these natural visuals is contrapuntal, whimsical music - creating an imagine of serenity and harmony. This equanimous state, however, is quickly broken by the sound of a car driving past. This creates a contrast between nature and artificial imagery. This juxtaposition alludes to the idea that this car is a negative addition to the scene. However, the colour scheme and quaint music manages to keep the feel of the scene pleasant. The colour scheme stays relatively the same throughout this scene; the colours appear to have a monochromatic relationship. This is apparent in the variations of blue. Otherwise, the colours are analogous - consisting primarily blue, green and yellow. Blue is often used to symbolise piety and sincerity in heraldry. Blue alludes to the landscape images because the sky/sea represents the tears, or sorrow, of God. This is relevant because of the tragedy Norma/Norman inevitably will be forced to go through. 

Mountains are a symbol of the earth and femininity. However, Spiritually, mountains  represent a state of fully aware consciousness. This is why we only ever see them in this shot from the beginning of the story, rather than the end. Eventually, we are introduced to the characters in the car; the camera focuses on Norman first, while we hear Norma speak. They are discussing how they are moving location. Norma teases her son, Norman, establishing their playful and intimate relationship. The lighting is high-key, accentuating the character’s facial features well. The lighting is also soft and make audiences feel almost as if this is a flashback - whoever, the colours are still cold, Oddly enough, Norma appears more laid-back and childish in her mannerisms in comparison to her son - indicating her pure intentions and innocent nature. Her son, Norman, on the other hand seems annoyed but as soon as his mother expresses any sign of happiness he seems to be put at ease.

The characters finally have arrived at their destination, the Seafairer Motel - which was built in the 1950s by Keith Summers' great-great grandfather. Their family passed the house and motel down from generation to generation until Summers lost them both to the bank. Norma eventually bought them in a foreclosure sale and renamed the Seafairer Motel to the Bates Motel. The colour scheme retains the same feel - built up of mainly blues and yellows. The mise-en-scene within the shots here consist of the sign, the car and the two characters. The car is a 1972 Mercedes Benz - this is interesting as Norma appears to favour vintage devices. Her taste alludes tot the original film as it was set in the 1960s. To continue, once Norma has arrived, she ushers Norman out of the car and instructs him to close his eyes. She advances towards the car to then pose on it. Her mannerisms appear childish yet again, indicating her hopeful outlook on her new life with her son. She looks around nervously - demonstrating her uncertainty with her surroundings. Although she is smiling, audiences can see in her facial expressions she is somewhat doubtful. Her doubt here is anything but misguided. She seems to compose herself very quickly, as if she has done this many times before - a clear link to the flashback prior to this scene. 

Norma instructs Norman to open his eyes and audiences are presented with the shot of Norma sat on the car with an exact replica of the original 1960’s Psycho house. This is an instance of intersexuality - especially satisfying for people who are fans of the original film. The scene turns to Normans face - he appears slightly dazed. However, like in the car, whenever Norma expresses happiness, he does the same. At this point in the series, audiences feel that Norman simply wants what is best for his mother and makes her feel the happiest. Norman appears to be more of a realist in contrast to his idealistic mother. He claims there is no way they can run this motel, while Norma insists otherwise. Again, emphasising her somewhat impractical mindset. Norma jumps off the car and jumps to hug Norman, again their relationships intimate and caring nature is demonstrated. After this, Norma takes Norman by the hand and skips out of the scene. This reinforces her childish disposition. The colour scheme that has been consistent throughout the scene, is discarded abruptly once the two characters enter the house. Similarly, the lighting is no longer high-key, it is low-key. As seen from the screen cap, the house is dark, sombre and dull-coloured. All of these allude to danger and negativity. The symbolism of the darkness is very revealing and significant in the future of the show. The fact that this final shot is from a very high angle. This makes Norma and Norman appear very weak and vulnerable. 

Marion in the Shower:

This scene opens with Marion Crane (Rihanna), pacing in her motel room while being the receiving end of her unfaithful boyfriend's voicemail. Although being completely blindsided by her manipulative boyfriend, she is still portrayed as empowered and confident - predominantly through her costume, dialogue, and facial expressions. Once she has finished with her angry voicemail message, she is at on the bed and the camera gradually zooms into an embroided flower vase hung on the wall. The music chimes in; it is eerie and daunts the audience. It is also contrapuntal at first considering the delicate, flowery visual. However, as we zoom in, audiences are presented with a hole in the picture. As we zoom further and further, the pace of the music and editing increases - again adding tot he apprehension in audiences. Eventually, the shot transitions into Norman's eye - suggesting Marion Crane is being watched by him. This whole scene is an example of intertextuality as fans of the original Psycho film will be aware of what they 'know' will happen.

The scene is cut and we are brought back to the same setting except it is being filmed through a hole. We hear the sound of running water - those who have seen Psycho are consciously aware that she will be stabbed because of what happened in the iconic Psycho shower scene. She faces Norman Bates direction and takes off her clothes. Audiences are positioned as Norman Bates - we are voyeurs. We can hear Norman's tense breathing and this makes audiences feel uncomfortable as it suggests he is nervous - and considering we are being forced to identify with him, this unsettles us. As she takes off more of her clothes, the pace of the music and Norman's breathing increases. She eventually goes into the shower - audiences are sure she is soon be stabbed and murdered. The colours here consist mainly of black and blue - both colours suggesting some sort of sorrow or darkness. Norman then hears some dialogue from his dead mother, ensuring audiences are aware of his damaged mental state. We are then taken back to Rihanna's motel room where she pulls back the curtain shower. She hears someone enter her room and ignores it, the camera is focused on her silhouette through the curtain showers and eerie music cues - audiences are preparing for her death. The scene hits climax as Rihanna hastily pulls back the shower curtain and says 'screw this shit' - completely breaking audiences expectations and making her appear empowered. A huge difference between the original and the contemporary version is how Rihanna reacts to the noise she hears whereas Janet Leigh doesn't - suggesting a shift in the passive behaviours women were expected to adopt.

Shower Stabbing scene:

This scene opens with Norman Bates who, based on his facial expression, appears frenzied and very tempered. He is holding a knife and very quickly goes in to stab Sam Loomis repeatedly. The contrapuntal music in the background emphasises Norman's detached nature. After Loomis has finally sunk to the ground, he falls forward, taking the shower curtain with him. In comparison, in the original, Marion relaxes in the shower. Then its plastic curtain is pulled aside by the silhouetted figure of a tall, old woman, in whose uplifted arm is a large knife. Marion, turning, sees it and screams; the knife's downward stoke enters her stomach. Briefly, she holds off the sticking arm, but as she weakens, further blows stab her body, and her blood mixes with the water from the shower. Her assailant brings it down with her. She lies with her face beside the toilet pedestal, her eyes stare at the floor. This same style is adopted in the 2017 version except for the fact that a man is being stabbed and by Norman not Norman cross-dressing as Norma.

The original shower scene:

Marion is a young, prepossessing blonde which quickly suggests she is vulnerable. Her appearance is polished, this alone indicates she is a liability. The scene initiates with a medium shot of Marion and audiences can only exclusively hear diegetic noises. The camera cuts to a close up of the toilet to show that Marion has flushed ripped paper. This builds the tension as it suggests to the audience that Marion is trying to hide something - serving as an enigma code. Diegetic sound of the flushing is used and in the background a score arises. The close up indicates that the pieces of paper were a crucial prop, leaving the audience wondering why the protagonist has chosen to dispose of the paper the way she did. In all probability, Hitchcock has employed a red herring. The camera then pans to the right as Marion closes the the door. The scene is still fairly quiet but the diegetic sound of Marion closing the door is amplified and this is used to alert the audience that the door is closed. This acts as an action code; audience are expecting an intruder to arrive and disturb the silence. As Marion enters the shower, the sound of the shower curtain is also heavily emphasised. This is because this sound is an instance of sibilance which has connotations of anger and therefore alludes that something menacing is soon to occur.  

As Marion is in  the shower, most of the shots utilised are high angled, depicting that she is inferior and defenceless, foreshadowing future events that are mostly likely to happen later on in the scene. As she switches the shower on the diegetic sound of the water adds normality to the scene and this normality servers it's purpose well as the audience is expecting something to happen so the longer the scene stays normal the more tension is built. A point of view shot of the shower head is also used. As Marion's shower continues the camera cuts between different angles and the 180-degree angle rule is dismissed. This makes the scene feel dysfunctional for audiences which creates tension as the audience anticipates something to happen with each cut that goes by. The low angle shots or cut aways of the shower head whilst the water gushes towards her/us is repeated three times. This indicates Marion’s utter lack of awareness and highlights her absent minded disposition. She remains blissfully unaware of an intruders advancements towards her. This naivety alludes to innocence and even further to adolescence, which elicits sympathy in audiences. The shower scene has mostly high key lighting, this could symbolise her purity and her naive attributes within her character. The way the lighting is seen shows that it mirrors her persona and portrayal. Also because the lighting is bright, it almost tricks the viewers by making them assume something horrific won’t come about and also reinstates the normality, juxtaposing the audiences’ judgements and state of mind towards this scene The camera then cuts to a high angle shot of Marion facing the camera but the shot also features the blurred out view of behind the shower curtain. This shot serves two purposes as it does not only make Marion look small due to the camera angle but it also allows the audience to see that the is an intruder in the bathroom. The long over the shoulder shot reveals that there is someone behind the shower, approaching Marion. In this scene a two shot is used, however we can only see Marion Crane in this scene, behind the transparent curtain we see a silhouette figure, this anticipates the audience as we get the impression that we are going to be seeing the face of the killer. She is unaware there is a person behind the curtain although the audience does know. This is known as dramatic irony. Only the diegetic sound of the shower water can be heard and this build suspense as we know the murder is about to happen. 

When the curtain is finally open, we do not get to see the face of the killer, the audience only get to see an outline of the killer, but do not get to make out the face of the killer, this leaves the audience in immense suspense as to who the killer is. The face of the killer is edited to look darkened, moreover the use of low key lighting played into the effect of the faceless killer, the low key lighting of the killer in contracts with the white bathroom doesn't allow the audience to focus on the face of the killer, although the audience are able to understand through the use of mise-en-scene that the killer could perhaps be the mother as the audience are able see an outline of the mother's hair and baggy clothes. The sound used to shock the audience because when the killer pulls back the shower curtain a strong, loud and fast paced pleonastic sound can be heard which shocks the viewers. The sound is used to represent the stabbing of Marion. Hitchcock, uses rule of thirds plays into Marion's death, Marion is placed at the right edge of the screen where she is almost swallowed up by the white background, while she is slowly sinking down as she is powerless and no longer has control over her body. Marion's expression earlier in the scene, keeps the audience on edge of who the killer is, Marion's expression show that she is truly frightened and shocked by the killer, her expression perhaps suggests that no one is safe in Bates Motel. A quick cut montage is used and the pleonastic sound is synchronised with the stabbing and the different angles used when she is being stabbed causes the audience to become confused as the 180 degree rule is not being followed. This is used to suggest that the female victim feels confused and can not defend herself. It also emphasises the fear and confusion the female character is experiencing which causes an enigma because we do not know why anyone would want to kill Marion because she looks innocent. Also, Marion is denoted by being naked throughout this whole scene! this mirrors her vulnerability and exposure. The attacker is then placed in a more dominant position as the woman being killed has more to lose. being naked has the connotations of insufficient protection, which eventually foreshadows her impending death.  Another enigma is used when only the silhouette of the killer can be seen which adds to the tension and suspense. Enigmas are commonly used in thriller films and we anticipate the enigmas being solved later on in the film. 

When the killer has left only the sound of the water can be heard as the score has stopped. The camera then zooms out slowly to reveal Marion's corpse lying on the bathroom floor and then it tracks to the right. The camera then pans towards the drain and zoom in. This then fades to a graphic match of Marion's eye. This is used to represent that her life has been drained from her like the water has gone down the drain. This is a dramatic representation of her death. Furthermore, the camera rotation makes the audience feel disorientated as it is an odd way to show her dying, however it captures how she could be feeling in her head, the audience get to see Marion's perspective of her confusion and understand her fear. The shot of the camera continuously following the blood and water getting drained suggests the cause of her death: blood loss. Hitchcock presents Marion's death in a unique way, most horror films today usually show the death scene without any unique camera movements as most rely heavily on sound and editing to scare the audience, However Hitchcock's use of interesting camera shots doesn't directly showcase Marion's death, but through the various chronological shots of her in agony and the blood draining allows the audience to piece together the information and understand that she died. There is then a dolly shot into the motel room which feels like a point of view shot but the irony of this is that the woman is dead and nobody else should be in there. This creates tension as it leaves the audience wondering if there is somebody else in the room after all.