Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho :: Film Movies

An Analysis of the Opening succession from Alfred Hitchcocks PsychoJust like a building, a characterization needs a strong foundation in order to be successful, a foundation which is made up of the starting moments of the film. In Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock successfully uses the opening credit sequence to establish a foundation on which to build an interesting plot, including techniques to elicit involvement by the spectator, and the suggestion of a Psycho theme. A musical composition consisting of quick strokes on tightly wound violins, later used in the famous shower scene, starts to see at the beginning of the sequence. Names begin to slide on and off the screen in a series of horizontal and vertical lines. The sink and bottom portions of the causes slide onto the screen, followed by the middle portion. The last name to appear is that of Alfred Hitchcock, which delimitatetles in the middle of the screen and begins to twitch and flutter in an unusual manner. The credits then dissolve into a long calamus of an auspicious section of an unknown city where a building is world constructed (paralleling the idea of Hitchcock shaping a foundation). As this dissolve takes place, a more subtle and mellow music (again composed of string instruments) fills the air, suggesting a lasting environment. The sun burns brightly in the sky and a recant landscape is seen in the background through a haze. The shot instanter begins to pan remitly to the right, revealing more city rooftops and streets. As a dissolve zooms us slightly closer to the city and the television camera continues to pan, subaltern block letters appear on both sides of the screen and take on in the middle to read PHOENIX, ARIZONA. Hitchcock immediately brings the reoccurring theme of birds into the film by setting the scenery in Phoenix. The camera continues to pan to the right, now mournful on to a more dreary side of the city. The next set of title of respects converges in the center of t he screen, reading FRIDAY, DECEMBER ELEVENTH. As the panning continues, a slow zoom begins to bring us closer to one of the buildings. The last title appears in the same fashion as the preceding, TWO FORTY-THREE P.M. notwithstanding another dissolve stops the camera on a earlier unattractive wall, slowly zooming in on a windowpane with Venetian blinds drawn down. A cut to a closer view of the window reveals an opening a few inches below the blind in which the camera continues to zoom in on, bringing us into a dark flat room.