Media assessment: Psycho Shower Scene

 

Starting off we see that there is a shot of the shower where we have the diegetic sound that is there which gives the viewer the inclination that the murder victim cannot hear anything. As the seen moves on we get the mid shot of the woman showering and just through the shower curtain we see a dark figure appear through the door. This is where the tension begins to build. We have building orchestral music which is mainly violins the type of music that this is is non-diegetic sound that is added after filming is done mainly added in the editing room. Next we move on to the shot of the killer which is a close up and we see how the editor has used mise-en-scene to show that the knife is only a standard kitchen knife which means that the murder in not pre-empted. We also see that the lighting has been used well to hide the killers face. Moving on we see that these affects are used throughout the scene that the camera keeps site of the murders face and the lighting always seems behind the killer. Finally we with the last screen shot we see a spooky house in the middle of the night; I believe that this has been done because night is when bad things are meant to happen. By doing this as well adds to the mystery of why the murder has been done making the plot thicken and keeping the audience on edge.

Screen shot one this is the shot of the murder once the curtains have been pulled back this is a good use of a close up as although it is a close up there is a lot going on. We see a good use of mise-en-scene how the murder is dressed and the weapon that she/he is using, which is a standard kitchen knife. This shows the audience that the murder was not pre- empted and that the murder has not taken time over thinking how he will kill the woman. Lighting is used well as we see that the murders face is hidden which makes the audience want to know who the killer truly is these types of conventions are used a lot in thriller films due to the fact that they build tension and don’t make you scared like a horror but make you fear for the innocent person that the killer won’t get to them.

The second shot I have chosen to analyse is where the woman is being stabbed; we hear with non-diegetic sound that there is a slicing of flesh. We also see an Arial mid shot which shows that the woman is powerless as she is small than the murder and that there is no escape as she is enclosed by the walls and has no escape. 

The final shot I have chosen is where the director chose to use an extreme close up on the plug hole. Which I feel they have tried to represent the woman’s life draining away and the life being her blood. Is leaving her and she has no hope. I also like how editing was used on this shot as we have a swirling fade although slow paced to the woman’s eye which I feel is very effective as it moves you and you feel sympathetic for her and want to help.