If someone asks me to watch a horror movie (ghost-related) by myself, usually you will only hear "NO!! WAY!!" from me. When I saw this week's film, Psycho, the first thought that came to my mind is "should I just grab my friend, so I can have someone watch with me." Seems like it's tough to do it that way since people are all busy, so I searched for a brief intro to this film on google, and I finally relief! (It's not that scary)
Alright, I finally ready to watch this film and ready for the horror. I grabbed a beer and opened up my laptop, so my journey started. The first thing that came into my mind is the black and white screen. Maybe I barely watch the old film, black and white always makes me feel boring and shabby. However, these impressions changed recently because I feel like black and white can help us focus more on the characters but not the surrounding environment.
 |
| Psycho, Scene 1 |
 |
WandaVision
|
At the beginning of the film Psycho, when Marion and her lover Sam are in the same room, the black and white filter does a great job of specifying the character's emotion. This is especially true when both characters are in a lighter color, and the background is in a darker color. Besides, since the idea of "Suture" was using widely in this film, a black and white screen could also help to set suture in my opinion. Less distraction can insert the audience into the film more easily. In this first scene, when the camera does some gazes between characters, it would've been hard for us not to look at the characters. "Marion, who will be the object of numerous coercive gazes during the film." (Silverman, 5) This black and white screen also makes me think about Marvel's TV series, WandaVision, which I think has some similarities with Psycho. In WandaVision, the first two episodes mimic the early 1960s sitcom and have the coercive gazes on both Wanda and Vision. It's a show that discovers the trauma these characters have after the Infinity war. The black and white screen has set a perfect tone for this special gaze and makes the show more of an artwork than a regular fast food Hollywood production.
There is one more thing I really like and want to talk about, which is the soundtrack. I think Psycho did an outstanding job, especially during the shower scene.
 |
| Psycho, Shower Scene |
 |
| Finding Nemo, Darla |
There is a really high-pitched violin sound in this scene, which I think is one of the best soundtracks in this entire movie. This sound effect has created a strong tension and horror that will greatly draw the audience's attention. Moreover, the sound really catches me because it's too iconic. When I was a kid (about 4 or 5 years old), I watched Finding Nemo, and the scene when Darla enters became my childhood nightmare. This proves that this violin sound makes its point, which is to create a horror atmosphere. Even though the shower scene makes me laugh this time, it could be one of the scarest and iconic scenes for the people back then.
I totally agree with the points you made! The black and white quality of the film was such high quality that you could focus on the characters, which only lead to us playing into the idea of Suture. I loved the references of Wanda vision and Finding Nemo you made to Psycho. Personally, I am a huge horror fan and found the murder scenes very cheesy and even funny. I for sure see your point that this was probably so scary for people to watch in the 60's compared to what is scary for people now. The sound affects put into this film ( the violins) and many other horror films don't help in assuring people that there is nothing to be afraid of.
ReplyDeleteYour point on the violins being the best in the entire film I definitely agree with. I think the combination of scary music and the what is to horror movies now "cheesey" scene is interesting. Like in the Finding Nemo scene, if you put that sound track behind anything, it may automatically make it 10 times scarier. I also agree with the part about the movie being black and white and how it sets everything up.
ReplyDeleteFirst off I absolutely loved the comparisons you made to both WandaVision and Finding Nemo. In the case of WandaVision it was interesting to see how you pointed out the ability of something in black and white to make the viewer focus more on the characters and their expressions rather than the surroundings. Up until recently I was also a believer in the idea that anything in black and white was automatically monotonous ,but with more perspective I am able to increasingly see its effectiveness. I agree that the striking violin sound is iconic, but I think I'm definitely in the minority in terms of how much I like it since it honestly hurt my ears at times and got repetitive. Overall though, this was such a fun blog post to read!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you when talking about the back and white! I was never very interested in older movies because I always thought of them as long and pointless, but Psycho kept me engaged throughout! I thought the editing was very well done for this film as well.
ReplyDelete