Alfred Hitchcock and Mise-en-scène
How implied psychology applies to films. Seen in Hitchcock’s 1954 classic film Rear Window and his 1960 masterpiece Psycho. (Spoilers).
Alfred Hitchcock utilizes the elements of mise-en-scene to effectively manipulate a movie scene. This enables him to allow the camera to control and dictate how much the audience is allowed to see and know.
Rear Window
Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery thriller film, based on Cornel Woolrich’s 1942 short story, “It Had to Be Murder.” It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes; with a brief synopsis of, “a photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building” (Turner Classic Movies 2022). The movie was made with a running time of 112 minutes and a budget of $1 million. Rear Window made the box office $37 million, won many awards, and remains an American classic to this day.
Rear Window’s main perception enables Jeffery as the camera’s point of view. Throughout the whole duration of the movie, Rear Window, Hitchcock places his audience through the perspective of Jeffery; with the exception of his fall at the end of the movie.
To understand Hitchcock’s purpose for this placement/setting, the audience must first understand Jeff’s physical and mental capabilities. Hitchcock achieves this by using a wide array of visual cues to communicate certain messages to the audience.
Jeff’s disability is a constant reminder of his powerlessness and the source of his discontent. His broken leg restricts him to just his apartment and for the most part, so does the camera for that matter. As a result, Hitchcock is able to limit our perception by confining us with the protagonist in the small room with only glimpses into the other apartment rooms without ever entering them. This fixed approach ensures that we see just enough to know what is going on but remain suspenseful and confused with the main characters.
The murderer, Thorwald, indirectly tampers with our attention from his real aims with his ploys (reading a postcard from his -dead- wife, etc.) as he moves out. Jeff perceives something suspicious about his activities and sticks to this point of view even when doubted by the other characters. Doyle’s insight into how murderers usually operate prevents him from seeing Thorwald as a killer. Because of this plot and singular setting, here, the dramatic irony exists only in between the knowledge of the characters.
Symbolically, Jeff is able to channel surf through the various apartments through their windows (resembling a little TV) from the comfort of his room. Jeffery’s perception is ultimately the driving force in solving the overall story conflict. This is inherent to the fact that we are also left to question Thorwald’s whereabouts just as Jeffrey was throughout the whole movie.
Psycho
Similar to his film Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock uses mise-en-scene to once again control and dictate how much the audience is allowed to see. In this film, Hitchcock concentrates on storytelling in a single image/shot in order to influence how the audience views/reads the character in that specific movement a lot.
Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror-thriller film, that was loosely based on the real-life killings of Wisconsin serial murderer Ed Gein. It was produced by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Joseph Stefano; with a brief synopsis, “A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer’s client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother,” (IMDb.com 2022). The movie was made with a running time of 109 minutes and on a budget of $806,947. Psycho made the box office $50 million, making it Alfred Hitchcock’s most successful movie.
We see him play with singles-shots that slowly turn into close-ups to either further the suspense or create a personal and intimate connection with the character. This is seen on multiple occasions:
One example is seen when Marion is pulled over by the cop. An extreme close-up of the officer is framed by the car window to create suspense. Marion is cleared of her suspected crime and drives away successfully from the cop; the frame of Marion then transitions to a medium close-up to create tension amongst the audience. This allows the audience to experience Marion’s concerns about being caught until the final close-up that exposes Marion’s smug face.
One of the most classic cinematic film moments of the century is the death of Marion. This scene presents a reverse shot, which starts from Marion’s eye to a medium close-up of Marion’s face. The framework’s purpose is to create a connection between the audience and Marion as they are both shocked as to what had just happened. The music played during this shower scene is arguably a simple yet incredibly effective piece of music in creating suspense and tension. Not to mention the intentional rhythmic visuals directed to deliver the scene of Marion’s blood flowing down the shower drain in circles.
Hitchcock uses mise-en-scene with double-shots.
Here, Marion has arrived at the Bates Motel after successfully stealing the $40,000 from her employer and deceiving the officer. Though this shot is straight on, proposing that they are both equal, Marion’s two-face self is seen in the reflection of the mirror and the crime is presented right in front of Bates in disguise.
Here, Bates just went through a mental metamorphosis in which he is himself and his mother, thus creating an imaginary alter ego. Again, though this shot is straight on, proposing that they are both equal. Bates’ two-face self is seen in the reflection of the window and a super is presented in front of Marion, perceiving him to be harmless and caring.
Joseph Stefano, screenwriter of Psycho once expressed his concerns regarding the audience’s interpretation of Norman Bates wearing a wig. He felt troubled by the possibility that people will leave the theatre not fully understanding the intent behind this scene. The cultural context of this time — the 1960s audience’s unfamiliarity with psychology — may lead the audience to confuse Norman bates as a transvestite or a homosexual serial killer.
I find this ending scene of Norman Bates in jail significant because this is the moment we see his alter ego mother appear from inside of him. “Norman” is seen during the first few seconds propped up against the wall, leaning with a face of concern. Concerned, caring, and worried Norman, is the character Hitchcock made him out to be. But as the camera transitions to a close up we “hear” Norman’s mother speaking from inside him, and we see a smile creep upon his face as his alter ego mother appears from within. I believe Hitchcock zooms in to emphasize this as well.