Critic Mike D'Angelo from The A.V. Club wrote an interesting analysis of Janet Leigh's night driving scene in Psycho. You can find it BY CLICKING HERE. Read it and come back for more...
...Okay. So here's your task: Read D'Angelo's essay, cite a specific claim from the essay that you find interesting (with which you either agree or disagree), and discuss why you find the idea intriguing.
Your response should be thoughtful and thorough. For extra credit, you may, as always, post multiple responses or reflect on your peers' comments. Our goal here is rich, interesting discussion.
The car scene from "Psycho" gives us a real understanding of Marion as a character. Like D'Angelo mentioned, the scene starts off with Marion firmly gripping the wheel with a nervous expression on her face. It is subtle and natural, not over the top. Then Marion begins to smirk. This is also very subtle, which only adds to the creepiness of the scene. For over two minutes we are staring at Marion's face, while switching to shots of the road. This allows the audience to fully examine Marion and we can hear what she is thinking and see how she reacts to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this because the smirk is very subtle and it just changes the whole entire shot of the scene. It adds creepiness and lets us fully examine Marion.
DeleteI totally agree. The scene where she was driving let us know how she feels, what she was thinking. I think without that scene we would have lost interest in Marion.
DeleteI agree that Hitchcock purposely filmed "the smirk" to misdirect us so we'd never suspect Norman. I feel like Hitchcock did this purposely because he wanted us to never suspect Norman to be the true psycho,killer. If we had actually just watched the scene where Marion stares straight at the camera and smirks we would definitively think that she was the antagonist of the film. The smirk is intended in my opinion, to make the movie more surprising.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I thought Hitchcock did a good job of throwing us off the scent that Norman would be a killer(much like he did in the trailer). This makes the viewing experience that much more surprising and twisted.
DeleteI wrote the same thing my response. That smirk is almost evil like something is really wrong with this girl. You loose like trust on her goodness. Well you already know that she is not the greatest person but you still loose that. so I agree with you.
DeleteDuring the car scene we see and hear Marion’s reaction shots and internal diagetic sound. Her expression lets us know that she is nervous and her thoughts conclude that she is nervous. As D’Angelo described we see her clutching the steering wheel on the 50’ Ford. We can tell that she is nervous by looking and hearing at her reaction shots and internal diagetic sounds. Because she nervous and jittery we know that most likely she will stop and get rest and get the loud of her mind at a motel which she did.
ReplyDeleteI thought the internal diagetic sound worked perfectly also. It gaves us a sense of how nervous Marion was and her face expressions just topped everything off.
Delete“The sense of accumulating guilt and anxiety is palpable.” I agree that the viewer can feel a sense of guilt and anxiety through multiple layers. First, Marion’s subtle facial expressions and body language. As the viewer you can really tell when she is getting nervous and that makes us uneasy. Second, the scene darkens and this puts more attention on face. It adds the scary affect. Third, downpour makes the viewer anxious that she will crash, but also is a metaphor for her impaired ability to see clearly. Lastly, the music becomes increasingly shrill and this adds even more anxiety.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It's cool how we feel angst when we are not even apart of the situation.
DeleteI agree too. It's an uncomfortable feeling throughout the whole seen, and it just keeps getting that much more uncomfortable as the music increases.
DeleteI also agree with what your saying about the darkening of the surroundings. I definitely think that it puts the audiences full attention on Marion. Also you made a great point of how it gives the audience an anxious feeling. When i was watching this scene i definitely felt anxious and i was waiting for something to happen.
DeleteI agree. The way everything just worked together, from her body language to the music. The way each just Correspond with eachother.
DeleteI think this is totally true because we as the audience just feel as if we are in the scene with Marion, we can feel her worry and anxiety.
Delete"how to convey what a character is thinking when he or she’s entirely alone." This exerpt really got me thinking about how difficult this really is. Any "ok" film maker can throw in a voice over of the character giving internal non diagetic thoughts. The key to this scene, however, is the fact that Hitchcock uses different characters "words of wisdom" from previous scenes to really convey Marion's thoughts. By using previous lines that have made Marion nervous, Hitchcok gives us, the viewers, a chance to say "ok we know that she is nervous". I felt that this was an important point because it truly is difficult to show a person's thoughts while they're alone but I felt Hitchcock did it in an effective, yet, simple way.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with you on with when you said, "it truly f=difficult to show a person's thought while they're alone". I think it's how and what the person is thinking, makes the scene so effective.
Delete“But most of the sequence consists of Janet Leigh looking straight into the camera in medium close-up, in an extraordinary sort of quasi-non-performance”. I really agree with him when he says this quote above and the following sentences after. Hitchcock was a genius in this scene. I think that he can portray exact emotions by just a stare or small fidget. D’ Angelo also makes a similar point about the “smirk” Marion has. I did not pay attention toward the “smirk” but I definitely understand the meaning behind it. It is another example of Hitchcock’s genius. Over all I thought that this article is very interesting to read. I liked it a lot and it gave me a better understanding of Hitchcock.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I think the medium close-up worked perpectly. It makes the viewerz focus on Marion's face experissions and body language.
Delete“…we become screenwriters (or perhaps playwrights) ourselves”. I agree with this statement because I liked how he described a way for us, the viewer, to interact with the movie. When we watch a suspenseful film such as this one, without knowing it we feel what the character(s) is feeling at that moment because it makes the movie that much more enjoyable and exciting to watch.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Watching the film, everything Marion did or say it's like I'm doing or feeling the same thing. It's like I was there with her.
DeleteIn the middle of this analysis the author talks about the car scene where marian has this medium close up shot and "empties her face of emotion, thereby allowing us to project our own feelings onto the deliberate blankness." I think he's absolutely right the blank look on her face that she keeps for a few minutes definitely makes you really wonder and think about what she's feeling at the moment. She also occasionally grips the steering wheel and bites her lip which makes you think she's feeling guilty, maybe nervous but its for you (the audience) to decide in this case.
ReplyDeleteTwo paragraphs after the video, Mike D'Angelo refers to the scene when Marion imagines the voices of the other characters talking amongst themselves. The point which I liked in his review is that he described how it made the viewer feel perfectly. The smirk and the dialogue alike gave off an aura of eeriness which gave depth to the Marion, ultimately causing her to appeal to the viewer. I also agree with him on the point that she is almost a canvas for the viewer which makes her into a masterpiece which we craft through our imaginations. Since she's the viewers masterpiece, when she later perishes it causes the viewer to feel empty and as if what he's created means nothing which further develops Marion. In reading his review I've developed my views on simple scenes and how the most minute details can make or break a scene.
ReplyDelete“if you were told that Psycho was the story of a person with multiple-personality disorder, and then shown only a single frame of Leigh’s smirk, you’d immediately jump to the conclusion that she was the crazy one.” I agree with this completely, When I first saw that scene I thought for sure that Marion was the physco. Especially when you hear the voices in her head and she is just smiling. When she pulls in to the bates motel the last person you would expect to be the physco is Norman. He looks completely innocent and you don’t even consider that him to be a threat. Hitchcock really keeps the audience guessing until the end.
ReplyDelete"When Gus Van Sant announced in 1998 that he was planning a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, I got kind of unduly excited about the project." One thing I found intriguing about this article is that he mentions he is excited about them remaking Psycho. The problem I see with remakes is that they are dead on arrival. It is obvious that the acting in the remake will not be as memorable or as good as the original. There is no better proof of this than in the remake of Psycho. There is no way Van Sant could have matched the subtle expressions of Janet Leigh, and he doesn't. The expressions Janet Leigh makes make it look like she is the psycho, and if I hadn't known about this movie, I would have assumed that. With the remake, everyone already knew the story so they won't be guessing throughout the entire thing. Also, Anne Heche's expressions from what I saw on the video and what D'Angelo said just didn't look right. It looked like she was trying to put on a face and trying to make herself look like Janet Leigh, when in reality it made her look awkward and weird, not crazy. Something about the way Anne Heche looks compared to Janet's expressions just seem off.
ReplyDelete“They had faces then.” I totally agree with Mike D'Angelo, There something about the emotional expressions in the 1960's version of Psycho that gave a completely different emotional shift toward the audience then the 1996 version of Psycho. The way Janet Leigh act's so simplistically through the whole driving scene really helps capture the whole situation she's dug her self into. In comparison between the 1960's version and the 1996 version was day and night as far as trying to capture the little details. In the old version those small details made the scene seem so emotional, weather it's the "smile" or the "straight face." it's a tough task trying to recreate the movie Psycho, and nailing it perfectly. In my opinion is it was a bad move by Gus Van Sant taking on the tough takes of recreating a nominated Best Cinematography, Black-and-White. He should have never messed with this movie. If it ain't broke don't fix it!
ReplyDeleteI found the statement that Luke just brought up the most fascinating of them all; “if you were told that Psycho was the story of a person with multiple-personality disorder, and then shown only a single frame of Leigh’s smirk, you’d immediately jump to the conclusion that she was the crazy one.” I think this is beautifully put and absolutely true, for even watching it the second time I still had my anxiety over the chaotic nature of Marion. Despite that she's a woman and back in that time, seemed much more vulnerable, you can still tell that there's more to her than that, and you can feel it in your own veins, too. But then when she's killed..... the feelings intensify threefold, thinking, "well,shoot, NOW what?! NOW what's the story?" I find it remarkable. It keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat and mind.
ReplyDelete“But empties her face of emotion here, thereby allowing us to project our own feelings onto the deliberate blankness. Looking at it now, I see that that’s not really true. Leigh bites her lip, furrows her brow, and at one point assumes an expression so bizarre that it gets its own paragraph below”. I agree with D'Angelo's because watching the movie, it’s was like we were the one stealing the money and running away. The expressions on her face makes the audience knows what see is going through without her having to say anything. Even though what she did was wrong, the movie make you feel sorry for her as if what she’s doing something good and a lot of that i think had to do with her face expressions.
ReplyDeleteI agree.. because she became one of the victims of the Psycho!
DeleteIn the article it mainly focuses on the car scene. The car scene makes us feel like we are actually in the car running away from the police officer with the money. The music that it plays highlights the moment and makes it seem less realistic in a more realistic way. The car scene includes the car sales man’s voice in her head which makes the scene more dramatic. It helps us notice that something is wrong. Trying to re-create the movie psycho is a really hard job because trying to get every single little detail in the movie would be difficult. I think that this article defiantly helped me understand some of the parts that maybe I miss understood or that I didn’t get. I think reading this article defiantly went into my advantage.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the line "... It's a bizarrely masochistic expression,subtle but deranged, and utterly at odds with the character as we've come to know her" pertaining to her smirk. Though I do agree with the fact that it is at odds with the character, I believe its more of a daring smirk saying "Come at me,bro" like she is challenging him.She seems to believe that the oilman cant do anything to her or she just doesnt care. She doesnt strike me as the type to enjoy pain. She just seems too proper because of the way she carries herself and her general appearance just screams good girl.As a side note, I love how its just Marion Crane staring at the camera for minutes because it makes you uneasy it just doesnt seem right, it gives the same feeling as a dutch angle shot.
ReplyDelete"She’s definitely acting. And yet there’s something mesmerizingly iconic about this series of close-ups that didn’t translate at all when Van Sant attempted to recreate it with Heche". I totally agree with this. I think a opinion like this can refer to many remakes of movies. Psycho is a perfect example of a film that if you try to remake it like Gus Van Sant did, it won't be as well respected just because he messed with an iconic scene. Even if the film is "shot-by-shot", it isn't possible to capture on film a performance as genius as Janet Leigh's. She manages to create this image simply by driving a car in the middle of the night with a small smirk on her face. The brillance of this image is that she looks so intent on her purpose.
ReplyDeleteWhen D'Angelo says, "An odd device here that I can’t recall encountering in any other film: Marion imagines conversations that haven’t happened yet, predicting how her boss, her sister, and the oilman whose cash she swiped will react when she doesn’t show up for work on Monday," I disagree with it because I don't believe it's odd, but I think it's brilliant. However, like D'Angelo says it hasn't been in any other film, I think that is what makes it even more unique and genius. It's a great device to use because it shows what Marion is thinking and what they are most likely saying. It is a great way of showing internal diagetic dialogue, even though it also may be external diagetic dialogue also. So over all, I disagree with the statement because I don't believe that it is odd.
ReplyDeleteIn the article mike mentions that 'Leigh doesn’t smile. She smirks. What’s more, she smirks as she imagines Cassidy threatening to replace any missing money with “her fine, soft flesh.” It’s a bizarrely masochistic expression, subtle but deranged'. I noticed this exact same thing the first time I saw the movie. It brought a sense of "this girl is really going crazy" and it worked. It brought me to think that she might be the psycho or at least involved. I completely agree with him. The way she changes from her serious and thoughtful face to a face full of some type of pleasure out of the whole craziness of her situation. It brings out a darkness in her character that for a few seconds becomes so palpable you might get a little freaked out. I completely agree with him.
ReplyDelete...looking around for a place to bed down for the night, and maybe take a nice hot shower... i don't agree with this ! i think she was really scared and she just wanted to hide herself and the money at the ugly looking motel. That way she has time to think about what she could do with the money and fix what she had done without letting the cops know! I don't think she wanted help from anybody else but when she saw the owner of the motel she thought that she could use him to fix her problem but at the end she became the victim of her crime!
ReplyDeleteIn the article he mentions how difficult it must have been to find a way to show what Marion is thinking without confusing people. I think they did it seamlessly, I didn't really have to think about it, i just put two and two together!I think her facial expressions while thinking and her guilty(er) persona I think made the whole thing work.
ReplyDelete