Psycho shower scene analysis

The establishing shot shows a tiled wall connoting that the scene is in a bathroom; additionally the long shot reveals the protagonist to be wearing a dressing gown which suggests it may be set in the evening. This fits the conventions of thrillers as most of them typically feature activity in the night as this creates more mystery and tension for the audience. The next shot focuses on a torn sheet of paper being flushed down the toilet by the protagonist, this highlights it as a key prop denoting its importance to the narrative, perhaps this will be a clue that will hinder other protagonist’s efforts or perhaps it gives an antagonist a motive.

Asynchronous sound of the protagonist is used to set up a red herring, another feature of the thriller genre. The locked door suggests she is safe but as we know someone quietly slips in the room it suggests the antagonist must have a key that unlocks the door so therefore must be either someone else who is staying in her room or an employee of the hotel in which the films main narrative takes place.

The protagonist herself is a classic feature of the thriller genre. Typically thrillers feature a young girl alone doing fairly monotonous tasks and as a result of this convention audiences are now expecting an element of danger to be introduced. This is also use of actor choice as the actress creates certain connotations of vulnerability and naivety whereas if the character had been male or a middle-aged woman we would perhaps be less likely to find the scene as shocking or plausible (for example we would probably expect a man to fight the antagonist whereas the protagonist that has been cast simply succumbs to her attacker)

When the protagonist steps into the shower a wide shot is used so as to allow the audience to see that the antagonist has quietly intruded and that the protagonist is not yet aware of it. This is also dramatic irony where the audience is aware of something taking place which the characters on screen are not aware of for example, characters in a television drama having an affair which other characters are unaware of. This is to create an element of foreshadowing which is done to create tension. If all we saw was the antagonist stab her without any build up we would probably be confused and it would make the scene unclear. The fact that we see the antagonist walk in, pause and then attack is more effective in creating fear in the audience. 

The pleonastic sound also adds tension as the sharp sounds is synchronous with the knife blows which suggest the sheer strength and violence in the attack. The music changes as the protagonist slowly lowers down and appears to connote her life slowly coming to an end; this is also suggested with the blood flowing down the drain and the following motif shot which links the drain to the protagonist’s eyes again showing the life being drained from her.

The antagonists costume combined with the final shot and the asynchronous speech, “oh mother” also creates a red herring where we know suspect the mother was the antagonist whereas in actual fact it is her son (the speaker). 



Joseph Power