Thriller #1.

Film Title: Psycho (1960)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Title Designer: Saul Bass

Camera – distance, angle, movement…

1) Not much movement
2) Mainly LS

Stays in one place, thus giving title sequence more ‘rigidity.’
Allows the audience to see all the Titles.


Editing – speed, style…

1) Slow speed at the start and increases throughout.
2) Wipes are used.

The speed of the editing is primarily merged with the music. As the music’s pitch increases so does the speed of the editing.
The effects of the wipes are to create a sense of confusion in the audience. This relates back to the Title- ‘Psycho’- creates a very uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience.

Sound – effects, musical score…

1)Mainly high pitched throughout the title sequence. Predominantly violins.

The high pitched musical score gives the title sequence its depth. It helps to establish a distressing atmosphere and guides the editing throughout too. Violins help create a dramatic mood to the title sequence thus bringing in anticipation amongst the audience.

Mise-en-scene – props, costume, setting, lighting, colour…

1) Mainly black white and grey colour predominant.

Could reflect back to the period of time it was produced. The Black gives connotations of evil and darkness. White could indicate purity. The grey brings in a sense of pessimism, therefore reinforcing the black’s motif in the title sequence.

Special Effects – CGI, animation…

1) Stripes
2) Titles move in and out

The stripes help to create confusion throughout the audience. This relates back to the Title ‘Psycho’.
The movement of the titles are done to aid the stripes entrances and exits. It helps to create movement through a ‘stiff’ title sequence.

Titles – font, colour, placement, over black / over clip…

1) Text is sometime askew.
2) Text comes in from all angles.
3) The text is WOB
4) Informal font

The crookedness of the text has been done to reinforce the confusion, as well as the movement of the text.
The effect of the WOB is to show a contrast of situations. However since the black is predominant is creates a more gloomy appearance to the situations that could occur in this movie. The effect of the informal font could indicate the informality of the film- could reflect the characters attitudes.