This is the scene from
‘PSYCHO’ where Norman is speaking to Marion about his mother. The low angle shows Norman to not necessarily be
powerful but in some way weak because he has these large birds, overpowering
the shot from above him. I believe that this is connoting the power that his mother has over his
brain; even when he is having a normal conversation his mother creeps in to his
mind; much like the birds located at the top of the mise-en-scene. ‘Birds’ is also
a slang word used for women connoting that this is another way of showing
that the domineering personality of his mother takes over. Marion’s last name
is also ‘Crane’ which is a type of bird, this then indicates her death, connoting that he is going to stuff her just
like all the other birds, which then further connotes to his mother. This connotes to his mother because Norman dug up
his mother’s body and stuffed it, just like one of them birds, to preserve her,
like an animal. This is based on Ed Gein and this almost exactly replicates his
actions, he also dug up his mother’s body and stuffed it. Referring to the
still shot this further indicates that the stuffed ‘birds’ connoting to the female gender have a massive
power over him due to their position in the mise-en-scene.
This is further backed up by the fact that the shot only changes
to this low angle shot from the ordinary mid-shot when Norman starting getting angry and
is talking about his mother.
This scene is a strong
indication to the actual extent of control Norman’s mother has over his mind
and how Hitchcock uses the mise-en-scene and cinematography to create this very symbolic imagery.
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