The scene I have chosen to analyse in Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological horror film “Psycho” (1960) is midway through the film, where P.I. Arbogast, hired by Marion Crane’s former boss, finds the Bates Motel and interrogates Norman Bates on the whereabouts of Marion Crane. It serves as a larger glance to the transition between Bates’ friendly, shy ‘Norman’ persona to his more calculating, sadistic ‘Mrs Bates’ persona.

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          In regards to the lighting and shot types, the beginning of the scene casts soft lighting on both Arbogast and Bates to reflect Arbogast’s thoughts on Bates’ innocence, while their conversation is captured with midshots. It continues until he is given Marion’s photo and denies having seen her. The shots get tighter and almost exclusively become close-ups to heighten the tension, with harsher lighting on his face, creating a chiaroscuro effect. The prominent shadows on his face reflect the darker, psychopathic side of Norman being revealed as he is slowly cornered by P.I. Arbogast.

Proxemically, the P.I. appears on the bottom of the steps, almost a meter in height difference to Norman, above the steps, towering over him, visually showing the audience the power dynamic at this moment in time. Within the room, Arbogast remains extremely close to him, trapping him between the counter and the wardrobe behind him, similar to how he is cornering him verbally. Shots of him show him facing his back to the mirror, contrasting the numerous shots of Marion looking at the mirror, which implied the different personas that she herself had. By having his back to the mirror, it is implied that Arbogast has only one ‘persona’ and has nothing to hide, showing himself merely as who he truly is.

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Their roles as protagonist and antagonist is also apparent from their clothing, where Norman is wearing dark, black clothing that blends him in with the shadows of the motel, as well as highlighting the sharp contrast of lighting on his face when there are closeup shots of him, whereas Aborgast’s lighter clothing reflecting his good nature.

The changes in power dynamic are most prominently represented in the angling of each shot throughout the scene. It begins with high angle shots on Arbogast and low angle shots on Norman to show that Bates is in his element. But when Arbogast begins to interrogate Norman, he is given very low angle shots to show the shift in power. Bates also has low angle shots when he lies to Arbogast, but has high angle shots when he has been confronted on contradictions in his story, emphasising his discomfort as he attempts to find a way out of the contradictions. However, while Arbogast is looking through the logbook, the camera tracks Norman in a low angle shot as he slowly and deliberately arches over the counter to look at the names, seeming almost hawk-like and predatory: a brief reveal of his “Mrs Bates” persona.

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