Hitchcock- Genre and Audience

Before you read this, it is important to know that I have not seen Psycho. Every information in this post is from other sources.

Psycho is a psychological thriller produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960. Although it is mainly a psychological thriller, Psycho falls under the slasher sub-genre. Although quite a few people (including me) have not seen the movie, they are familiar with the classic shower scene which has been parodied in modern culture several times.This scene not only illustrates the slasher genre, but also in a way reflect the psychological thriller genre. The slasher in this scene is silhouetted throughout the entire video. This further emphasizes the thriller aspect because the audience is always wondering who this killer is and why he/she would kill this woman.

It is believed that the character of Norman Bates was inspired by Ed Gein. Ed Gein was an American murderer and a body snatcher. He became notorious for his crimes. After the police found body parts at his house in 1957, he was trialed and put into a mental institution. Many psychological thrillers are focused around one character. That character's internal struggle is as important as the external struggle he or she faces.

This movie was directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. He made this movie as somewhat a response to the studio system. He made Psycho because he wanted to make something gritty, dark, and just different yet all as inexpensive as possible. He was able to keep the budget at $806,947 which is fairly low for a major motion picture, especially the ones intended to be a major blockbuster. He did not have the backing of a major studio, which is part of the reason he went low budget on this.

By looking the film, we can tell the creators were daring. This is seen through the decision of making the film in black and white. Psycho was one of the only Black and White movies made in 1960. This was a time of the rise of colored films. The audience at this point was more interested in watching colored film than Black and White. Making a Black and White movie showed the confidence the filmmakers had in their creation. Making a Black and White movie was and still is seen as an artistic choice, and it was an artistic choice. By shooting in Black and White, Hitchcock saved money on shooting with film. This also meant that making blood would be cheaper because it would require less detail and some other material could be used.

Hitchcock was not simply known for his work on Psycho. He was known as the "master of suspense" for a reason. He had mastered the art of creating suspense and tension to shock the audience with his earlier films like Dial M for Murder and Spellbound. These both were thrillers, much like many of his previous movies. He was used using dramatic lighting and sound. Everything from sound design to the movement of the camera added to the lighting added a little something to creating a suspenseful mood.

Hitchcock's "target audience was near enough equally split in gender as it can be regarded as a date movie therefore both sexes would be going to see the film," (megsmcg.wordpress.com). The men were attracted to the audience while the women would be interested by the female star. It was believed that women would be able to relate to the female star more and also enjoy the relationship scenes.