Psycho Character Analysis: Norman Bates

I think the character of Norman Bates is the most intriguing part of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and is the key to making this film scary.  When we are first introduced to Norman, he comes off as pretty creepy.  He makes some odd remarks when talking to Marion, like when he said that "she eats like a bird."  This quote is interesting because he is surrounded by stuffed birds. This instance foreshadows Marion's death by comparing her to one of the birds. The eeriness surrounding the whole scene creates an atmosphere of fear.  While pop out scenes provide great shock to the audience, what really makes a film "scary" is scenes like this.  The whole conversation is filled with suspense as the viewers struggle to understand what is really going on with Norman.   Additionally, Hitchcock uses interesting camera techniques to really make this scene creepy.  Whenever Norman is in the shot, there is also a bird in the picture too.  This can be scene in the picture below. The bird's location at the top of the picture gives the audience a sense that the bird too is significant.  The fact that all these dead bird's are constantly in the picture clearly makes the audience nervous.  What should be an ordinary dinner conversation is invaded by an unrelenting sense of death because of the dead animals hung up around the room.  Although it's not jumping out your seat scary, the audience is filled with fear in this scene because of Hitchcock's filming techniques and the dialogue between Norman and Marion.

Norman shown with low angle and bird.