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 |   Vocals, Sound Effects, and Music in an Excerpt
from Psycho (1960)The following discussion is reprinted from the sidebar in Chapter 4 of Film: An Introduction, by William H. Phillips. You'll find an annotated list of links related to Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock at the bottom of this page. An excerpt from Psycho illustrates some major ways filmmakers can use the sound track. In a motel where she is staying Marion Crane steps into a shower bath. Viewers hear the shower curtain being pulled, Marion sighing, the soap being unwrapped, and the water running. At first, there is no music. The sound of the water continues as we see through the shower curtain the indistinct image of someone coming toward Marion (and seemingly toward the audience). As that person pulls the shower curtain aside and begins to attack Marion with a large knife, the sound of the water disappears from the sound track. At the beginning of the attack, we hear Marion's screams and, more loudly, a slashing sound and Bernard Herrmann's pulsating music. During the attack the loudest sounds are the pulsating extreme high notes played by an orchestra of string instruments. After the attack is well under way, the sound of the running water gradually reemerges, and briefly and simultaneously we hear screams, slashing sounds, music, and running water. (When the film was first released in 1960, some viewers also heard the audience's screams.) After the attacker leaves and Marion is losing consciousness, the screams stop and bass strings play loudly and slowly but still rhythmically. As she reaches for the shower curtain then holds on to it momentarily, the music slows and decreases in volume, while the sound of the water gets louder. The music then stops, and, while popping the shower curtain hooks in succession, Marion falls forward in death. As is usually the case in films, in this scene from Psycho sound effects are used selectively--only six in all. The first sounds are neither unusual nor particularly expressive. The soft tone and regular rhythm of the running water, for example, seem uneventful: all sounds normal. Once the attack begins, however, the sound of splashing water is not dramatic enough; instead we hear the sounds of Marion screaming and panting, music, and a knife supposedly slashing flesh. After the attacker leaves and Marion falls, the sounds of the shower curtain being pulled free and of her falling forcefully to the floor suggest life rushing from her body. If we listen to this part of the film several times, we begin to notice that some of the sound effects don't sound as they would in life. When Marion unwraps the new bar of soap, for example, the paper sounds more crinkly and louder than any actual soap wrapper. And the running water in the shower doesn't sound like water running in a shower. It sounds nearly the same as the heavy rain when Marion arrived at the motel. But the sound of the water in the shower also includes a sound like that of a liquid being sloshed around in a large container. The sound of the knife stabbing Marion is probably different from and more noticeable than that sound in life. One of my students said it sounded as if someone were slicing cabbage with a knife. Another said it sounded as if someone were chipping away on a block of ice with an ice pick. The sound effects in this 106-second excerpt illustrate a commonplace in movies: what we see and hear normally seems true-to-life--that can be a source of cinema's enormous power--but under close examination we learn that it is not. In most popular movies such deceptions are to be expected. Audiences are meant to believe in what they see and hear, to stay caught up in what happens before them, but the techniques used are often truer of movies than of life. Notice two sound effects not supplied in this section of Psycho: when the attacker pulls the shower curtain aside, we do not hear it slide on the rod, though we did earlier when Marion got into the tub. What is more effective is the loud, pulsating music that accompanies the shower curtain being pulled aside. The other significant sound not supplied is noise coming from the attacker, but the high-pitched music during the attack suggests both the attacker's violent and sexual frenzy and Marion's (the viewer's) panic. Music is not used before the attack. Unlike countless film scenes, this excerpt lacks music to establish a mood or create suspense. But as the attack begins, Bernard Herrmann's music intensifies the audience's shock. During the attack, the music is louder than any other sound. The people mixing the sounds could have relied more on the screams or the slashing sounds, or both, but they chose to emphasize the music. During the attack, the loud, piercing string music sounds like bird cries (perhaps many viewers hear bird cries in the music because images of birds and references to them appear earlier in the film). The music also suggests Marion's heartbeat. When the attack begins, the music is rapid and frantic, as Marion's heartbeat would be. As the attacker leaves and Marion slips toward death, the music slows but retains a regular rhythm. And as Marion loses her grip on life, the music loses its jagged up and down melody and its volume or force then comes to a halt. The melodies and rhythms of life fade out. What remain are only a silent body and the sound of water streaming on indifferently. Online Resources for Psycho and Alfred Hitchcockwww.geocities.com/Hollywood/1645/index.html An excellent site with sound effects, music, images, and video clips from Psycho (1960) (including the famous shower scene) and links to other Psycho and Hitchcock resources on the web. users.netreach.net/treyl/Psycho.htm#PRODUCT Psycho throughout history! This site features images, sound clips and trivia from the original 1960 movie, plus information about the sequels and the 1998 remake. www.nightprods.com/Psycho/index.html This site includes slides of the shower scene, a discussion of the toilet flushing scene-- the first ever depicted in American cinema--and original advertising posters for Psycho (1960). home.earthlink.net/~paradiselost/Psycho.html The entire screenplay for Psycho (1960). www.Psychomovie.com The home page for Universal Pictures and Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Hitchcock's horror classic. The site includes movie trailers, images, screensavers, and information on Danny Elfman's adaptation of Bernard Herrmann's original score. www.tdfilm.com/hitchcock/hitchmain.html This site includes 115 annotated links to Hitchcock resources - including resources on Psycho - online. www.primenet.com/%7Emwc/ This site includes photos of each shot in the shower scene from Psycho (1960). www.uib.no/herrmann/ A site devoted to the composer of the music for Psycho (1960) and several other Hitchcock films, it includes a biography, articles, reviews, and an index to all of his recordings.   |
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