Psycho Trailer

To boost my knowledge on horror movies, I decided to evaluate one of the most famous horror movies in history; Psycho.

Story
I believe that the trailer really keeps the viewer's interest well. I conclude so because of the idea of having a character being haunted by the Psycho in a closely abandoned motel. It shows that characters will be able to get no help because of the isolation. Also, in the beginning the narrator suggests the viewers that its a quiet motel, which builds up suspiciousness since the motel is too quiet. It already gives first impressions of chaos, and the viewers still don't know what they'll be expecting until later on in the video, and when we don't know something, our curiosity strengthens and drags us further in, so the viewers will carry on watching the trailer to find out what is really wrong with the motel. In addition, it gives the audience the idea of where the story is set and at what location will all the action take place.

The use of little effects in the trailer have given it its plainness. Obviously back in 1960s not much effect could be achieved but keeping the video simple doesn't overcrowd the important information showed to the audience, and the less effect there is used in the video, the more it will appear to be real, especially when the story is realistic.

The outline of the story is relatively easy to follow because the editors have included only the important bits that will help summarise the story. With the use of fading-to-black transition, it helps the audience to understand which clips belong to what scene and easily pick up the visualised information.

Picture
I think that the movie trailer of Psycho really serves an impact towards its audience. At the very beginning there are several close-up shots of details that can suggest murder. There are white flashes between them to show transition between each shot and keep them separated. They also match the rhythm of the soundtrack that is used in the background (BGM), so it shows that the clips are in harmony with the music.

The colour of the trailer is black and white, and I think that it's sometimes difficult to visualise a murder without the red, or cause fear. Alternatively, I think that the black and white don't express much bright emotions, which is a good effect on the audience because the aim of the trailer is to build up tension and cause fear for the audience, and I think that black and white film allows the audience to watch the movie within the dark atmosphere that is caused by the plain colours used to create this mood.

The modulation in the trailer is very well thought through in my opinion. The soundtrack is eerie and is quieter than the narration for the audiences' to listen carefully to what is being said, and when tension is being built up, there is a sudden switch of soundtracks at certain points to not interrupt either sections of the sounds for a clean transition. The first soundtrack is quieter than the second one, and also the soundtrack it is transitioned to is faster in tempo to really enhance the action that is going on.

BGM: at the beginning there are sudden sounds of the violins as I believe. The sound effects created are very sharp and dramatic, and really add to the tension being built up with the short clips at the very beginning. With the soundtrack being peculiar-like, it really fits in with the storyline because there's suspicion being built up every time there's information revealed about the strange things going on around the motel, and to fit with this consequence, the instruments used in the soundtrack also suggest suspicion.

There's also been some sudden sound effects involved to enhance sudden scenes to increase the fear in the audience. For example, in the end you have one of the characters speaking calmly, which is suppose to relax the audience after the trailer. But unexpectedly there's a kind of jump scare with a shot of a man with an evil smile on his face looking towards the audience. The entrance of this mid-shot from black is a flash of white so it really catches the audiences' attention. Also, the instruments sound like they're reversed, or maybe they were played to gain that effect, and I think it really gives it that demonic feel to the shot.

The speed in the trailer really enhances the link between the clips and the background music. Where the music speeds up, so do the transitions of the shots, or the amount of action taking place within the shot. When there's calmer music, there are often shots with fewer action commonly along with the speech of characters for audience to pick up clearer. I think that when the shots are only a few seconds long, it really teases the audiences and makes them want to continue watching the trailer to see what will happen next. It also builds up the anxiety created in the audience because they can only pick up few information that can suggest signs of murder but don't get enough detail to give everything away, and I think this type of effect really works for a movie trailer because it's purpose is to convince viewers to go and watch the movie because of their interest in it.

Function
The way the editors send the message of the killer across to their viewers is often by quoting from the scenes of movies. The speeches given by the characters often give clues to who the Psycho could be or what he/she is like. There is also a narrator that talks about where the location is set, in this case a 'quiet motel'. But we are told that it has actually become a 'scene of a crime'. This tells the audience that it used to be a quiet place to stay but now something has triggered for the motel to become a dangerous place. The motel is also isolated; we are told this when the woman character finds out that they have 12 available vacancies, meaning that the motel is not a popular place to stay, and this tells us that there's things wrong with the fact that it's scarcely populated. Additionally, a man is quoted saying 'place looks  like its hiding from the world', which can suggest the viewers that the 'crime' of the scene is trying to hide its murder from witnesses. These are the first signs of the Psycho after quick clips of the Shower scene.

Another fact that is supported by a quote to suggest danger is when the owner of the motel talks about visitors being all in their 'private traps'. It shows that visitors who come to stay can never escape, and this really adds to the fear because people will always be attempting to escape for their lives but from the Psycho, there's not a chance.

A third evidence for the Psycho is when a man asks the owner of the motel if anyone's at home, and the owner tells him it must be his mother. This perhaps builds up suspicion, and maybe suggests that he's the son of the Psycho. But the actual Psycho is himself, and these suggestions take the idea of the woman away from him, making it a great get away or excuses for his crimes.

The way the title is presented in the end and isn't revealed at the beginning requires for the audience to continue watching 'til the end to find out what the movie's called. The font used for the title is horror-like with gore/grunge distinctive to suggest that the storyline is not pretty. It can also suggest that the characters in the movie associated with Psycho have suffered and the scars could be reflected in the font. Also, there are effects of blotches of blood belonging to the victims. This colouration of black, white and red are typical of those of a murdered, with the grayscale setting up the eerie mood, and the red signifying blood and danger. There's also the effect of zooming in on the title, which can suggest that the Psycho is heading towards the audience and make them feel like they're the next victim.