Psycho Opening

Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock was set in the 1960s. The film has a classic opening and uses all the conventions of a thriller film. When the opening credits roll, the screen and the text are at random being split into bars, into two and then are moving around constantly. The music which plays in the beginning is very dramatic, the string instruments being played at a very fast pace. At times, it is high pitched and at others, low pitched, very wild and unpredictable.


After the opening title sequence, the first scene we see is an establishing shot. There is then a sudden change of scene which puts the audience in a sense of false security as they are ripped away to a new sight. It feels as if the camera was scanning across the city, this was done by panning the camera, but then the camera directs below to an open window, which was done by tilting it.

The opening of Psycho: begins with the company logo



The title of the film is revealed at the beginning of the title sequence
\where it emerges from random split bars across the screen





We, the audience, are shown where the film is set,
the establishing seen is of a city skyline