This infamous shower scene in ALfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" film is widely regarded as the epitome of suspense enducing scene's in film history. The clip begins fairly normally with a sequence of medium and close up shots depicting a woman writing, the soundtrack accompanying the scene at this moment is fairly neutral in regards to being thrilling. A medium shot takes the woman in to the bathroom - a sequence of medium, close up and extreme close up shots see the woman remove her bath robe and enter the shower. The soundtrack music has ceased by this point and a medium shot focuses on the female showering.
As the scene progresses, the use of mise en scene comes to full effect. Clever lighting sees a dark silhouetted figure appear behind the shower curtain, it is pulled to the side by the figure and in a medium shot reveals the silhouetted killer. Medium shots interlaced with birds-eye shots and close ups depicts the female being stabbed to death and cut away shots of the shower curtain being pulled off and the blood escaping down the drain really leave the viewer at the edge of their seat. The sticatto soundtrack laced behind the images really heighten the feeling of suspense and creates an eerie and haunting mood.
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