Exam 1: Psycho
January 29, 2007

PART I.  Write the letter that indicates the best response. 

1. When Hitchcock said “my camera is absolute,” what did he mean?
A. He used only one camera instead of the usual three.
B. Actors had to adapt their performances to the director’s visual plan.
C. He preferred to keep the camera motionless and create movement through editing.
D. The same concept as “cutting in the camera.”
E. The same concept as montage.

 
2. The idea to have Norman Bates munch candy throughout Psycho reflected the psychoanalytical idea of:
A. anal fixation
B. oral fixation
C. the mirror stage
D. infantilism
E. the primal scene

 
3. “Momism”—the notion that mothers are responsible for their sons’ neurotic behavior—is an offshoot of the theory of:
A. split personality
B. stages of psychosexual development
C. Electra complex
D. Oedipal complex
E. scopophilia

 
4.  A paraphrase of the idea of “tertium quid” would be:
A. Audiences react to emotional rather than intellectual stimulus.
B. Inserting subliminal messages in shots too brief to be consciously noticed.
C. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
D. Persistence of vision making “moving pictures” possible.
E. Unbalanced framing that creates anxiety.


5. According to Linda Williams’s thesis, which would NOT be true of “the cinema of attractions”?
A. It concerns cinema that “shows” rather than “tells.”
B. It concerns elements of cinema that are not narrative.
C. It was the approach of the very earliest kinds of movies.
D. Historically, Psycho marks the end of the dominance of the cinema of attractions.
E. Horror films today represent a return to the cinema of attractions.


6. According to Linda Williams, the best analogy for the “fun” aspect of Psycho and the films it inspired is:
A.  Comedia dell’arte.
B.  sick jokes.
C.  “Black humor.”
D. a carnival fun house.
E.  a roller-coaster.
 
7. One effect of Hitchcock’s technique of “cutting in the camera” was:
A. “Method” actors found working with him difficult.
B. He shot more film per movie than the average director.
C. He shot less film per movie than the average director.
D. His films have more camera movement than average.
E. His films have less camera movement than average.

 
8. What was the reason for giving the date at the beginning of Psycho as December 11?:
A. A reference by Mr. Cassidy the oil man to the approaching end of the tax year.
B. Snow and sleet during Marion’s drive northward.
C. The date on a calendar in the sheriff’s office at the end of the movie.
D. Christmas decorations on the street.
E. It was Hitchcock’s birthday.

 
9. Bernard Herrmann said he wanted to write a musical score that was the equivalent of Hitchcock’s black-and-white photography. What did he do to achieve this?
A. The score is entirely in one “minor” musical key.
B. The score has no “tunes”.
C. The score uses only stringed instruments.
D. Except for the murder scenes, only organ music is heard.
E. Music in Psycho is only used with violent scenes.

 
10. In the original Psycho, blood goes down the drain which is actually chocolate syrup. In Mel Brooks’s parody of this in High Anxiety, what goes down the drain is:
A.   cherry juice.
B.   red paint.
C.   snot.
D.   hair dye.
E.   ink.
 
11. According to Georges Toles, “Wit is Hitchcock’s less conspicuous means of announcing his __________, his refusal to be engaged or soiled by his transactions with suffering.”
A. “aestheticism”
B. “skill”
C. “perversity”
D. “contempt”
E. “indifference”


12. According to Hitchcock’s “bomb under the table” example, for the audience the element that determines suspense rather than surprise is:
A. characterization.
B. editing.
C. subjective camera.
D. absolute camera.
E. information.

 
13. Robert Kolker discusses the parlor scene in Psycho as the best example of Hitchcock’s skill in using:
A. silent cinema.
B. absolute camera.
C. cross-tracking.
D. mise en scene.
E. montage.

 
14. According to Jean Doucet’s interpretation, the psychiatrist’s speech at the end of Psycho shows Hitchcock’s concern with
A. auteurism.
B. the intellectual world.
C. postlapsarian theology.
D. double predestination.
E. making audience identify with the villain.

 
15. According to Michael Wood, an important theme-motif in Psycho begins with Marion’s talk about inviting Sam to dinner and continues with speeches given by Pat Hitchcock and by the actor playing Mr. Cassidy. This motif is:
A. anal fixation.
B. voyeurism.
C. cross shooting.
D. withholding information from the audience.
E. dominance of parents over children.

 
16. When Robert Kolker discusses “the anxiety of the frame,” he is dealing primarily in the cinematic area of:
A. montage.
B. mise en scene.
C. metaphor.
D. gender.
E. scopic regimes.

 
17. According to Linda Williams, Psycho had a major effect on how audiences went to the movies, something she relates to the notion of “discipline.” The primary factor she refers to is:
A. Psycho brought the “star system” to an end.
B. Psycho ended the dominance of traditional narrative.
C. Audiences had to see Psycho from the beginning.
D. The ratings system meant families could not see Psycho together.
E. Starting with Psycho, movies were visually similar to television.


18. Jean Doucet’s early essay on Psycho asserted that Hitchcock was attentive to three “worlds” in his movies. Two of these are the world of desire and the intellectual world. The third is:
A. the world of terror.
B. the world of sin.
C. the world of fulfillment.
D. the lost paradise.
E. the everyday world.

 
19. What are storyboards?
A. posters of dialogue to prompt actors’ memories.
B. drawings of individual shots.
C. drawings of alternate shooting possibilities for particular scenes.
D. side-by-side comparisons of script versions.
E. the ‘clackers’ that are snapped at the beginning of each shot.

 
20. Hitchcock told an early interviewer that the “basic composition” of Psycho was:
A. slashing verticals.
B. black and white.
C. The circle and the spiral.
D. A horizontal block and a vertical block .
E. silent.

PART II. Write the name from the alphabetical list that best identifies the person described in the question. (You will not use every name, but don’t use any name more than once.)
 
21. Fellow director who published interviews with Hitchcock
22. Created character Norman Bates
23. Directed Psycho
24. Changed Norman Bates character from middle-aged to young and sympathetic
25. Played Norman Bates
26. Name of Bates victim in novel but not in movie
27. Earlier example of first-class director who made low-budget genre film
28. Person who screams in the shower at the end of the Psycho preview trailer
29. Lila in Psycho II is “Mrs. __________.”
30. Claimed to have directed Psycho shower scene
Bass
Bloch
Clouzot
Loomis
Mary
McGuffin

Miles
Stefano
Thomas
Truffaut
Van Sant
Welles

PART III. Write on the answer sheet one word that best answers:
 
31. Eisenstein developed the technique of:
32. For Hitchcock, the most important part of pre-production:
33. A director who is able to impose a personal “vision” on a conventional movie type:
34. What Norman Bates does immediately after the car sinks in the swamp:
35. A story element that motivates the characters but doesn’t interest the audience:
 

PART IV.  Following are seven frame illustrations from Psycho. For each, briefly indicate what is significant, according to our readings or discussions. Your response should show knowledge of what is happening, but the significance is the most important aspect of your answer. One clear specific sentence should be enough in each case.
36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.