This scene is about Marion having late supper whilst talking to Norman Bates in the parlor.
As the scene opens, Norman offers Marion to have her eating in the parlor as he finds it inappropriate eating in the office. It shows a sense of dominance as he acts as a host (not necessarily male dominance as he politely asks her to have dinner with him) guiding her in, turning the lights on and continuously asks her to sit down. As Marion is the guest, when she spots the stuffed birds above her head, the music immediately changes, showing she is not comfortable with the scenery, rather uneasy as well. But nonetheless, she doesn't want to reject the invitation from Norman as she finds him as a likable man.
As the character settles down, we see Marion is situated closer to the camera than Norman with her body posture taking two thirds of the camera on the left. This may suggest that even Norman is the host to the place, he doesn't have the masculine power to dominant the situation. There is also brighter light lit on Marion's face which may show that she is good character while Norman is shaded dark, possibly foreshadows his later character as bad. Norman used a simile to describe how Marion eats, like a bird. Bird give connotations of woman, freedom and also passive. This may describe her as a foreshadow to emphasize how he kills her later on in the film.
The conversation continues, we can see by how Marion seems to be losing her appetite through a series of shots showing her holding her food rather than eating, even if Norman's talking. At one point when Norman asked her what she was hiding from, she clearly showed hesitation, struggling to reply when he caught her weakness point. This actor performance suggests a signs of fear, not being able to answer back and afraid of letting people know she stole money. On the other hand, we also see Norman hesitating in giving a reply back to Marion as she asked her whether he have friends. By what we know in Norman, enjoys taxidermy and having no friends, this character is no ordinary character and as a audience, we can be able to predict he may be a character that would play a big part to the storyline.
Their conversation changed subject as Norman begins to talk about his mother. At the same time, the camera focus on Norman changes to a low angle, making it seem he looks larger. There's also a stuffed bird above Norman. This may used to emphasize her mother and the motherly authority over him. Even if it is his own body, he still couldn't control when his mother would take over his body and being able stop her from killing Marion. He said he wanted to curse his mother and locking her up, he emotionally gets larger into the camera by centralizing himself which made it seem he is dominant by thoughts. In the end, he gets back down, which also shows he concedes the fact he is rather weak.
'Would it be better if you put her...some place?' Through this, quotation, it reveals more of the character in Norman in how he responds. The hesitation in Marion's words also shows her fear, not exactly knowing the character of Norman. The shot is cut to a close up on Norman where he's got this really strict face on him. His head moves even closer to the camera, which shows he would be the dominant person in this scene. On Norman's face, there is a 50-50% of dark and lit light on his face. This may suggest the two character he's got in him, a small foreshadow for later. Music also starts at this moment, the low-toned sounds make the scene even more mysterious, strengthen by the actor performance to create the picture more creepy for audience. There's also these occasion reverse shots back to Marion to show how she look by what Norman says. After Norman questioned her whether she meant an institution or a madhouse, her look on the face looks more cautious and her eyes were enlarged. She's also at a slight angle, which means she's quite defensive in the moment while Norman, close to the camera seems he's going to attack her.
When Norman leans back down, his head gets smaller, also suggesting his period of domination is over. He also shows a smile which he hadn't done earlier, suggesting their power in the conversation is back to normal. Marion's face also relaxes as we see she moves a bit more and she was given the chance to reply back.
As their conversation draws to a close, Marion first stands up but Norman, stops her asking whether she was going back to bed. This is a sign of guest dominance rather than feminine dominance, as guest are able to make choices with workers unable to interfere with their choices. This is shown through the low angle on Marion, making her larger while high angle on Norman. As we can see in this scene, the darkness on Norman's face is no longer there, this may mean that in this situation, asking Marion about tomorrow morning, he is purely himself and not controlled by his mother. On a negative note, we can see there is a raven situation right next on Marion's face. This could be a foreshadow of her mother, in black, that would be haunting her like a bird and being passive to her.
As the scene opens, Norman offers Marion to have her eating in the parlor as he finds it inappropriate eating in the office. It shows a sense of dominance as he acts as a host (not necessarily male dominance as he politely asks her to have dinner with him) guiding her in, turning the lights on and continuously asks her to sit down. As Marion is the guest, when she spots the stuffed birds above her head, the music immediately changes, showing she is not comfortable with the scenery, rather uneasy as well. But nonetheless, she doesn't want to reject the invitation from Norman as she finds him as a likable man.
As the character settles down, we see Marion is situated closer to the camera than Norman with her body posture taking two thirds of the camera on the left. This may suggest that even Norman is the host to the place, he doesn't have the masculine power to dominant the situation. There is also brighter light lit on Marion's face which may show that she is good character while Norman is shaded dark, possibly foreshadows his later character as bad. Norman used a simile to describe how Marion eats, like a bird. Bird give connotations of woman, freedom and also passive. This may describe her as a foreshadow to emphasize how he kills her later on in the film.
The conversation continues, we can see by how Marion seems to be losing her appetite through a series of shots showing her holding her food rather than eating, even if Norman's talking. At one point when Norman asked her what she was hiding from, she clearly showed hesitation, struggling to reply when he caught her weakness point. This actor performance suggests a signs of fear, not being able to answer back and afraid of letting people know she stole money. On the other hand, we also see Norman hesitating in giving a reply back to Marion as she asked her whether he have friends. By what we know in Norman, enjoys taxidermy and having no friends, this character is no ordinary character and as a audience, we can be able to predict he may be a character that would play a big part to the storyline.
Their conversation changed subject as Norman begins to talk about his mother. At the same time, the camera focus on Norman changes to a low angle, making it seem he looks larger. There's also a stuffed bird above Norman. This may used to emphasize her mother and the motherly authority over him. Even if it is his own body, he still couldn't control when his mother would take over his body and being able stop her from killing Marion. He said he wanted to curse his mother and locking her up, he emotionally gets larger into the camera by centralizing himself which made it seem he is dominant by thoughts. In the end, he gets back down, which also shows he concedes the fact he is rather weak.
'Would it be better if you put her...some place?' Through this, quotation, it reveals more of the character in Norman in how he responds. The hesitation in Marion's words also shows her fear, not exactly knowing the character of Norman. The shot is cut to a close up on Norman where he's got this really strict face on him. His head moves even closer to the camera, which shows he would be the dominant person in this scene. On Norman's face, there is a 50-50% of dark and lit light on his face. This may suggest the two character he's got in him, a small foreshadow for later. Music also starts at this moment, the low-toned sounds make the scene even more mysterious, strengthen by the actor performance to create the picture more creepy for audience. There's also these occasion reverse shots back to Marion to show how she look by what Norman says. After Norman questioned her whether she meant an institution or a madhouse, her look on the face looks more cautious and her eyes were enlarged. She's also at a slight angle, which means she's quite defensive in the moment while Norman, close to the camera seems he's going to attack her.
When Norman leans back down, his head gets smaller, also suggesting his period of domination is over. He also shows a smile which he hadn't done earlier, suggesting their power in the conversation is back to normal. Marion's face also relaxes as we see she moves a bit more and she was given the chance to reply back.
As their conversation draws to a close, Marion first stands up but Norman, stops her asking whether she was going back to bed. This is a sign of guest dominance rather than feminine dominance, as guest are able to make choices with workers unable to interfere with their choices. This is shown through the low angle on Marion, making her larger while high angle on Norman. As we can see in this scene, the darkness on Norman's face is no longer there, this may mean that in this situation, asking Marion about tomorrow morning, he is purely himself and not controlled by his mother. On a negative note, we can see there is a raven situation right next on Marion's face. This could be a foreshadow of her mother, in black, that would be haunting her like a bird and being passive to her.
