"Psycho" and the Art of Manipulation
HitchCon '23: Hitchcock Unbound
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22m
"You know the public always likes to be one jump ahead of the story. So you deliberately play upon this fact to control their thoughts." Alfred Hitchcock often talked about audiences in this way, like puppets under his control. In this talk, professor Todd Berliner speaks from the University of North Carolina to explore how "Psycho" (1960) uses various forms of planting and payoff to orchestrate audience expectations, targeting that area between boredom and confusion where audiences experience aesthetic delight. You'll be eager to rewatch "Psycho" to study the director's storytelling craftsmanship anew.
Learn more about Todd Berliner.
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