Intertextuality- Psycho and Fatal Attraction
Intertextuality is a term used to describe the references made in between any forms of a media text, eg films. The films borrow sequences, sound and ideas from each other and for the audience this intertextuality makes recognisable references such as the camera angles, mise en scene, sound and editing. Examples of intertextuality in media text are Misfits, Shrek and Family Guy.
Psycho- the famous shower scene
Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a classic thriller that is still replicated in many thrillers today. The famous shower scene is stands as a baseline for most thriller sequences. The sequence starts with a woman sitting down writing, she then enters the bathroom after flushing paper down the toilet, going into the shower there is a close up shot of the shower head. The camera then shows a anonymous figure that tears open the shower curtain and repeatedly stabs her. The music starts as the classic thriller psycho sound, the climaxing screeching sound accompanied by jump cuts of the victim screaming, the jump cuts also makes reference to where the woman is being stabbed. There is a close up of the injured woman's hand as she fatally slides down against the wall. She grabs out for the shower curtain for help but it rips from the hooks and she falls down the again. There are close ups of the feet as blood runs from her body. Close ups of the drain and the dead woman's eye end the famous scene from the film.
Fatal Attraction- the comparison
Fatal Attraction (1987), directed by Adrian Lyne. The sequence opens with two women fighting each other each in desperation to take hold of the knife. A man rushes in and grabs one of the women now fighting her. He is pushed into the bath and like the action in psycho he tears down the shower curtain. He then grabs hold of her and forces her head into a full bath, drowning her. There is a close up of her feet like in psycho, and shots of her still body in the bath. The suspense is built up when there is silence in the room, then suddenly she gasps back up for air and she is shot by the rival woman, sliding down the wall covered in blood like the final seconds in the psycho clip.
Here are some stills of the famous elements in psycho that are mostly adapted in films.
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| under shot of the shower head |
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| two shot of woman in shower and man approaching |
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| extreme close up of woman screaming |
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| man stabbing woman |
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| hand sliding down the wall |
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| woman sliding down the wall |
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| shower curtain ripping |
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| close shot of feet in bath |
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extreme close up of eye
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Here are some stills to show the comparing parts of both films.
Shot of the shower head compared with the shot of the taps.
Shot of the shower curtain ripping in Psycho compared with the same in Fatal Attraction.
Shot of women sliding down the wall in both films.
Shot of the feet in both films.
Final shot of the women in Psycho and Fatal Attraction.
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