One of the most iconic scenes ever created in cinema, the shower sequence from Hitchcock's 'Psycho' has fascinated audiences and filmmakers since it burst onto the screen in 1960.
We all know that it was a Hitchcocks movie but who actually directed this scene?
The plot thickens
There are conflicting stories. Hitch said he done it but Saul Bass also claims responsibility. Saul was a graphic designer who had been working with Hitchcock on a few other projects. He is best known for his title sequences for the start of movies Like 'Vertigo'. and had been asked by Hitchcock to storyboard the shower scene for Psycho. What he produced can be seen below.
Exhibit A
According to Bass, when the shoot finally came along he was on set when Hitchcock asked him to set up the first shoot through the camera and also gave him permission to call the shot to action. Then the next one and the next, all based on his storyboard.
Hitchcock, sitting in his director's chair claimed that it was he who directed and wanted to apparently downplay Sauls's involvement.
Now, if you are familiar with this scene ( and if not you should be ashamed of yourself). You will realise that it is a very different style from Hitchcock's usual work. It has an obvious graphical quality to it which I for one can see comes from the eye of Saul and not Alfred. but as someone who has done a bit of directing in my day, I can see that Alfred had a point.
All and nothing
The funny thing about being a director is that you actually do nothing and everything on a film set. The best directors in my opinion are the ones who nurture all of the crew and get the best possible performance out of everyone, be that the Actors, Cameramen or key grip. You are there to facilitate their creativity and to try and focus it on a unified coherent end goal. You would never tell an actor how to act, you encourage the cameraman to frame his best composition and you would make sure the Key grip has his keys to grip*
*A key grip is actually a very important job on set, being the one that helps the cameraman get his position to shoot.
So I can understand from Hitchcock's perspective why he still believed he was in control. He saw that Sauls's vision of the scene was exactly what was needed to make it stand out as the pivot point to the entire movie and so he gave saul all the freedom he needed to make it so.
I could be entirely wrong but this. Although when I wear my many hats from being on set I believe this is why Psycho was such a masterpiece of cinema even the making of it has its mysteries.
Speaking about hats. I made a sand sculpture based on this philum, which you can see in this post.
The art department
I wanted to capture this scene and its intrigue. The main structure of the piece was based on Hitchcock's signature scribble, 3 dimensionalised into a portrait of his head. The sand wasn't too strong and the weather was pissy so I had to be a bit safer on the undercuts than I would have liked.
Here is his Autograph for reference. The bulbous forehead and multiple chins had to be reduced to fit the conditions. and what is Hitchcock without double chins and a bulbous head.
On the face, I used stills from the movie itself which I carved in relief. They represented the storyboard from Saul and how although not part of Hitchcock, helped make his presence felt.
These were fun to make. I had frozen frames while watching the movie and although there were 78 camera setups and 52 edits in the 45-second scene I took what I thought most represented it.
They read from left to right across his face and although it all looked a bit abstract I believe it worked quite well as I tried to angle the panels to give bone structure.
I had found some very white sand around the site and when the panels were carved I flicked it over them. It was nice to have another tone to play with and I hoped that this would give some nice highlights and represent the water in the scene.
I was quite happy with how the panels turned out although the head form leaves me questioning my mentality at the time.
I could say that because it was my sculpture the book stops with me when it comes to imperfections but because this was based on a Hitchcock movie I will give him the honour and say he directed me.
For those who are into Hitch and want to see more, be sure to check out my other post here
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
Floating a Finned Whale - sand sculpture
South America at the Sand Museum Tottori - sand sculpture
Manmade nature - cement sculpture
I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite
If you would like to support me
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I am also starting to create NFTs of my sculptures and welcome you to my gallery where you can own a bit of ephemeral sculpture history.
I think we can both agree that that infamous scene from Psycho is to well known NOT to know. Gee, you really outdid yourself with those conspiracy theories lol.
I absolutely agree with you on the fact that that particular scene, was just way too graphic for Hitchcock's usual line of work! That's a great point actually.
And oh man, these sculptures are crazy good! I can't help but think this though: if this what you can conjure up with sand then... I can only wonder how your Sand castles would look like😂
Great job bud!
Thank you @zeraton. Hitchcock is one of my favourite directors as he came up with a lot of the language we now take for granted. Like all great artists, he was inspired by everything around him, including the people. Saul is also a great artist in his own right and from this scene along I think he would have made a great director.
As far as my sand castles go I really hate making them. Sand is a plastic and it much more lends itself to organic forms. Straight lines and windows drive me mad. I also like the creative process to continue all through the making of the piece with architecture I feel I am just working to a plan.
Thanks for your comment
I donno, I think it suits the man and the theme from the movie well XD
The relief cuts look so good!
It was unfortunate with the sand and weather that I could not push the undercuts too far but at the end of the day, the visitors could not see the sculpture from the side so it did not really matter to them.
I was happy with the panels. I might just NTF that image.
This is amazing. I really love how you catch the mood in every part of the sculpture. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much. I really like to get into the mood of the theme and try and make every element of the sculpture say something. Although there were parts which did not work out the best for me, overall I liked the sculpture.
It's always a pleasure to see your work. Even when it revolves around grisly murder.
Thank you so much. Great to hear I have a growing audience.
Upvoted and reblogged. I tweeted it also - my tweets are embedded on the Visionary Art Gallery website
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Thank you @thermoplastic. Always an honour to be tweeted by you.
Wow another stunning creation @ammonite, your talent blows my mind xxxx
You really make me blush. Thank you Trucklife
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