Macbeth and Psycho

Ap Lit.

_______________Black And White_____________
An Analysis of Macbeth and Psycho In Terms of Illumination

      In the films Macbeth and Psycho, there are a lot of elements that are worth analyzing. Even though the stories have nothing to do with each other, some connections can be driven from the film’s composition. Light has always been a key factor to absolutely every work of art, whether it is a painting, a film, a photograph, a play or a book. Light and darkness have a significant meaning to the viewer. Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock play with the illuminations of the film at certain shots to instill particular feelings. The directors do every illumination on purpose to cause that feeling. The fact that both films are in black and white definitely give a much deeper touch of meaning of the light than if it were in color. About the composition of the two, there are a lot of elements that are also similar in both films, in terms of position of the actors and the perspective. The two directors are very skillful, and every detail in the films makes up the composition of it, those details are there to give a hint to the viewer about the plot and story of the film.
      It is known that dark and light have a specific symbolism, as I stated before. Darkness often represents evil, bad, mysterious and dangerous things. It is the lack of light. There is an expression often used, “left in the dark”: it means that one is left without knowing what is going on or without knowledge of a situation. The “dark side” of someone is a part of an individual that is mean and unknown to the other people. Night itself is a symbol for bad things to happen. Usually in movies and books, most deaths happen at night, fights are also at night and there is danger in the night that the day does not have. A dark alley is a sign of jeopardy and dark room is a symbol for loneliness. “Darkness can have a strong psychological impact.” (Wikipedia). The strategy of darkness is used...