The first shot is a middle distanced shot as Marion waits outside her motel door. The rain sets an eerie atmosphere. The porch is only lit by the door lamps and light from inside the room, this makes everything in the centre of the frame well lit, but what is on the edges not so clear. Marion stands with her back to the camera on the edge of the frame, waiting for Bates to appear, her back is in darkness. Hence everything around the motel is given a mysterious atmosphere and a mood of unease is created as viewers feel they have been placed in unfamiliar sourroundings. Even Bates, who emerges from the darkness, around the corner of the porch has a sense of mystery about him. Abrupt high pitched music also accompanies his appearance. It starts and stops, causing a nervous agititated sensation among viewers. His movement is followed with a panning camera. After a nervous pause, he walks towards her. Shadows cast from the motel fall onto his face, covering and uncovering it repeatedly. This may symbolise the darker sides to Bates and the struggle between the two facets of his personality, his public persona and his more disturbing, twisted 'mother' personality. As they stand together on the p

"You, you eat like a bird" he says and there is a sudden focus on him from a long distance to a medium close up. The reference to Marion as a bird connotates her as one of his prey and creates dramatic irony as the audience has expectations that she will soon die at his hands, while she suspects nothing yet. In response, Marion looks around the room and says, 'You'd know of course'. In contrast to him in the previous shot, she is clearly and brightly lit, appearing much more innocent. Norman starts to stuttering recreating the uneasy tempo, "No, not really. Anyway, I hear the expression, 'eats like a bird' it, it's really a fals-fals-false-falsity because birds really eat a tremendous lot. But I don't really know anything about birds". 'Birds' here connotes 'women'. The uneasy tempo in his voice appeared so suddenly when everything appeared seemingly settled that it throws the audience out of any comfort zones.

As Marion starts to eat, Norman is perched on the edge of his seat intently watches her first bite. Only the left side of his face is lit while the right side of him is completely cast in shadow, again a reference to Normans split personality. His also casts a large, slanted shadow behind him that adds a sinister feel to the scene. The depth of field is not deep as what is behind Norman is kept unfocused in the dark. This has the effect os creating a eerieness that sourrounds him both literally and figuratively.

Norman leans forward slowely, this slow tempo creates suspense. There is a mad look on his face, both angry and defensive "You mean an institution? A madhouse? People always call a madhouse 'someplace,' don't they? Put her in 'some place.' It is now a close up, of the face cast in shadow with only a slit of light on the right side of his face. His cool stare thickens the enigma sourrounding him. There is now slow deep, eerie music in the background that increases in pitch to heighten the tension. Marion apologises : I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound uncaring". Strangely, Norman grins again, " What do you know about caring? Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places? The laughing and the tears! And the cruel eyes studying you. My mother there?" But she's harmless! She's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds! This is ironic as neither the audience nor Marion knows how much a literal description of the truth this actually is.

Anthony Perkin's (Norman Bates) make up is natural, making him appear just like an ordinary man. Janet Leigh's (Marion Crane) make up is used to create an image of her as an attractive 1960's woman. Her beauty must be emphasised to support the plot that Bates kills her because of his sexual frustration and attraction to her. For the same purpose, her costume is a stylish 1960's dress, which in contrast to Bates's homely outfit, presents her as a woman of a different class to him. She is unattainable to him and would never have feelings beyond sympathy for him, which heightens Bate's frustration with the attraction he feels towards her.

Marion forgets, however, that she has signed the register with a fake name and fake home address, and now tells Norman that her name is Crane. Norman watches her return to her cabin, and then takes another look at the register, smirking at the false name and location. Norman Bates' hobby, "baiting ," snaring and trapping birds for stuffing and a irony is created as Marion's last name "Crane" is the name for a birds and her home town Phoenix is the name of another legendary bird. The bird motif links Marion as Norman's prey.

As Marion enters, her arms are crossed, and the upper half of her body is not well lit, suggesting discomfort and distrust. Match on action between Marion starring towards the top right corner of the frame and close up shot images of stuffed birds perched on the walls and ceilings create a quick tempo of Marion absorbing the nature of the room. The birds cast their own large sinister shawdows onto the walls. The

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