Norman among the birds
The parlour's taxidermy is the film's thesis statement in set decoration: predators, prey, and a man already stuffed.
- mise en scène
- lighting
- atomic
- close-reading
In Psycho — the parlour scene, Norman sits beneath a spread-winged owl, a raven at his shoulder, framed low and angular in hard shadow; Marion sits among soft light and rounded forms. He explains that taxidermy is his hobby — "I hate the look of beasts when they're stuffed," except birds, which are "passive to begin with."
Every layer of Mise en scène is doing narration the script withholds on first viewing: the owl mid-strike over Norman's head (the mother, about to descend); birds as watchers (eyes that never blink — see The camera as voyeur); Marion — surname Crane, from Phoenix — as the next bird to be stuffed and preserved. Even the final frozen grin of the film pays this off.
Durgnat works this scene harder than any other critic; use him for the full inventory.