Barthes Narrative Analysis

Psycho (1960)
(Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Starring Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles)

Action code:
- Man and woman in hotel room
- He takes his shirt off, she puts hers on
- Both get smartly dressed
- He kisses her passionatly
- She leaves him alone in the room

Empirical code:
- Zooming in on building window: Creates suspense for the audience wondering what is happening inside
- Mentions of the 'airport' creates mystery of where he is going
- Mystery of what the man and womans's relationship is
- Car horn heard makes the viewer wonder who is there and where the women is going and who with

Semantic code:
- Woman is young, glamourous and proffesional (smartly dressed)
- She has some control over him, tells him what to do and insists upon what she wants
- Blonde hair with bright white shirt and bright lighting suggests goodness and possibly setting her up to be a victim
- Man is young, attractive and seemingly respectable/charming
- Imperfections (exwife)
- He sits in the chadows with dark hair and black trousers, connoting secrets and decietReferential code:
- Pheonix, Arizona (gives knowledge of place/city)
- Time (2:43) gives context to the affair, as viewer would see it as suspiscious, meaning it never has to be directly said

Symbolic code:
- Cheap hotel suggests affair
- Dark, shadowy room implies secrets and deceit