Analysis of 'Psycho' title sequence

'Psycho' is a 1960 American psychological thriller-horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Janet Leigh. It is widely considered one of the most revolutionary films of all time and contains one of the most infamous scenes ever filmed. It was produced by Shamely Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The sequence starts initially with a black and white image of the Paramount logo, establishing the distribution company and sticking to the conventions of a normal title sequence. Then the infamous 'Psycho' theme music starts playing; the sharp screeching notes of the violins immediately creates significant tension for the audience and establishes the sinister atmosphere immediatly. We then see shots of long vertical lines going across the screen and then retracting to reveal Alfred Hitchcock's name - this technique is used to reveal all members of the cast and crew. The simplistic nature of the shots in the title sequence itself paired with the intricate music in the background balances out perfectly to create a very tense and foreboding atmosphere with the sense that something could jump out at you at any moment (although that wasn't really Hitchcock's style).
The title is then pieced together for us however the title jerks suddenly so it becomes slightly distorted and not in line; this could connote a sense of mental instability. The word 'psycho' is short for 'psychopath' or 'psychopathic' which means somebody who has an inability to function normally regarding social skills or somebody with an inability to love so the fact that the titles are contorted could be a physical representation of a psychopath's mind. This also happens at the end of the sequence when they show Alfred Hitchcock's name again.
The music increases in volume and crescendos several times throughout the title sequence whilst the title sequence shots themselves remain reasonably similar and follow the same concept of the vertical lines revealing cast and crew member's names throughout the entire sequence.
The vertical lines contrast against the name of the film itself as they are all arranged neatly and orderly whereas a psychopath is generally considered to be messed up and their minds don't function in the way that they should; their reality is contorted in comparison to ours.
Furthermore the lines are revealing the names of the cast and crew, this could link to the films main character as initially he seems relatively normal but then it is revealed later in the film that he is actually mentally unwell and developed a split personality between himself and his mother. The lines revealing the names could represent how Norman Bates' true colours are revealed at the end of the film.


I believe that the audience for this film would be 25-45 year old males as it is a very sophisticated horror/thriller; I don't believe the topic of mental health would be well-received or understood by the younger generation.
Admittedly I found this particular title sequence quite hard to analyse as there wasn't any physical camera shots and there was no change of direction style-wise.