Original subtitles

did you know there was a remake of psycho in 1998 starring vince vaughn as

Norman Bates? - Think I think we're all in our private traps clamped in 'em

It was a commercial and critical failure

it's more or less a shot-for-shot remake which makes for a cool case study into

how the original cycle worked so well. We can compare the two movies and look at the

subtle differences and see why those differences matter and why it made the

original psycho so much better

let's talk specifically about the ending how did the original end? What did Hitchcock

leave us with? Most people remember the look to the camera from Norman Bates but

it really ends with the car getting pulled out of the mud. The shot leaves a very

bad taste in our mouths because we know what's in the trunk

not to mention it's filmed very off center and it's coming right towards us

the remake starts the ending in a similar way but it ends by panning out

to a landscape as the credits roll. This completely ruined the ending

we're supposed to end feeling disgusted and uncomfortable but the pan

reintroduces us back into the world with its familiar landscapes and cars driving

by the original psycho ending is great because it's sickening

if the camera moves away from the sickening image and ends with the

familiar were removed from the story and the murder and are reintroduced back

into society

that's no way to end the movie the psycho remake ending is closer to the

riding into the sunset kind of movie ending this is a kind of shot where

we're leaving the original story and get reintroduced into the world normally

it's also shot with our main characters who went through some sort of ordeal

physically moving away from the camera to continue their journey

the Western popularized this kind of ending but it's still very common in

modern movies just with a few tweaks

nowadays it can be a car instead of a horse or a street corner instead of a

picturesque sunset it's a very comforting ending we see something

familiar and it's a cinematic you that the story is over and we're back to the

real world

twelve Angry Men ends with the men who all came together to pronounce the kid

innocent going back into the real world a world where the American judicial

system works and people are only convicted if they actually committed the

crime it's a comforting ending and it complements the feel-good theme that

even the most stubborn people can listen to reason and change their minds I'll be

it not so easily and not so nicely but i'm not saying that all riding into the

sunset endings are feel good

how about having a serial killer

walk back into society now that's an eerie ending I do wish we could chat

line

I'm having an old fat in a very similar way doors closing at the end makes for a

nice symbol to end the movie

there's a physical separation now literally closing the door on an

adventure

also very common you can even use it to separate two main characters within the

story which is what Francis Coppola did and perhaps the most famous movie ending

of all time

also the searchers which has an opening shot that starts at the doorway with

John Wayne coming in from the desert and then the ending shot shows him leaving

through the same doorway this ending symbolizes our hero returning to the

wilderness from which he came

another common ending is when the ending shot relates to the opening shot there's

a great supercut of opening and closing shots of movies shown side by side on

vimeo and a lot of them relate to each other

the goal of this kind of ending is to show a shot similar to the opening shot

but now that you've seen the movie it should evoke a different feeling for you

the opening shot is the first impression the movie tells its story and the movie

ends with something similar to what it started with the last shot will always

feel different because after the movie tells its story the shot has an entirely

different meaning with the Godfather sequel the shot is the same but Michael

Corleone is not and he looks at two in gone girl he uses violent imagery to

refer to his wife

I picture cracking her lovely skull unspooling her brain's trying to get

answers and by the last shot we know why it's a fun way to look at movies because

the ending can potentially some of the main ideas of the movie the difference

between the opening and the closing is that the opening shot hints at the main

ideas and the ending reinforces that it's as if the director is highlighting

the most important part of the movie

so go watch your favorite movie ending again maybe look for a symbol

what do you think the feather symbolizes in Forrest Gump there's no right or

wrong answer but we know what the director wants you to notice what move

does the ending leave you with

that's the most important feeling of the movie because what you walk out of the

theater feeling is what matters

so give it a try and with that I leave you with a simpsons parody of the

Godfather ending because i love this instance

thanks for watching

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