I have a 200-level film course that is offered through the English department, so it gets a lot of English majors who think, "I like watching movies!" but don't know a whole lot about analyzing film. I have to take it because it's a requirement for the cinema studies minor. Today we discussed Psycho, specifically the sequence where Marion and Norman have dinner, and three separate people brought up the low-angle-birds-swooping-down shot. They also brought it up in the context of the conversation they were having, but it was wrong. They said that the low-angle shot occurred when Marion suggested putting Mother in an institution, but it didn't--it happened when Marion said that Mother shouldn't talk to Norman like that. When Marion brings up the institution, it switches to a close-up shot of Norman from a normal two-camera shot-reverse-shot angle. People! We watched this specific sequence twice! Pay attention and take notes!

Sigh... Yes, I am anal, an elitist, and very easily agitated.