Hitchcock begins the film with an establishing shot of a city. After a sequence of pans and fades to closer shots on one building the camera focuses one window. The presence of a reality-based setting and characters who seem like everyday people makes it easy for viewers to relate to the characters. Thus, later events in the film are that much more frightening because they happened to ordinary people. Hitchcock's uses cinematography to establish his much used normal vs. abnormal theme.
Abnormality becomes abruptly apparent during the films famed shower scene.
Still, the situation is a common one, for people who value hygiene it is a daily ritual. The shower scene lasts a little over a minute, yet it contains at least eighty-six shots. Each shot is from a different angle. When Marion turns on the shower, we see an extreme close-up of the shower head. Suddenly, a shadowy character appears.