Hitchcock utilizes sound, camera work, MacGuffins, and plot twists to tell the storylines of the movies. Hitchcock understood the importance of camera work and sound because he began his career making silent films.12 It is why he uses many close up shots so the audience can pay attention to specific details and the emotions on the character’s face. He does not rely on dialogue to tell the story. He uses sound to help convey the message of a scene.
Hitchcock started in the movie business by designing cards that were used in silent films. He then started to direct films. He left to move to Hollywood in
Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the "master of suspense", most notably in one of his cinemas, "Psycho". Hitchcock used a variety of sensory details, to shock moreover frighten his audience. Three sensory details that he used, is when we notice a cop following Marion, we see that Norman is stalking Marion, and when a shadowy figure shows up while Marion is taking a shower. The first sensory detail that creates suspense is when we see the cop following Marion. We believe that the cop recognizes something is up furthermore, is going to assert Marion for stealing the money.
In the 1954 film, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses the depicted sequence of frames to evoke feelings of anxiety and suspense in the audience by portraying an invasion of privacy and the fear of being caught breaking that boundary that society tends to cherish and protect. When assessed individually, the chosen frames provide a partial, but incomplete evocation of suspense. In the first of the two frames, the audience is outside looking into an apartment building with three people in view, none of whom are composed in a way that would suggest they know where the others in the building are. Additionally, the woman on the upper floor is smiling and waving in the direction of the audience. Coon explains that Hitchcock draws on “societal anxieties
Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo (1958) was voted the “best film ever made” by the 2012 British Film Institute, and for good reason. The plot is elaborate and intriguing and the cinematography is legendary. On top of this, the characters, like good characters should, all have their own needs and wants that are evident in the film. The needs of these characters affect each other and they affect the story and they all follow one common theme: control. Our protagonist, John “Scottie” Ferguson’s wants and needs differ greatly throughout the film, but his only constant is his yearning to get over his acrophobia, or fear of heights.
After watching The 39 Steps (1935), I realized that Alfred Hitchcock really did have a talent for establishing suspense through films. Even though suspense was the primary focus, Hitchcock managed to effectively and intelligently mix humor, romance, and thriller. He uses a variety of techniques to convey these feelings to the audience. According, to some of his interviews with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock mentions his love for The 39 Steps, specifically about the techniques he uses to create a bewitching experience throughout the film. In this film, he uses a variety of themes that he continued to constantly use throughout his later films.
Even though Hitchcock used these techniques in completely different ways, the end result for both was a timeless, suspenseful
To the unknown eye, Hitchcock has carefully and skillfully used Mise-en-scene to his advantage, causing the audience to feel fear and a sense of caution towards the character of Norman Bates. It isn’t until we reflect back on the scene and notice how intelligently Hitchcock uses the positioning of props and the characters, lighting, camera angle and staging, that we notice how he has added meaning to his characters but has also to the film, creating suspense and fear from one scene to the end of the film. Ultimately proving the point that Hitchcock “the master of suspense” uses Mise-en-scene to not only help make a brilliant film but also uses it as his disposal to add meaning in his
Auteur is the french word for author and is a term given to those far and few between who were responsible for handling and directing most of, if not all post and prior production of a film, including techniques, advertising, and choice of cast. So much so that they are considered to be the "author" of the film. Alfred Hitchcock has no doubt left an indelible and engraved mark on all of cinematography as one of the most successful and influential auteurs of all time, as seen through the wide range of techniques Hitchcock employed throughout his films such as voyeurism, doubleness, and the famed magcuffin, as can clearly be seen in the film "Rear Window" as well as "Shadow of a Doubt". Hitchcock also showed immense dedication to the post and
Many argue when the Golden age of Film Noir ended. One on the most common arguments is that Orsons Wells A Touch of Evil was the last of the great Noirs. However, the real last true noir may actually be Alfred Hitchcock 's Vertigo which came out later the same year is the true last noir. The first evidence Vertigo gives us is the main character John "Scottie" Ferguson. Scottie is a ex-detective with a past that haunts him.
Filmmakers use specific shot composition to present the portrait as a character who can interact with others. Hitchcock, in Vertigo, uses the traditional Hollywood shot–reverse–shot: We see a character, then what the character sees, and then its reactions. In the museum scene, the magical and obsessing power of the portrait is conveyed by the camera movement. The camera switches between the female character and the painting. Indeed it first switches between the bouquet on the museum bench and the identical flower piece in the painting, and then it switches between Madeleine’s curl of hair and the identical curl of hair on the painted portrait.
He has always been the shadowy figure or the familiar face in the background of one of his films. He has masked himself behind routines and monotone expressions. He also refused to disclose information about his personal life with the public. The intimate parts of his life, however, are on display for the public in the form of motion pictures. In his films, Hitchcock expresses his unspoken desires, frustrations, and relationship problems.
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense.
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcocks powerful and complex psychological thriller, horror film “Psycho” (1960) was classes as the first sub genre of horror, the slasher. The film ushered in the era of slashes with graphic content of blood-letting and shocking killings of the time. Although this was Hitchcock’s first horror film, he was labelled as a horror film director ever since. The film contains disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation. These themes symbolise the effects of money, oedipal murder and the dark histories.
In the film Rear Window, the director, Alfred Hitchcock uses a variety of techniques to create suspense and leave viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the film. Hitchcock uses a good assortment of tempo to create thoughts in the viewer's mind. He slows down the pace to create anticipation, and speeds it up to show a change in intensity. In the ending scene of Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses changes in pace and tempo, lighting, and a short term deadline to constitute an immense atmosphere of suspense in the viewer's mind.
