Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window And Vertigo

Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th of August 1899 in London England. From a young age Hitchcock had an interest in photography and this led him into the art of directing (2016). His directing debut was seen in Blackmail in 1929. In his 51 years of making films he directed over 50, some of which were nominated for various awards. Over the years Hitchcock’s directors style was observed by many and is how he is remembered and how audiences can recognise a Hitchcock film. He was known as the master of suspense which was gained from his suspenseful choices of music, special effects, camera angles and sound effects. As well as these features Hitchcock films also had other defining characteristics which can be seen in His 1954 Rear Window and 1958

Audiences of Hitchcock movies new to expect the unexpected when watching one of his films and he never failed to surprise audiences with his plot twists and unconventional storyline as well as his exclusion of stereotypical norms. This is demonstrated in Rear window as one of the main characters Jeffries (James Stewart) is seemingly disabled with a broken leg. Having this disability and being only a photographer audiences are initially positioned to see him as a helpless character, however, Hitchcock exceeds this expectation by making him become the hero of the film. Towards the end of the film Jefferies lures the killer through guilt and is confronted by him in his room, this scene is made much more impactful by Hitchcock’s effective use of techniques such as lighting, camera angles, sound effects and effectively positioning overrule earning Hitchcock the title of ‘the master of suspense’. These techniques can be seen in this clip from the scene. Similarly, to Rear window, Vertigo also has an unconventional plot, not being what is expected and not following cultural assumptions of people with disabilities. The character Madeleine appears to be helpless being possessed by her great grandmother’s spirit and the audience is positioned to feel sorry for her and then when we see her falling react in a way to believe that she was so

Rear window does not have many major pieces of music used for effect or to add suspense instead mainly the use of various camera angles was used. Vertigo on the other hand does use music very effectively to add suspense and evoke fear amongst audience members. One scene where this is demonstrated effectively along with other effective techniques is in the final scene. Sound effects are also often used by Hitchcock to evoke responses from the audiences some of these include sounds of screaming which was heard in the previous clip from vertigo and is a sound often featured in many of his other films. By using sound effects and suspenseful music Hitchcock manipulated his audiences to become more on edge and scared and create a more suspenseful atmosphere.

Overall Hitchcock was a very versatile director using a variety of techniques to make each of his films a masterpiece. Through unique use of camera angles, effective special effects, personal cameos, outstanding music selections, impactful sound effects and the use of unconventional plot, Hitchcock separated his films from that of any other director. To this day he is still known to be one of the greatest directors of all time and will forever remain the master of