Yilda Sanchez
Alfred Hitchcock in America
Dr. Sullivan
7 December 2017
"To Sound or no Sound"
In Hitchcock's own words: "I think what sound brought of value to the cinema was to complete the realism of the image on the screen. It made everyone in the audience deaf mutes." Because he is known for his visual techniques, Alfred Hitchcock’s unique use of sound is a topic which does not receive the attention it deserves. This is what this paper will try to accomplish, to explain why his unique use of sound deserves so much attention.
Sound is an important element in Hitchcock's techniques. This created and amplified the suspense in the scene tremendously and it was a way to express character emotion. He uses surrounding sounds to amplify whatever
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In his own words he stated the following: “If Psycho had been intended as a serious picture, it would have been shown as a clinical case with no mystery or suspense. The material would have been used as the documentation of the case history. We’ve already mentioned that total plausibility and authenticity merely add up to a documentary.” Hitchcock was dogmatic about the dramatic innuendos and sequences that the functions of sound and music created. He often interwove his suggestions into the screenplay even! Sound was so important to Hitchcock that no matter how much Hitchcock trusted his composer and sound mixer, he always dictated detailed notes for the dubbing of sound effects and the placement of music. Everything needed to be perfect in the eyes or in this case ears of Hitchcock. His meticulous and perfectionist ways are definitely evident in his films. In Psycho, Hitchcock wanted "no music at all though the motel sequence". Hermann, the person behind most of Hitchcock's films scores, at first did not quite understand where Hitchcock was going with this. Hitchcock was so pleased with the "black and white" score use of only the cello and violin and he dubbed it a masterpiece. Hermann found it peculiar that Hitchcock did not wish for an percussion but after the film was completed. He realized that the meticulous way Hitchcock wanted the score created an eerie and unnerving suspense that the film
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Cinematography of Hitchcocks Psycho Alfred Hitchcock is renown as a master cinematographer (and editor), notwithstanding his overall brilliance in the craft of film. His choice of black and white film for 1960 was regarded within the film industry as unconventional since color was perhaps at least five years the new standard. But this worked tremendously well. After all, despite the typical filmgoer’s dislike for black and white film, Psycho is popularly heralded among film buffs as his finest cinematic achievement; so much so, that the man, a big
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