The scene I will be analyzing is the third to last scene where L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) is trying to defend himself from his neighbor, Lars Thornwald (Raymond Burr). This is the part where Thornwald puzzles together that Jefferies has seen his actions over throughout the film. The opening shot of this scene that the audience sees is a medium shot of Jeffries looking into Thorwald’s apartment (then the shot shows Thornwald’s apartment) and he notices that all the lights are out. We return to a medium shot of Jeffries as he picks up the phone, expecting it to be Detective Thomas Doyle but it turns out that it’s someone else. When it turns out to not be the person he expected, Jeffries realizes he made a mistake. The director, Hitchcock …show more content…
This shot is especially important because 1) the audience gets to see what Jeffries is looking at and 2) it reveals that the door may be important later in the scene. Then the shot returns of a medium shot showing Jeffries in his wheelchair. In this shot, part of Jeffries is in the shadows and part of him is in the light. One object that stands out in the light is his cast. This reminds us of his disadvantage when it comes to fighting against his attacker. As Jeffries wheelchairs over to the door, the shot …show more content…
When he starts to stand up, the camera starts to tilt upwards but then it cuts to a close up of Jeffries’ face. During this time he is standing, his whole face is covered in shadows. As Jeffries moves around in his wheelchair, it demonstrates that he is truly by himself without the help of Lisa or Stella. As he sits back down, we see the fear on his face, and the camera turns the door where the we hear a flick of a switch and the hallway light turns off. The tension that has been previously built up now is truly coming out. We know something or someone is going to come through the doorway. Jeffries then moves back but the camera doesn’t move. The camera then does a close up on the flash and an envelope of light bulbs. Once again, the close up of the flash and light bulbs indicates importance of the objects that will soon be explained. He slowly backs toward the window and again is covered in shadows except for his cast. This is all shown in a medium shot. We see that Jeffries is preparing himself and then waits. The next shot turns to the doorway which is in almost total darkness. The only light comes from when the door is opened and Thornwald
Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock was an exceptional movie with a jaw- dropping 8.6 rating on IMDb’s website. The movie is about L. B. Jefferies (protagonist), who is a well-known photographer in a wheelchair.The lack of entertainment and extreme boredom caused Jeff (Jefferies) to stare out the rear window day and night. He eyed his neighbors through this window 24/7 and revolved his wheelchair season around their personal lives. As the movie goes on Jeff feels as if Lars Thorwald (antagonist) has murdered his sick wife. He knew they were an unhappy married couple already and had some unmistakable clues. In this series of events Jeff’s girlfriend who he thought to be too perfect for him and epicene turns out be a risk-taker and brave.
Though the majority of the film remains well-lit as the characters remain in the generator-powered bunker, the scenes begin to darken with low-key lighting as the film nears its ending, reflecting the more sinister and suspenseful aspects of the plot. In the chase to escape from Howard, Michelle is flooded with shadows and darkness as she crawls through the air ducts to reach an air filtration system room with a door leading to the outside world. The unpredictability of Howard catching up to her already triggers a thrilling sensation within the audience, causing their hearts to race with adrenaline. Along with the action, Trachtenberg enhances these emotions of fear by dimly lighting the film sequence in order to generate apprehension towards the uncertainties held within the shadows. As Michelle frantically manages to break open the door, low-key lighting continues to add intensity to the still shot of her standing in the darkness of the night outside the bunker. This holds the viewer in their seats and encourages them to glance around at the corners of the screen, anticipating a jump scare to come out of the shadows. Though previous scenes have been flooded with light, Trachtenberg’s use of darkly lit scenes presents a stark contrast, creating suspenseful tones that impose feelings of fear and adrenaline on viewers and making the film out to be incredibly
Now we will address a few of these from the film. First, Drawing parallels between characters with a difference, usually a negative one, is a repeated concept in Hitchcock films. Such as in the film “Strangers On a Train”, where Bruno ends up killing Guys’ wife while Guy had himself been desiring to be rid of her somehow. Here in “Rear Window” early in the film we can see this between Lisa and Jeff to Thorwald
All different kinds of camera angles are used in this scene, mostly mid shot. Trevelyan uses some kind gadget to open the door with activating the alarm. The audience think that 006 and 007 are going to get captured and killed by the Russians. Bond shouts out for Trevelyan but he doesn’t answer so he
Only one light is on, making it appear more dull and lifeless, as if the hall continues on forever. The use of the handheld camera, provides shakiness to the scene therefore complementing the trembling voices being heard. The camera then continues to pan through the high school. As the archived emergency call changes to a panicked teacher, so does the footage. We now see what the CCTV surveillance cameras captured, again strengthening the authenticity of the event.
In the film Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a significant shift of power is portrayed. This shift occurs between the protagonist of the film, L.B Jeffries and his romantic partner, Lisa Freemont. This shift also aids in outlining the main theme of the film, which is marriage, as all aspects of marriage are observed and taken into account by Jeffries. The change of dominance within Lisa and Jeffries relationship can be broken down into three stages, which develop and change throughout the film. At the beginning of the film Jeffries is shown to have the power within the relationship as he dictates the parameters of the relationship, however he is also intimidated by Lisa 's social standing. Towards the middle of the film the possession
Rowe, Lawrence. "Through the Looking Glass: Reflexivity, Reciprocality, and Defenestration in Hitchcock's"Rear Window"." College Literature 35.1 (2008): 16-37.
This left Hitchcock films as some of her mother’s favorites. Pemberton, went to a Hitchcock festival as an adult, this time watching Rear Window, which she had not seen since she was a child with an objective examination, she found a scene that would shift both her and her mother’s perspective of this movie. As Jimmy Stewart’s character, Jefferies, realizes he is in danger, telephones his friend Wendell Corey, who was not at home, but he spoke with the baby-sitter who did not appear on screen, but was portrayed in a voice that would convey imagery of a “familiar black image.” Asking the inspiration for this essay “Do he have your number, Mr.
Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck star in this mystery/thriller that dabbles in psycho-analysis and the troubles of the mind. Constance Peterson is a renowned psycho-analyst, whose ability to analyze data is unquestionable, but who has no life outside of her work. This all changes the day the new Chief of Staff, Dr. Edwardes (Peck) arrives. It is love at first site, and Constance’s barriers break down in a flash.
...m plays a considerable role in this film. Jeffries, the films protagonist is bound to his apartment, so for entertainment he watches people through his window without them knowing. From the very beginning these characters seem to so interesting, so no wonder Jeffries decides to watch them. While watching the film, we become witnesses of their private lives, making us voyeurists too. In this film windows are not used in a traditional sense, they expose people, they symbolize confinement, and they allude to suspenseful plot devices. Hitchcock’s aesthetic configuration of the film manipulates the audience into questioning several aspects of the film and in life in general. Hitchcock’s originality in Rear Window was not only successful during the golden age of Hollywood, but it continues to be creatively adapted and consistently influential in today’s cinema as well.
Joe’s affirmation for Daisy has him jealous of the closeness that Daisy and the lodger develop. Joe begins to get upset and comes between Daisy and the Lodger which upsets Daisy more. Joe encounters Daisy and the Lodger on a street bench late at night and confronts them. He has finally had enough. Joe “connects” what the dots he has and convinces not only himself but others that “the Lodger flipped the pictures of the woman in the room, therefore he is the Avenger. He has detectives go into the lodger's room and they find a black bag with a gun, and a map of the Avenger’s killings. Not only does Joe and the Buntings believe this, but as the audience, no matter the romantic relationship between Daisy and the Lodger, the evidence shows that he must be the Avenger which is Hitchcock’s intention. After the lodger gets away, Joe causes a bar full of people to run and mob the Lodger. When Joe finds out that the real Avenger has been caught, he goes out to save the lodger and more importantly Daisy. However, as soon as he gets there, the newspaper boy arrives to inform the masses that the Avenger has been caught. The media and newspaper stands inform the crowd and shape how they should feel. The hate and anger against the Lodger, turn into hate and Anger that the lodger isn’t the Avenger and that they cannot kill the actually Avenger. The way Hitchcock has this happen says everything
Greg was in his underwear (and only his underwear) when he went to look out the peep hole. The next thing he knew Rodrick opened the door and kicked him out in the hall closing the door behind him. Greg was locked out and Rodrick
The camera angle that is used is worm's eyes which allow the audience to focus on the face of the main character and reflect that uniqueness of the situation when for the first time the person who arrests others for murder will be arrested himself. In addition to that, the hands of Anderton that are shown are parallel to each other and the viewer might see this as a gesture which reflects lack of readiness to accept the charges. It must be noted that this shot is extremely important to the movie theme since it shows how determinism (seeing the prophecy) and free will (having no intention to kill a person) collide in the mind of a person. Indeed, it is generally expected that people have motives to commit a crime and the main character sees that he kills a person whom he does not know at all. Another point that should be mentioned is that the shot feature intense non-diegetic sounds which contribute to the atmosphere that is represented in the show: Anderton feels that he is being chased by his future (Pramaggiore & Wallis,
The entire scene, which is taken in one long shot, begins with a shot of the door to Gaines’s bedroom. Then we see only the back of a man, who we assume is Raymond, only recognizable by his emotionless voice, open the door. The rest of the scene continues this way; one side of the frame shows Raymond’s back and the other shows Mr. Gaines lying in his bed. This perspective of Raymond suggests that he is not even a person; rather, he is just a body, a mere puppet, that is blindly carrying out someone else’s orders because he is incapable of making his own choices. As Raymond walks into the room and moves closer to Mr. Gaines, ominous music begins to play and becomes increasingly louder until Raymond’s entire back takes up the entire frame, resulting in a completely black screen, suggesting that Raymond has carried out his orders. The threatening music and the shot ending in a black screen before Raymond kills Gaines further shows that Raymond has no agency because they give viewers the sense that someone is controlling
Anyone who watches the film Zodiac is faced with the dilemma of trying to decipher on their own who the killer is, how the given evidence proves that, and finally how one should wrap their minds around it. The general theme of the movie is suspense followed by a continuous stream of unanswered theories given throughout the dialogue. However, all comes to a heart stopping halt during the “basement scene” when viewers are presented with the idea that our main character, Robert Graysmith, just may possibly be in the same house as a killer and eventually in a dark, menacing basement alone with the man. The overall significance of this scene is to show us that some of the most unexpected people can be the worst kind as well as the notion that