Hitch.

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Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock will be forever known through the annals of film history as the “Master of Suspense”. His illustrious career as a director of film spanned over six decades, 55 years to be exact. Throughout these years he left audiences in theatres clutching their seats in angst and perplexed by his thrillers. Hitchcock’s works have stood the test of time and have left audiences of today in awe of his techniques, which remain relevant in Hollywood and film schools to this day. Hitchcock directed 66 films in his career, but this essay will look at three of them that in my opinion emphatically represent the style and themes used by the great man they call “Hitch”. Most of these themes intertwine with the stylistic choices of Hitchcock throughout the three films I have selected. This essay will cover a range of them, from the theme of the audience as voyeur and how Hitchcock is able to accomplish this through the use of camera, to the use of birds as a recurring theme and motif through both plot and use of mise-en-scene. Another Hitchcock devised concept that I will be covering in this essay include the infamous “MacGuffin” plot device, the use of character in his films; specifically Hitchcock’s very own cameos throughout his films. The films that I will be covering in this essay are Rear Window (1954), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).

It is no secret that with the nickname “The Master of Suspense” that the trademark technique of Alfred Hitchcock’s films would be his ability to elicit excruciating emotions of tension out of his audiences. It is by far his most prominent and most effective stylistic choice and is displayed in all three films that I have selected for this essay. Hitchcock best described his fascination...

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...ock may not be here with us anymore but his presence will transcend his physical being and will on through film forever.

Works Cited

Braudy, L 1968, ‘Hitchcock, Truffaut, and the Irresponsible Audience’, Film Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 21-27

Galya Kay 2014. A Study of Suspense: Film Narrative, Galyakay, last accessed 29 May 2014, < http://www.galyakay.com/filmnarrative.html>

Howe, L 2008, ‘Through the Looking Glass: Reflexivity, Reciprocality, and Defenestration in Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”’, College Literature, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 16-37

Rizzo, M 2005, The Art Direction Handbook for Film, Taylor & Francis

Smuts, A 2008, ‘The Desire- Frustration Theory of Suspense’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 281-290

Toles, G.E 1989, ‘Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window as Critical Allegory’, boundary 2, vol. 16, no. 2/3, pp. 225-245

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