Hitchcock Film Techniques

1356 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hitchcock psycho film techniques

My Thesis aims at observing the suspense and fear showed through themes and techniques in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock’s movies Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Wrong Man, and The Man Who Knew To Much. He controlled when the audience felt certain emotions by filming with different camera cuts, close ups, different camera angles, contrasting between light to dark scenes, and adding certain music to different scenes.
A unique feature for the movie Dial M for Murder is that it is made known to the viewers who the murderer is and what his plan is. Despite that, the film still remains very suspenseful. This is mainly because of the innovative camera angles and the pans and zooms, which prove extremely effective in putting an importance on particular aspects of the scene. The lighting effects used in the film together with the thrilling background music helps the camera effects in maintaining suspense.
For example, in the scene where Margot gets attacked and her hand stumbles on the scissors, the scissors are deliberately kept towards the camera that is right in front of her head. By placing the scissors right in front of the camera, Alfred Hitchcock has tried to create a sense of foreground in the movie as well, and placed the weapon of murder, which is an important object from the story’s point of view, there.
The scene in which Margot gets attacked, clever lighting effects are effectively employed by Alfred Hitchcock, to build up the anticipation of the audience and add-on greatly to the element of suspense and thrill present in the scene. It is noticeable how the entire set is dark and only some parts are selectively lit in order to capture audience focus. For example, the scene in which the doorknob turns slowly and the ...

... middle of paper ...

...acter of Manny as a religious, moral and selfless, simple guy in the minds of the audience quite well. This is further corroborated when towards the end, when the actual culprit gets caught and is confronted by Manny, the first things that he says to him is about the suffering that is caused to Rose because of him. Through this characterization, Alfred Hitchcock also is able to establish an element of irony in the movie, that such a simpleton should be convicted as a criminal. In this movie he deviates from his usual genre of suspense and nail-biting thrill and takes on a more dramatic subject.
The camera techniques and various other lighting and sound effects used are carefully selected in order to portray the apt emotion in the right amount, without overdoing any of it. Alfred Hitchcock loved to show the emotion of fear along with lots of suspense in his films.

Show More
Related

  • Auteur In Rear Window

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion in “Rear Window” Hitchcock is shown off as an auteur and realist though his modification and implementation of his own creative mind and as a realist by conveying reality and occurrences of everyday life respectively. He also used methods such as eye line matching, cinema as window and frame, and potentially character specific lighting to connect the audience with the characters and to give the main characters more individualized

    Read More

  • Comparing Hitchcock’s Films, Shadow of a Doubt and Vertigo

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are several images that Hitchcock frequents in these two films. One image is that of staircases. First of all, the staircase in “...

    Read More

  • Hitchcock’s Use of Technical Signatures in his Film Vertigo

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    The films of Alfred Hitchcock provide some of the best evidence in favor of the auteur theory. Hitchcock uses many techniques that act as signatures on his films, enabling the viewer to possess an understanding of any Hitchcock film before watching it. His most famous signature is his cameo appearance in each of his films, but Hitchcock also uses more technical signatures like doubling, visual contrast, and strategically placed music to create suspense.

    Read More

  • Film Analysis: Dial M For Murder

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the surface, Hitchcock’s wardrobe choice indicates that Margot and Tony should have a loving and caring relationship. However, when the audience compares the suits and dresses of Margot’s marriage and her affair, it is hard not to imagine the affair to be more intimate and passionate due to the presence of red. When looking at Margot’s fire-red dress, the audience notices that Margot is much happier with Mark than she is with Tony. This added meaning helps the viewer to establish the source of Tony’s anger, which eventually facilitates the murder.

    Read More

  • Iconic Techniques In Alfred Hitchcock's Film The Lodger

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice decides to meet with an artist, Mr. Crewe, who invites her to his apartment and then assaults her. Alice stabs the man with a bread knife. She thinks he is dead, and escapes the crime scene. Later a man, Tracy, is accused for the murder of Mr. Crewe. Alice knows this could be unfair but fails to confess. In The 39 steps, Hannay is accused for the murder of Annabella Schmith. In The Lady Vanishes the idea of the wrong accused man is not that explicit, in fact in this film is shown the idea of the wrong woman, when someone in the train tells Alice that Miss Froy is back in the compartment and results to be Madame Kummar with the English lady´s clothes. Similarly in Rebecca the wrong woman is buried in the family grave while Rebecca´s body is in a boat in the bottom of the ocean, still in this film Maxim De Winter is wrongly accused for her death when is found that she was suicidal. The idea of wrongness in Hitchcock´s films is applied not only in terms of justice but also of relationships and the way the audience judges the characters. In the majority of the mentioned films the couple relationships at the beginning are form for convenience and are wrong in appearance, as the man is older than the woman and the relationship formed lacks of true feelings. Regarding the wrongness in the audience, Hitchcock manipulates the emotions and the information they receive, so that the characters are severely judge by the audience even though they are

    Read More

  • The Lonely Villa Suspense Analysis

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    Suspense is a 1913 film that portrays the story of a tramp intruding into a family’s home, where a mother takes care of her child while her husband is away. The plot is a common one that had been used previous times before the film’s release, such as in The Lonely Villa (1909). However, through taking advantage of the single frame shot, the filmmakers were able to create a masterful aesthetic of two separate stories that turn a basic plot into a complex story. The film created an inventive way of illustrating stories within cinema by allowing the audience the chance to consume more narrative in less time within just one take.

    Read More

  • Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Knowing that showing a girl in her underwear was going to shock people, Hitchcock knew that this is what the focus would be on, he used this to show th... ... middle of paper ... ... ast between silence and the screaming stringed music plus the screaming Lila is massive and scares the audience to death. Hitchcock did exactly what he wanted to do to the audience. After this, Norman runs in wearing his mothers clothing, with the scream still ringing through the room.

    Read More

  • Marnie 1964 Film Analysis

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hitchcock has rendered this unrestricted narration by distributing non diegetic effects within the plot such as red lighting. Other functions are

    Read More

  • The Meaning Of Voyeurism In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window is truly a masterpiece, as it uses fascinating cinematic elements to carry the story and also convey the meaning of voyeurism. Throughout the film we are in one room, yet that does not limit the story. This causes the viewer to feel trapped, similar to the main character, while also adding suspense to the detective story. The opening scene itself, draws the viewer in. In just five minutes and 27 shots, the viewer is given an introduction to the main character, his lifestyle, his condition, and his neighborhood. The lighting, the costumes, and the set are all presented in a way to catch the viewers eye, compelling them to crave more. Combining vivid lighting, edgy cinematography, and unique set design, Rear Window, proves why Hitchcock is still remembered as one of the greatest and most influential directors of all time.

    Read More

  • Alfred Hitchcock's Main Themes In To Kill A Mockingbird

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Hitchcock’s Work at an Auteur in his Movie, Vertigo

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hitchcock has a way of throwing clues in the face of the spectator, yet still allows some room for the spectator to find their own less obvious details. In the same museum scene, Hitchcock shows the viewer exactly what he wants them to see. In a sense, Hitchcock can be very manipulative with the camera. The audience sees the picture containing the women with a curl in her hair holding flowers, and then the direct connection is made by the camera, by showing the curl in Madeline’s hair, and the flowers sitting next to her. The spectator is led to believe that they have solved the mystery and she is truly possessed by the women in the picture. However, Hitchcock does this on purpose to lead the audience away from the truth that she is only acting. It is for these reasons that Hitchcock’s work at an auteur adds a level of depth and intrigue.

    Read More

  • The Lives of Others

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Voyeurism In Alfred Hitchcock

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the hundred or so years of cinema, there have been many significant figures behind the camera of the films audiences have enjoyed, though there has been a select few that are considered “auteurs.” One of the most famous of auteurs in film history is the great Alfred Hitchcock, who is most identified with the use of suspense in his films, while also being notorious for the themes of voyeurism, the banality of evil, and obsession. In both the films we watched in class, Psycho and Rear Window, these three themes were somehow a part of the deeper meaning Hitchcock wanted to convey to the audience.

    Read More

  • Alfred Hitchcock's Control Of What We See in Rear Window

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    These insinuations hold the public’s attention. and it means that they have to focus on the film in order to understand what is happening, and use their imagination. This has lead to many interpretations of his film and has sparked great interest in his films, especially amongst many of the French film critics. Thus I conclude that Hitchcock uses the camera, the characters. personalities and situations, and often only shows us what is.

    Read More

  • Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two other scenes that exemplify Hitchcock’s technical competence and ability to connect his vision with the film’s subject matter. A turning part of the film is when Alex realizes he has married an enemy to the Nazi party. He drudges up the staircase, a central facet of a Hitchcock film, to break the news to his mother. Alex, sitting in a chair, delivers the line “I am married to an American agent”. The image of Alex is an overhead close up shot in low-key lighting. This scene denotes a shift in Alex’s character. He is no longer trusting of Alicia because now she poses a threat to his façade for the Nazis.

    Read More

More about Hitchcock Film Techniques

Open Document