Besides Hitchcock’s amazing ability in creating suspense the film is full of his unique and recognizable touch. At the very start of the film, he appears in a cameo as a bystander who arrives a second too late to catch the bus. Hitchcock is famous for always making at least one cameo in all of his films, and it is said that at the height of his career he had to place his cameo at the beginning of the film or the audience would spend the rest of the film looking for him. (Truffaut, F., Hitchcock, A., & Scott, H. G. (1967). Hitchcock). Eva’s character also perfectly fits Hitchcock’s criteria: blond, beautiful and in distress. The director is also famous for the morbidity with which he directed his female leads. She was instructed by Hitchcock …show more content…
An establishing shot is used in nearly every scene, allowing the audience to have a broader view of the setting. The bird’s eye views contribute to the suspense when the vastness of a location is seen in perspective with the characters in question. These techniques also take advantage of the incredible locations in which the film is shot like a crop field in Illinois and Mount Rushmore. Medium shots and close-ups are also very present in the movie. Medium shots show the character’s immediate environment and those around him while close-ups show his or her reactions to what is happening. All three are used in one of the film’s most famous scenes, the crop duster chase in the Illinois field ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIY7BQkbIT8 ).
Another method is the shot-reverse-shot, used often highlight emotions in dialogues. In many of the scenes which contain conversations between two or more characters, this camera technique is used. It switches from one character to the other, giving emphasis to what they are saying. The camera methods and techniques in North by Northwest contribute to the feeling of suspense that this film is known for. Establishing shots, medium shots, close-up shots, and shot-reverse-shot techniques all create a smooth, believable and above all suspenseful
In order to suit his needs Hitchcock transports the locale of Vertigo (1958) to the most vertical San Francisco city where the vertiginous geometry of the place entirely threatens verticality itself. The city with its steep hills, sudden rises and falls, of high climbs, dizzying drops is most appropriate for the vertiginous circularity of the film. The city is poised between a romantic Victorian past and the rush of present day life. We were able to see the wild chase of Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) in search for the elusive Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) and the ghost who haunts her, Carlotta Valdes in such spots as the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point, the Mission Dolores, Ernie’s restaurant,
One way the filmmakers did this is with the on location shots of rubble in many scenes. The characters in these shots are carefully placed to make the rubble stand out behind them. Lighting is carefully placed to illuminate the rubble and make it stand out. However, the carefully planned cinematography also plays into the overall meaning of the film and not just how it looks. The lighting, for example, influences our feelings for certain characters. Susan Wallner is always filmed in light. This is a drastic difference from how we see Hans Mertens. Hans is usually filmed with low light and is very dim. This helps show that Susan is optimistic, while Hans is pessimistic. Another way lighting is used in this film is to create shadows. Shadows are very prevalent in the last sequence of the film. Hans has confronted Bruckner and as the camera cuts back and forth to each of them we see Hans shadow keeps growing bigger and bigger behind Bruckner. We can interpret that as the shadowing is growing bigger so his Bruckner’s fear, because the dialogue coming from Bruckner is getting faster and we can also hear the fear. There are many times in the film where close ups are used to make the storyline more dramatic. One scene that comes to mind that makes use of quick cuts and close ups is in the end of the film: Susan ran in, stopping Hans from killing Bruckner. At this point we
...ot where the camera follows a subject within a frame and motion of the subject or its surroundings is involved. In this movie Lee uses the double dolly shot which includes the camera dolly and the actor mounted on a second dolly so the actor is moving along with the camera. The double dolly shot signature move is one of Lee’s favorites and also plays into his technical competence for the movie. This shot stars Detective Keith Frazier and happens just seconds after a hostage is “allegedly” killed by the bank robbers. In this scene the camera tends to shake and Denzel facial expressions display feelings of sadness and anger. In addition, a small cameo of Sal’s Pizzeria pizza boxes are seen when the head bank robbers makes a deal with the officers to get food for the hostages. Lee has lots of these connections within his movies relating back to Do The Right Thing.
Development of Suspense by Hitchcock in Psycho 'Psycho,' the somewhat infamous film by Alfred Hitchcock was produced in 1961, a time when the American censors, The Hays Office, still dominated the film industry with their strict rules and principles. It earned its notoriety by defying the traditional cinematic convections of that time and pushing the boundaries of what could be shown in mainstream cinema. The rules implemented by The Hays Office were far stricter than they are today, and Hitchcock uses all available means to reach and go slightly beyond the set limit. Using clever and different camera angles, he implies things that are not shown. He proves that innuendoes can portray the same image and retract the same audience responses as blatant actions and pictures.
The camera zooms into the faces of the characters speaking, directing the audience’s attention to what they are saying making this information seem important and true. In the scene where David Palmer finds out about the nuclear bomb in Los Angeles, the camera first focuses on Eric Rayburn who is telling Palmer about the bomb but then zooms into Palmer’s face to show his expression at receiving this information. When Palmer is told the bomb will go off today, he asks, “How do we know this?” Rayburn replies with a computer image of Mahmoud and the camera zooms into the suspected terrorist’s face. The camera in this scene moves quickly from face-to-face, following the conversation visually. Additionally, the camera captures the expressions of...
bank. Marion went home there was a close up shot on the money then on
The medium of film, while relatively new and unexplored compared to other visual arts, has proven itself time and time again to be extremely versatile and fascinating with regard to aesthetic properties. At times, film can be used to enhance or respond to another piece of art—for instance, the adaptation of novels or other works that inspire or serve as the basis for a film. An adapter by nature, Alfred Hitchcock often used other works as inspirations for his films. Hitchcock’s filmography contains predominantly adapted works, though these adaptations are usually loose and edited to fit Hitchcock’s aesthetic and common themes. For his acclaimed film Vertigo, Hitchcock drew from Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s novel D’entre les morts (or
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
One major attribute in Hitchcock films is how creatively Hitchcock tricks the audience about the fate of the characters and the sequence of events. Many people argue that it is a tactic by Hitchcock to surprise his audience in order to increase the suspense of the movie. For example, in Shadow of a Doubt, the audience assumes that young Charlie is an innocent young girl who loves her uncle dearly. However as the movie progresses, Young Charlie is not as innocent as the audience suspects. Young Charlie, once a guiltless child, ends up killing her evil uncle. In Vertigo, the same Hitchcock trickery takes place. In the beginning, the audience has the impression that the Blond women is possessed by another woman who is trying to kill her. The audience also has the notion that the detective is a happy man who will solve the murder case correctly. Just before the movie ends, the audience realizes that the detective was specifically hired by a man to kill his wife. The detective, in the end, seems to be the hopeless, sad victim.
minds of a new day, people waking up on a summer morning. We know it
The dining car scene in North by Northwest is an example of how Hitchcock skillfully crafts a sequence that is both simple, yet complex. The dialogue that is not said speaks as much, if not more, than that which is; the reserved cinematography allows the dynamic performances shine through. In a film that is lauded for innovative scenes and technical achievements, the dining car scene is perhaps Hitchcock’s best in the entire piece, as it is a prime example of his shift from complex sequences to understated brilliance.
Psycho is a suspense-horror film written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was loosely adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 suspense novel, Psycho. A majority of the movie was filmed in 1960 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary from Arizona who steals $40,000 from her employer’s client. She takes that money and drives off to California to meet her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in order to start a new life. After a long drive, she pulls off the main highway and ends up taking refuge at an isolated motel owned and managed by a deranged Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, symbols, character and point of view are three literary aspects used in the film to manipulate the audience’s emotions and to build suspense in the film.
In the film Rear Window that was released in 1954 Alfred Hitchcock the director uses suspense through out the film to create a mystery. Hitchcock uses several techniques like symbolism, narratives, and voyeurism. Hitchcock main focus in the film was to create the entire film from a one-point vantage spot. The film depicts a vision in the audience head that is produced by visuals. How do gender roles. Having the film shown by the eyes of the protagonist Jefferies eyes the audience have a connection to the film and have one specific vocal point to focus through out the film.
For example we start off the film on a face and only a face. This leads us to believe they are the main character which is a very effective technique. Also one of many extreme close ups used is on the hand. The hand is a very important part of the story and is expressed this way clearly by having it be the only thing on the screen. This is a great way to convey something of importance and show that it has meaning.
A few of the camera angles used are long shot, medium shot, high angle and bird’s eye view. A long shot to show the link between characters/subjects and their environment and draws the audience’s attention to a particular aspect of the surroundings. It can also indicate the atmosphere of the film. A medium shot shows a characters facial expression and body language, and for us to get to know the characters and how they relate to each other more closely. A high angle shot makes the person or object look weaker, inferior, under pressure or vulnerable. Lastly, a bird’s eye view gives the audience an overview of where the character or subject is positioned and enables the audience to see what is going on away from the characters immediate