Throughout the years, many directors have come and go and given us a scare here and there. Yet one that remains unrivaled and unequal is a famous director, Alfred Hitchcock. Born in England, this English director is considered one of the most distinguished directors in the history of film. Hitchcock has won two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards and five lifetime achievements awards. As book writer Michael Barson notes on Sir Alfred Hitchcock, English born director, “His ability to convincedly evoke human menace, subterfuge, and fear gave his psychological thrillers great impact while maintaining their subtlety and believability.” Some of the most thrilling and suspenseful films in Hitchcock’s fifty years of film directing have been Shadow …show more content…
One scene that really stands out is the scene where Bruno strangles to death Guy’s wife. David Spoto describes as, “the most unexpected, aesthetically justified moments in the film”. We see Hitchcock’s talent in place as we see part of the strangling the dead collapse of the body from the reflection of the glasses on the floor. Giving the audience a grislier scene. Also, the use of the shadows was used well. Especially when Bruno calls for Guy from the other side of the street underneath a blanket of shadows only being able to see half of his face. This gives the audience suspicion, worry, and an unsettling vibe, making the film suspenseful. As seen so far, the use of doubles or doppelgängers, Hitchcock’s film Vertigo (1958) also has a set. The main characters are Scotty, Madeliene and Madeliene’s double; Judy. Throughout the film we see how Scotty (the detective) slowly revolves his whole world around Madeliene. Thing is, Scotty is obsessing over a woman who herself isn’t real and her death, Scotty finds her double and goes into some controlling way, being a slave to his own worst nature. Scotty goes into remaking Judy as Madeliene, soon to discover the truth that Judy was Madeliene. Making it one of the biggest doubles or doppelgängers of all
Though complex and brilliantly written for its time, the plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo, is only half of the genius behind it. Alfred Hitchcock’s unique presence as an auteur is truly what sets his films apart. There is symmetry to his shots that give the film an artistic feel, as if each frame were a painting. Many times, within this symmetry, Hitchcock places the characters in the center of the frame; or if not centered, then balanced by whatever else is adding density to the shot. For example, as Madeline sits and looks at the painting in the museum, there is a balance within the frame. To counter-act her position to the right of the painting, Hitchcock puts a chair and another painting on the left side, which is visually pleasing to the eye of the audience. The use of red and green not only adds a visual effect as well, but later serves as a clue that Madeline is not actually dead, when the women who looks like her is wearing a green dress.
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,
...ormation of novel to film, sees Hitchcock’s responsibility as auteur. Suggesting Hitchcock as ‘creator’, attributes to Vertigo’s “perfection” (Wood, p.129) as Wood argues. Stylistic features known classically to Alfred Hitchcock movies is also what defines Hitchcock as a classic auteur, his style generates a cinematic effect which mixes effectively with his use of suspense. In returning to Cook’s discussion, she references Andrew Sarris, who argues that the “history of American cinema could be written in terms of its great directors,” (Cook, p. 411) showing the legitimacy of authorship in popular American cinema. Ultimately Cook goes on to address the changes in authorship from the 1950’s until today, featuring developments in authorship within Cinema. Overall, both Cook and Wood presented a balanced discussion on the legitimacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s auteur status.
1. The scene begins by fading in on the back of the silent man’s head (Cary Grant) in Alicia’s bungalow. Then the camera zooms out while sweeping right to give the first full shot and view of both of the main characters. They are shown seated at a table, with many empty bottles of liquor and glasses.
Alfred Hitchcock’s film Shadow of a Doubt is a true masterpiece. Hitchcock brings the perfect mix of horror, suspense, and drama to a small American town. One of the scenes that exemplifies his masterful style takes place in a bar between the two main characters, Charlie Newton and her uncle Charlie. Hitchcock was quoted as saying that Shadow of a Doubt, “brought murder and violence back in the home, where it rightly belongs.” This quote, although humorous, reaffirms the main theme of the film: we find evil in the places we least expect it. Through careful analysis of the bar scene, we see how Hitchcock underlies and reinforces this theme through the setting, camera angles, and lighting.
Alfred Hitchcock’s films not only permanently scar the brains of his viewers but also addict them to his suspense. Hitchcock’s films lure you in like a trap, he tells the audience what the characters don’t know and tortures them with the anticipation of what’s going to happen.
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.
Alfred Hitchcock developed his signature style from his earlier works The Lodger and Blackmail. These films were the framework for his signature films later on. His themes of “an innocent man who is accused of a crime” and “the guilty woman” were first seen in these two films and are repeated throughout Hitchcock’s cinematic history
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
Alfred Hitchcock masters the art of storytelling, framing every shot carefully to help further the plot and develop characters. The techniques of visual storytelling that Hitchcock implements in his films are not just meant to entertain; they all serve specific purposes in building his fictional universes. Hitchcock establishes the personalities of his characters by showing exactly what the characters see and hear, as well as their reactions to their surroundings. Along with point-of-view shots, Hitchcock employs montage editing, creating suspense and further allowing characters to be seen as multi-faceted beings. Point-of-view shots are most apparent from the Rear Window.
object as she slowly takes a sip. In a later scene, Mrs. Sebastian pours the
Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is a film which functions on multiple levels simultaneously. On a literal level it is a mystery-suspense story of a man hoodwinked into acting as an accomplice in a murder, his discovery of the hoax, and the unraveling of the threads of the murder plot. On a psychological level the film traces the twisted, circuitous routes of a psyche burdened down with guilt, desperately searching for an object on which to concentrate its repressed energy. Finally, on an allegorical or figurative level, it is a retelling of the immemorial tale of a man who has lost his love to death and in hope of redeeming her descends into the underworld.
Norman Bates is arguably the most unforgettable character in the horror genre. His movements, voice and aura at first radiate a shy young man but transform into something more sinister as the movie Psycho (Hitchcock, USA, 1960) progresses. How has the director, Alfred Hitchcock, achieved this? Norman Bates was a careful construct: the casting, body language, lighting and even the subtle use of sound and mise-en-scène created the character.
to cash at the bank, but she decides to steal the money and run away.
“For me, suspense doesn’t have any value if it’s not balanced by humor”, words of Alfred Hitchcock whose technique of using the combination of suspense and humor to engage the viewers is a technique many filmmakers today attempt at using in their films. Most suspenseful or even horror movies do not usually contain both, suspense and humor, yet Hitchcock used it in a majority of his films such as Psycho. Hitchcock used different and quirky characters, different settings, and a right balance between the two elements.