Alfred Hitchcock's Film The Birds

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Alfred Hitchcock is regarded as one of the most influential and groundbreaking directors of all time, and his film The Birds is often praised as one of his best films. The Birds was released in 1963, and is adapted from a story of the same name from English writer Daphne Du Maurier. The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter, and the cinematographer for the film was Robert Burks. The film stars ‘Tippi’ Hedren as Melanie Daniels and Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner. Co-stars include Suzanne Pleshette as Annie Hayworth, Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner, and Veronica Cartwright as Kathy Brenner. The story revolves around the characters of Daniels and Brenner, and their struggle to survive among fellow residents in a seaside town from the vicious …show more content…

Grasping the bird, the camera then shifts upward and focuses on a medium shot of Brenner. The camera maintains this perspective as it follows Brenner’s movements of returning the loose bird back to its cage. Brenner concludes by stating, “Back into your gilded cage Melanie Daniels,” the camera now focused on both himself and the cage. The reason as to why this shot aids the sequence’s purpose is for the quote that is brought about by Brenner. “Back in your gilded cage Melanie Daniels” works as a metaphor, and in this particular case, the loose bird is Daniels. Brenner’s quote foreshadows that Daniels is a reckless person who needs to be kept in check. Only then will there be a sense of order and control. The idea that men are the ones who maintain order in society continues in the next and final crucial shot. As the opening approaches its inevitable conclusion, one last key shot that supports the reasoning that men maintain balance and the natural order, as opposed to women, is when Daniels chases after Brenner as he departs the shop. The final shot starts with the camera in a bird’s eye view of the inside of the shop. Daniels then appears from the bottom of the frame …show more content…

Throughout the entirety of the shot, the camera remained in a bird’s eye view perspective as it tracked Daniel’s movements of chasing after Brenner. This shot manages to successfully back up the sequence’s purpose because of the way the camera is angled and also for Daniel’s actions. For the camera angle, Daniels is shot in a bird’s eye perspective, and the reason for this is to show her as being small and vulnerable. This sense of vulnerability shows that she is not in control of the situation. In addition, the camera angle reinforces Daniel’s actions of chasing after Brenner. She succumbs to her lustful temptations by chasing after a man, therefore, the bird’s eye perspective is used to show that she is not in control and is easily tempted by her desires. Thusly, as the opening reaches its conclusion, the fades out transition is used to signify the end of the sequence. The purpose for the opening sequence, as Hitchcock implied, was to show the audience that ‘social order is best maintained by strong men,’ and the use of key shots to support this claim proved significant. Hitchcock’s cameo, Brenner’s actions and remarks, and

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