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The different genres of movies
The different genres of movies
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Describe the classical Hollywood narrative structure. Use examples from the film Shadow of a Doubt to illustrate the structure. There are three acts in the classical Hollywood narrative structure. The first being Equilibrium (Belton, 2005). Equilibrium is where life for these characters follow normal daily routine. The second act is known as Disruption (Belton). Where normal affairs are changed by an incident. Finally, the last act is known as Restoration (Belton). Where life returns to a normality having changed or progressed from the incident. The film Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943) starts with an introduction to Charlie Oakley. We see he is a shifty man with a dark secret and a need to flee his current situation. A man of mystery and …show more content…
She loves the ring not only because it was a gift from him, but because of it’s unknown history. The inscription made her feel joy and the ring was once a symbol of love. However, once she learns of Thelma Schenley’s murder by her uncle’s hands, the ring is stained by a darkness. The ring no longer bears value to Charlie, the same of her Uncle. How do the structure and style of Shadow of a Doubt work together to convey the theme of the movie? This may seem redundant, but it is a chance to summarize and apply your findings from the first three questions. The narrative structure of Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock) sets in motion the formal elements of classic Hollywood cinema. Characters behave and learn information that which forces the transitions between the three acts. Uncle Charlie is on the run, so he goes to his sister’s house. Equilibrium is established with the introduction of the Newton family. Life is normal and average before the knowledge of Uncle Charlie’s arrival. It is this piece of news that disrupts the natural equilibrium at the Newtons. It isn’t until Charlie’s death that restoration occurs. The character and narrative development are necessary to the unfolding theme of lurking …show more content…
What is your reaction to the film? Elaborate on your answer - if you liked it, why did you like it, if you did not like it, what was it specifically that you did not like about the film? How does it compare to your experience watching contemporary films? I simultaneously enjoyed and was bored of the film Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock) for a number of reasons. The linear narrative path set up everything in a way where one could make an educational guess as to the outcome. I felt as if I had seen this story before. Drifter rolls into town with a dark secret, he’s well liked, but someone finds him suspicious. It has all been done before and I have seen it pan out a thousand different ways. Despite this, the characters developed in a way where I felt empathy towards them. I didn’t want Emma to see her brother differently and the young children needed their “cool” uncle. I watched the film with care as I wanted to see how Hitchcock could simultaneously bring justice to the antagonist while not destroying the family we grew fond of. We realize the importance of Uncle Charlie as we see Emma breakdown when she learns he is leaving. The viewers understand that this family relies on Emma’s wellbeing. If she was to learn of Charlie’s evil-doings that would be the end of her sanity. The climactic death of Charlie answered my question. The antagonist gets justice while our protagonist family doesn’t get destroyed
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.
The film Shadow of A Doubt uses doubles, a film concept in which a shot is created and then later exposed once again in another frame. There are various scenes in the movie where doubles are used to imply different ideas. Three concrete examples of this effect include the scenes where Uncle Charlie and young Charlie wake up, the scenes where both Charlie’s say that telling Emma about Uncles evildoings will be hurtful, and the scene of the trains going in opposites directions of each other.
Through his choice of setting, camera angles and lighting, Hitchcock makes the conversation at the bar a pivotal scene. The audience and young Charlie are finally brought into Uncle Charlie’s world. This scene’s contrast to the stereotypical American town is what makes this scene so important. Even though Uncle Charlie was able to conceal his true self from most of Santa Rosa, a few people saw him for what he really was. Just like there is a bar in every American town, there is evil as well.
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.
Classical Hollywood Cinema is a chain of events that has a cause – effect relationship within a time and space. The environment looks realistic and believable to the viewers because the style is predictable, and the time is linear throughout the film. Each scene with the development of the plot and story is motivated by cause and effect. The filmmaking process involves four major steps that cut across the board. The process revolves around these levels that make it orderly to every individual involved in filming. The process has the following stages: Idea and Development, Pre-Production, Production and Post- Production. In Idea and Development it is normally
Rowe, Lawrence. "Through the Looking Glass: Reflexivity, Reciprocality, and Defenestration in Hitchcock's"Rear Window"." College Literature 35.1 (2008): 16-37.
The human body and mind are the most complex and intricate tools known to man. The connection between the two are remarkable, the way body feels pain and the mind is able to understand from where and how the pain is being formed, the way the body lags and drops when the mind does not have enough sleep and rest. Most curiously, it is the way our body and mind speak to each other without really knowing. It is the uncomfortable feeling in your chest, the tenseness of your shoulders and the goose-bumps on your arms that are the very basics of human intuition. Intuition is knowing something without having a logical or reasonable explanation to follow the feeling. But it is when our intuition overcomes our ability to think that we become paranoid; constantly looking over our shoulders, noticing people and objects that were never noticed before, and having this retching feeling that someone is out to get you. Paranoia is a thought process where anxiety and fear accumulate to the point where the person suffers from irritation and delusions. It is often developed through an inner guilty conscience which threatens the self. It is that exact tingling sensation in your stomach, the tightness in your throat and the eerie feeling that you are being watched that makes James and Hitchcock's pieces realistically fantastical. The alternate worlds illustrated in these pieces are not of those of dreams and fairy tales, nor those people superheroes or chimeras, but a realist world, where the minds of the characters are exposed and the only source of reliability. James depicts a young woman who struggles to be a heroine for her wards, only to be torn between the lines of sanity as she questions the existence of two ghosts, while Hitchcock’s psycho can ...
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.
Shadow of a Doubt is an Alfred Hitchcock film that was shot on location in the 1940's town of Santa Rosa, California. The town itself is representative of the ideal of American society. However, hidden within this picturesque community dark corruption threatens to engulf a family. The tale revolves around Uncle Charlie, a psychotic killer whose namesake niece, a teenager girl named Charlie, is emotionally thrilled by her Uncles arrival. However her opinion slowly changes as she probes into her mysterious uncle. In the film, director/producer Alfred Hitchcock blends conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.
Stam, Robert & Pearson, Robertson., ‘Hitchcock’s Rear Window: Refluxivity and the Critique of Voyeurism’ in Deutelbaum, Marshall & Poague, Leland A. ed., A Hitchcock Reader (John Wiley & Sons: 2009).
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.
The Alfred Hitchcock film; Vertigo is a narrative film that is a perfect example of a Hollywood Classical Film. I will be examining the following characteristics of the film Vertigo: 1)individual characters who act as casual agents, the main characters in Vertigo, 2)desire to reach to goals, 3)conflicts, 4)appointments, 5)deadlines, 6)James Stewart’s focus shifts and 7)Kim Novak’s characters drives the action in the film. Most of the film is viewed in the 3rd person, except for the reaction shots (point of view shot) which are seen through the eyes of the main character.(1st person) The film has a strong closure and uses continuity editing(180 degree rule). The stylistic (technical) film form of Vertigo makes the film much more enjoyable. The stylistic film form includes camera movements, editing, sound, mise-en-scene and props.
The most important is a film that is consistent , that is like a spiral that lead the viewer to the unique and specific center that is related. Citizen Kane is one of the best films achieved in the history of cinema. But not only that characterizes this masterpiece, as it is also the riskiest film is conceived within a film , the film that broke with the classical language and inaugurated modernity in film communication. Today you can see still shots that mimic those made by the great Filmmaker Orson Welles and even do it as a tribute , but as something that comes from deep within the story itself that account since Citizen Kane is a classic film modern cinema.
...verything around us is made by our actions. Positive or negative they cause an effect that will ultimately lead to a different story base on how we interpret life. Narrative elements are used as a bridge by the directors in their film to create any master plot that is currently known. Any modification at any narrative element used by the director at important moments inside the story can help you portray a different master plot. This used of narrative elements can be best described as an ever changing process that takes place inside an individual’s head. Depending on the individual that may be exposed to those narrative elements can create different meanings. This new interpretation can be different for everyone. We have to be aware that one change in the surface scenery can lead to many ideal outcomes in our minds and that is the main power the audience has.
...and framing, Hitchcock expresses the horror of wrongful imprisonment through visual devices. Hitchcock allows Hannay to escape the snare of the police into the open world, as Hannay finds himself outside in a parade. Hannay, now free from the confines of the sheriff’s office and walking amidst the people, is now vindicated, living momentarily in the comfort of anonymity. But Hitchcock re-plays his fears, so of course Hannay will soon be back in the binding spotlight in the next sequence. Yet it is more than the fear of police and confinement that is a mark of the Hitchcock film - it is the visual expression of these psychological states that are examples of the artistry of Hitchcock as an auteur. And as seen through the first shot of the chosen sequence in which the sheriff’s laugh is merged with the crofter’s wife’s screams, Hitchcock went beyond the German Expressionists that he admired, manipulating sound to express ideas in their purest, most subtle forms.