Bernard Herrmann Essays

  • Analytical Essay on the Score of Psycho

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analytical Essay on the Score of Psycho The man behind the low woodwinds that opens Citizen Kane and the 'high pitched violins' of Psycho (1960). Bernard Herrmann was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at 13 and founding his own orchestra at 20. After writing scores for Orson Welles' radio shows in the 1930s (including the notorious 1938 'War of the Worlds' broadcast), he was the obvious choice to score Welles'

  • Film Analysis: King Kong

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    King Kong was a revolutionary film, in the aspect of the music score it accompanied. Max Steiner known as “the father of film music,” was responsible to writing the legendary score for King Kong. Steiner made a revolutionary move in the way sound is presented in a movie by introducing “Mickey Mousing.” This concept is where the sound matches what is going on in screen, such as when the leader is walking towards the lady in the beginning of the movie; the music matches his footsteps. What is also

  • Who Is The Antagonist In Veertigo

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    The mesmerizing romantic suspense/thriller Vertigo produced by Alfred Hitchcock's in 1958 is about a disturbing macabre romance that is doomed. James Stewart, who plays Scottie a police detective who develops acrophobia (fear of heights). Scottie becomes lost in the world of illusion and fantasy. Kim Novak plays the dual roles of Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton. Madeleine is haunted by believing she is the reincarnated Corlotta, a relative from Madeleine's past. Madeleine has the urge to commit

  • Vertigo

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    VERTIGO Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo is a thrilling film filled with mystery and suspense. However, Hitchcock left many unsolved issues at the end of this film. In contrast, when comparing Vertigo to more recent films of similar genre’, mysteries are usually always solved and thoroughly explained by the end of the film. Ironically, Hitchcock’s failure to explain everything to the audience in Vertigo is one of the film’s best attributes. This lack of knowledge allows the viewer to use their own imagination

  • Stanley Kubrick's Film Review: An Analysis Of 'A Clockwork Orange'

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faisal Hussain Bs 1215109 Deconstruction of A SCENE A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Stanley Kubrick is considered to be one of the most visionary directors of all time. He had a unique style of making film, from mise-en-scene to narrative, his films draw lines between real and surreal. Kubrick’s movies often portrayed sex, violence explicitly which is why his movies are different than any other director, because it gives a sense of questioning to the audience. His movies were enormously misinterpreted by its

  • Alfred Hitchcock Film Analysis

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

  • The Birds Film Analysis

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    Suspense is a major genre used in the most American pop culture movies. Alfred Hitchcock and James Mangold pioneered numerous movie techniques of building suspense in the films they direct. Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) and Mangold’s Identity (2003) are movies that vividly exhibit the use of different film techniques in creating suspense. Both movies make use of various film techniques that aid in the attainment of a thrilling mood to the audience. Similar to The Birds (1963) is Identity (2003)

  • The Theme Of Madness In Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    Madness Alfred Hitchcock is known for his masters of works in the film industry. The film he is most famous for is Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock`s Psycho was critically acclaimed not only in the horror genre but within the entire film scene. It encompasses several key themes, which are portrayed through cinematic devices such as camera movement and sound, sound, lighting and costume and set design. The subject of madness becomes increasingly evident as the film progresses, centering on the peculiar character

  • Analysis Of The Shining

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the film ‘The Shining’ directed by Stanley Kubrick is labelled one of the most complex psychological sub-genre horror movies ever made. For Stanley Kubrick, it was his first film he's made that was a sub-genre psychological horror. The film “The Shining” gave Kubrick a reputation of being labelled one of the most influential directors in film making history. Majority of his produced films were based off books and the art of the film were made with famous music/soundtrack. The film is a psychological

  • Innovative Techniques In Citizen Kane's Film

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    Citizen Kane was a film that broke new ground for the possibilities of storytelling in cinema, and used every aspect of production­­writing, photography, acting, editing, and sound­­in masterful ways that challenged the status quo of studio films and paved the way for even greater innovation that followed. In a time of light­hearted studio films, the number of serious (what cynics might call “artsy”) movies being made was low, and often resulted in poor theater success. There was, and in many ways

  • Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Vertigo” was released in 1959. This movie falls under a Psychological thriller movie genre. Alfred Hitchcock produced and directed the movie. He based his story line on a 1954 novel by the name “D’entre les morts”, meaning “From Among the Dead” by Boileau Narcejac. Alec Coppel and Samuel A. Taylor wrote the screenplay of the movie. In this paper, evaluation of the film was conducted about the theme of cyclicality: the returning past was given an in depth analysis. “Vertigo”(1958)

  • Psycho Movie Analysis

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie Psycho, is one of the most influential movie in Cinema history to date. The director Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to test many of the conventions of movie making that was common at that time. Alfred Hitchcock movie broke many cultural taboos and challenged the censors. Alfred Hitchcock showed a whole bunch of at the time absurd scene, for example: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) dying naked while taking a shower, Norman Bates with split personality disorder, and the first ever flushing toilet shown

  • Compare And Contrast Vertigo And Veertigo

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Furthermore, both films feature characters who use detective skills to resolve the problem. For instance, in “Vertigo”, Scottie is the seen as guilty for Madeline’s death. He is deceived by his own friend and the lady he loved. When he sees Eva, he observes her moves. As he sees Madeline’s pendent in Eva’s neck, he becomes certain that he was deceived and reveals the truth by taking her to church. Not only in “Vertigo”, “North by Northwest” also has a character who uses detective skills to prove

  • Psycho Research Analysis Essay

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the world of cinema, there’s almost always a discussion regarding what scenes would be suitable for the grasping imagination of any audience, young or old. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film, Psycho, sparked a plug for the movie industry as it was the first movie of its kind to display such graphic scenes of sex and violence to a worldwide audience. In the article, “Psycho at Fifty: Pure Cinema or Invitation to an Orgy?” by John A. Bertolini, he describes how the images and scenes throughout the whole

  • The Symbols Of Birds Themes In Hitchcock's Psycho

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    When watching the Hitchcock film Psycho through the lens of this quote, the viewer begins to notice more of the bird motif throughout the film. This even includes the things that seem so slight and insignificant but help to draw a parallel between Marion and Norman. There are several instances in this film where the birds motif appears. The first time the birds motif appears in this film seems minor and insignificant because at this point in the movie, the viewer doesn 't even know that the birds

  • Microcosm In Hitchcock's Rear Window By Alfred Hitchcock

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cinema’s director Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most important and influential filmmakers of all the times. Using revolutionary techniques and controversial topics, Therefore, Hitchcock captivated the public as no other director of his time. One of the techniques that he made famous, his use of the hearing as a voyeur of the action on the screen. Hitchcock used this technique to dim the line between the innocent and the guilty. As well as to the public in the position where they were personally

  • Comparing Hitchcock's The Birds: Book And Movie

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Birds, the film version, is more clear and accurate to represent which is more successful. The novel is a story about a family who lives on a peninsula in England and deals with multiple attacks from different species of birds. The movie is a late work up about bird problems just as the story“The Birds” has. On the other hand, in the movie, towns people that live near the sea come into problems with bird attacks but do not take it serious at first. Although both versions of the story attempt

  • Anthony Burton's Accomplishments

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    As one of the most successful play actors in drama history, Anthony Hopkins has starred in many famous movies. The most notable include Hannibal, Red Dragon, and The Silence of the Lambs. Throughout his career, Hopkins has won an Oscar and three BAFTA awards and has been nominated and won numerous others. I chose Anthony Hopkins for my report because my parents really enjoyed watching his movies and recommended him for this project. Some of Hopkins’ greatest performances are also some of the most

  • Sexual Obsession In Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Famously known as the “best movie of all time”, (6) Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo elicits a dumbfounded reaction to the first-time viewer. However, to the second, or third, or twentieth time viewer, Vertigo serves as one of Hitchcock’s most tantalizing films. A surprisingly shocking film, filled with purposeful editing, surreal sound production, and excellent acting, a cult following only makes sense to provide a testament to an almost flawless film. This obsession with the movie is a direct effect

  • Film Analysis: Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Running water, a high-pitched scream, shrill violins, pierced flesh, a torn curtain, gurgling water: these were the sounds that gave a whole new meaning to the word "horror" in the year 1960. With enough close-ups and cuts to simulate the feeling of a heart attack, the notorious shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho serves as the ultimate murder sequence in cinematic history. What makes the scene so frightening isn't so much the blood or the screams or the cross-dressing murderer: the true