Alfred Hitchcock In Vertigo

To see what they see, and compare our own thoughts with the evolution of the characters and the story. The dexterity of the images, and the impact that each scene has in portraying this theme, guide the viewer throughout the film with little use of dialogue and action. Our central character “Jeff,” is struggling with his casted imprisonment, his need for adventure is apparent as he watches outside his window. Conflicted with his girlfriend and conflicted with his theories, his character becomes more palpable, we begin to realize what is going on not only on the outside of him, but the inside of him as well. The aspects of the outside courtyard and the visual isolation of each apartment, help depict the humanity of each individual and sympathy for even the darkest characters. Hitchcock uses his camera, just as our protagonist does, to focus with him. The camera angles are depicted in a way to which we react with the character, rather than at the character, and eventually expose the minor elements of the story that bring to fruition the suspense of the movie and the thrills of discovery.

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

In the essay ‘“Oh, I see…’: The Birds and the Culmination of Hitchcock’s Hyper-Romantic Vision,” John McCombe attempts to connect The Birds to literary Romanticism. McCombe begins by citing a text from Robin Wood’s book Hitchcock’s Films Revisited. In the text, Wood discusses how Hitchcock controls the audience through editing and camera movement like a poet controls the reader through verse rhythms. To illustrate his point, Woods discusses how traumatic horror is conveyed in E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India and Hitchcock’s film. Woods conclude that it is better conveyed through visual images in Hitchcock’s film rather than through the text in the novel. Because of this, Hitchcock is considered to be more of a poet than a novelist.

Like many of his films, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) is an intense study in the sometimes-jarring idiosyncrasies of its main character, L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart). Jeffries is an observer by nature, a professional photographer confined to his apartment by an injury, with only insurance company nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and his girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) for company. This limitation impels him to begin observing his neighbors, and he witnesses events that lead him to believe Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) has murdered his wide. However, Jeffries’ watchful habit raises serious questions about the relationships between neighbors and ethics of observation in densely-populated urban settings. Rear Window uses set design and disparate camera techniques to codify the acceptable and unacceptable ways in which a city dweller might observe their neighbors, based largely on level on intent.

Orson Welles’ second picture, The Magnificent Ambersons, holds a special place in film history for a number of reasons, but also, in large part, for what it wasn’t. The film as conceived and the film as produced wound up being two dramatically different pieces, as RKO Picture, the studio that Welles worked with on the picture, cut up and edited the movie into something radically different from Welles’ vision. Nonetheless, its illustration of the effects of the Industrial revolution on two families provides a portrait of early 20th century society, and the radical changes it inspired. It does this through the lives of two different families, the Ambersons and the Morgans, and how their lives overlap and interact. Welles expertly utilizes a number

Just when you thought Hitchcock couldn’t do it any better, he does. North by Northwest is yet another classic Alfred Hitchcock espionage thriller which is said by many to be “the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures”. Myself, along with many others have listed North by Northwest as one of the greatest films of all time. It was selected in 1995 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Cinematic perception can be understood using the metaphor of cinema as a window and frame.  Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is an concrete example of this metaphor from both a critical viewpoint as an audience member, and from the perspective of the protagonist, L.B. Jefferies.  Thomas Elsaesser believes that the cinema of the window offers a “special, ocular access to an event” and the screen is transformed from a two dimensional narrative into a three-dimensional environment within which the audience is absorbed (14). Because the plot contains an actual window and also involves L.B Jefferies looking through a window, Rear Window is an exemplary illustration of this metaphor. The two observation points are similar in that they are both ocular-specular,

In any neighbourhood, a sense of community is something that is quite often present. In fact, in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Rear Window, viewers witness a man progressively gaining a deep comprehension of his neighbours through his deeply-rooted voyeuristic desires to delve into their lives. In its entirety, the film demonstrates through its protagonist how this neighbourhood is too dispassionate and unconcerned to classify as a community. However, Hitchcock’s portrayal of how commonalities between individuals can assist in establishing new relationships, does suggest that on a minute scale, some individuals are more than just “people who live closely together”. Music, more often than not, is a form of art that intends to bring individuals

Rear Window One of the the most important elements of Rear Window, and a very clever tactic used by Hitchcock in Rear Window is realism. Ever Since I watch Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window, there is one thing that I wanted to talk about, the film sense of realism, there is couple element that make this whole film feel so real. Throughout the film, the cinematographer uses shots of panning and zooming to make it ever more realistic and makes it seem like the audience are viewing this whole film from the eyes of the main character L.B. Jeff. The perspective was never change, it is walys constantly limited, as L.B. is in his wheelchair, there are many part of the film, due to the viewing is being limited, we are asked to draw our own conclusion, and it also makes us more involved, and feels like we are somehow really in the movie.

The first half of this course focused on Alfred Hitchcock and how his techniques are now recognized as iconic. From class discussions and film screenings, it is clear that Hitchcock pays every attention to detail when he crafts a scene. Many Hitchcock films we have seen this semester highlight how he builds suspense through cinematic elements such as shadow, dialogue, and composition. While many of his suspenseful scenes stir feelings of intensity and uncertainty, Alfred Hitchcock builds a more romantic suspense in his 1955 film To Catch a Thief in the fireworks scene (1:06:35-1:11:00).

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

For every action a person takes, there is usually a purpose behind it. The riskier and more dangerous an action, the more motive that individual must have to continue. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, Rear Window, is a riveting thriller that is based on Cornell Woolrich’s short story “It Had to be Murder”.  This film tells a narrative about an adventurous photographer, Jeffries played by James Stewart, who after breaking his leg is forced to remain shackled to a wheelchair within his home. To cope with boredom, he takes the liberty of observing his neighbors through one of his windows. It is through this pastime that he comes to believe that one of his neighbor might be guilty of murdering his wife. Throughout the rest of the film Jeffries decides to investigate his neighbor, in an attempt to bring him to justice. Jeffries is however met with skepticism and obstacles. While any other individual might have succumbed to the skepticism, Jeffries does not. Throughout the film we come know his character more, and we can analyze what part of his personality started the whole ordeal and which traits drives him to finish his investigation.

Alfred Hitchcock, in his critically acclaimed horror movie “ The Birds “, uses his camera shots metaphorically as a person rather than a weapon, in a way to add suspense, inner themes of the film, and to express the character’s emotions or intensity.

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, Rear Window, explores many dimensions in cinematography. The phenomenal film is well known for proclaiming its voyeurism issues that goes on in today’s society. Even though voyeurism is an act that should not be done, this film portrays it in an affirmative way. Rear Window introduces primary structural components in the first act which sets the mood for the audience to interact with J.B. Jefferies in a way as it is the audiences duty to help him solve the mystery on whether Thorwald murdered his wife or not.

Hitchcock makes use of a number of techniques in Vertigo and brings them together to make a film that is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces. Through the use of colour, lighting, camera movement, dialogue and characterisation, Hitchcock produces a film that fascinates and intrigues us.