Mise En-Scene In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a uniquely captivating film that is an exemplary style of cinematic craftsmanship. Reaching into the minds of the characters, as well as the audience, Alfred Hitchcock is the master at utilizing the juxtaposition of images to bring us into the minds of the characters. In Rear Window, the story is so distinctively executed that it allows us to relate to our own curiosities, question our identities, and ponder our closest relationships. What is happening on the screen is merely a projection of our own anxieties, our own existence, and our self-ambiguity as portrayed by the characters in this wonderful film.

In Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller Rear Window, Jimmy Stewart stars as L.B. Jeffries, a world traveling magazine photographer accustomed to living a fast pace active lifestyle. When Jefferies injures himself taking a risky picture he is immobilized, confined to a wheelchair inside his apartment for two months. Bored with his uneventful life he becomes completely obsessed with the lives of his neighbors spending the majority of his waking hours watching them from his window. To obtain a better view he begins using a telescopic lens from one of his cameras. By watching his neighbors through the camera he assumes the role of both a spectator and a voyeur. This contributes to

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 Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, L.B. Jeffries, played by Jimmy Stewart, becomes completely obsessed with spending all of his waking hours watching his neighbors from his wheelchair. He even uses a camera to better his view and thus enhances his role as both a spectator and a voyeur. This contributes to the creation of a movie being played right outside Jeffries’ window. In this “movie within the movie” his neighbors’ lives become the subject for the plot. Each window represents a different film screen, each which is focused upon only when Jeffries directs his attention to it. He witnesses both the anxieties associated with the beginning of a marriage and the heartache of relationships ending. The

it is the start of the story. The window fills the whole frame of the

The term Mise-en-Scene is used to signify the director’s control over what happens in the film frame. In English the phrase literally translates to “putting in the scene” (Bordwell, 2010a). ‘Night of the Hunter’ (Charles Laughton, 1955) is a prime example of a film that uses aspects of Mise-en-Scene to sway the audience’s opinions of characters and their understanding of narrative themes and to create a certain atmosphere in the film. “Although the fundamental aspects of Mise-en-Scene in both theatre and cinema are those of lighting, blocking and production design (costume, props and sets),

In the movie, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses the story of a cripple free lance photographer, Jeff Jeffries, to explain the twisted sense of society in the 1950’s. Hitchcock uses clever things from the way the apartments are being filmed to the dialogue between Jeffries, Lisa, and Stella to show societies interest in pain, tragedy, and discomfort, and in the end you see how tragedy is what makes everyone happy.

The opening scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window essentially acts as one long establishing shot — only rather than establishing just the location of a scene, it establishes the entire film in more ways than one. One particularly important shot in the scene, beginning 00:02:36 into the film, tells the audience much of what it will need to know about Rear Window’s setting, characters, and themes.

This hugely increased the despair and shock, the feeling of loss even when a character is brutally murdered. Straight away Hitchcock begins to build our sympathies for Marion Crane. He uses several cinematic techniques to create a mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is everything a viewer can see within a certain frame and consists of many aspects. For instance, Hitchcock uses a high-angle, mid range establishing shot to put Marion in her context, and highlight her vulnerability.

Through the masking of narrative, secret window exposes order and chaos. The use of mise en scene throughout the first scene

The opening sequence of Rear Window is a curtain raiser… literally. it opens with the camera on the inside of J.B Jefferies(Jeff)’s Livingroom in his apartment. The credits are shown on the scene of a window in jeffs apartment, while the blinds on the window behind them are slowly raised. Making me compare it to watching a production at the theater, where they raise the curtains at the start of the show. This opening scene takes the audience into a comfortable setting; we’re in a seemingly nice neighborhood and it is a beautiful morning! As we start to take in the scene, The camera then cuts to an angled shot that is looking out of the window and down, where we follow a cat walking up the stairway and into the courtyard. The camera makes a brief stop at the ladder against the apartment building before it slowly tilts upwards (almost as if its were climbing the ladder!) the camera then stops at the upper apartment balcony where a small family can be seen getting ready. The camera then pans left, showing the audience all of the open windows on the apartment complex, where we can see that none of the windows has their curtains fully drawn or their blinds down for privacy. There’s a sudden flash from

In Quentin Tarentino’s Reservoir Dogs mise-en-scene is very effective as a narrative tool. More specifically, ‘open formed’ mise-en-scene is used frequently in the film which Is defined as mise-en-scene that, “emphasises informal, unobtrusive compositions.” (Page 68, Understanding Movies, Louis Gianetti). This, alongside Tarentino’s more stylized and expressive moments (closed form), helps to encapsulate the themes of professionalism, trust and ruthlessness.

Hitchcock uses many techniques throughout the film “Rear Window” to convey suspense. The major theme of the film regards Jefferies voyeurism. His intrigue in the everyday lives of his neighbours is viewed as intrusive and morally wrong on principle. However, without this voyeuristic tendency the crime committed by Thornwald would never have been solved. Thus, the audience is lead through emotional turmoil in questioning whether it is wrong to invade someone’s privacy, or just and heroic to solve a crime. We see the climax of the film when Lisa and Stella venture out of Jefferies apartment to investigate the murder of Mrs Thornwald. This leads to a confrontation between Thornwald and Jefferies. These scenes build suspense through the use of detachment, the use of ‘split-screen’, ‘red-herring’ plot devices, lighting, music and diegetic sound.

Alfred Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest (1959) is famed as a classic man-on-the-run thriller, following protagonist Roger Thornhill as he flees across state lines in a mad dash to save his life and unravel the mystery to his extraordinary predicament. However, mid-way through the film Thornhill’s quandary is further complicated by the introduction of Eve Kendall, a beautiful yet mysterious woman he encounters on a train during his escape from the authorities and people trying to kill him. During the dining room scene on the train, Hitchcock expertly uses the camera to convey the characters thoughts and feelings. Interestingly, in a film that has several sequences with complicated cinematography and editing, the dining car scene is

The third scene is when Madeline and John are walking through the redwood trees where the scene is completely dark which is starting to show johns obsession over Madeline is real. The darkness also complements the subject she brings up which is her birth and her death when she looks at the redwood trees cross section which tells the viewer how old the tree is. It wouldn’t make scene to talk about death is an extremely bright place it would seem as if it’s out of place it doesn’t matter what the genre of the film is unless it is an indie film or art type film where they are trying to test the limits of an audience. After Madeline spoke to john she left this is where the viewers can see that she is in a white coat making her look angelic and the color is a symbol of her innocents.