The Typical Hitchcock
Over the course of the semester we have seen thirteen different films by director Alfred Hitchcock. In viewing these films we have analyzed and interpreted virtually every aspect of them in an effort to understand what Hitchcock is trying to do and say. In doing so we have been able to establish certain patterns in Hitchcock's work. These patterns are the building block of film analysis. We first look for patterns in individual movies to draw conclusions about that movie, and then we look for patterns over the course of a director's career to draw conclusions about that director. The purpose of this paper will be to identify the components of the typical Hitchcock movie based on the patterns we have identified throughout this semester. A good place to start is with the kinds of stories that Hitchcock tells. Without a story there is no movie and the typical Hitchcock film would have a very outlandish and exotic storyline. In Hitchcock's movies, all of a sudden relatively normal people find themselves involved with murder, assassination attempts, and espionage. In The Lady Vanishes, Iris, who is in search of Miss Froy, gets tangled up in a plot to smuggle international spy secrets back to England. In Shadow of a Doubt, l
This is especially prominent in the opening sequence as they walk to the train to show how similar they are. Hitchcock is able to manipulate mise en scene in many ways to tell us about the characters. Finally, in Marnie, Hitchcock effectively uses color to associate and contrast characters. As the scene progresses and Guy learns that he is involved in the eyes of the law he is reframed to be behind the bars with Bruno as the scene ends. In North by Northwest, Roger's mother berates and humiliates him in public. Finally he uses editing to emulate the nature of the birds in The Birds. Hitchcock often links his characters using mise en scene, editing, dialogue, and in the case of Shadow of a Doubt, even their names. We saw this shot in The Lady Vanishes and Psycho as well as others that escape me. In Strangers on a Train, Bruno's mother files his nails. In Strangers on a Train Hitchcock goes to great lengths to show that everybody has an evil side to them but most of us are able to suppress this side. Often times it is used to associate two characters. Here Bruno starts behind the gate (symbolic of prison bars) and Guy is not framed behind the gate. His background is full of prop whereas little Charlie's is almost empty. In Psycho, Marion Crane, who is a not a bad person, steals thousands of dollars from her boss and subsequently pays with her life. In Vertigo, Judy/Madeleine is an accessory to murder.
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Acceptance Essays
