Alfred Hitchcock

Paper Summary:

This paper details Hitchcock's unique talent for drawing the audience into his characters' thoughts, actions and emotions. This paper focuses primarily on three of the director's films, "Rear Window," "Notorious" and "Vertigo." The writer of this paper delves into Hitchcock's use of the subjective approach which when done correctly lets the viewing audience see into the minds of the characters on the screen. The writer contends and explains how Hitchcock's subjective storytelling and proper camera angles allow the viewer to see the point of view of the characters. This paper analyzes the director's use of subjective cinema which presents an idea in the mind of the character without the need for dialogue while at the same time using a point-of-view shot camera sequence resulting in a build-up of suspense. This paper contends that Hitchcock's use of the subjective approach is a powerful method of filmmaking, even more so than the actual acting. This paper details how the subjective approach along with specific camera angles in "Vertigo" allow the viewers to identify with the protagonist Scottie while the cinematography gives the audience a true sense of the dizziness and fear of falling felt by the character.

From the Paper:

"The poison scene with its sequences of Alicia knowing what is happening is another example of the subjective techniques used by Hitchcock. As noted above, the audience has information that even the protagonist does not have. At the start of the scene, the audience knows that Alicia is being poisoned by Sebastian and his mother, because they know she is working for the Americans. The scene also shows the different type of actual camera shots: The establishing shot opens the sequence, frequently an exterior and sets the scene. The long shot (LS), which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings and extreme long shot where the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasizing the background."

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