Comparison Of Cinema In Alfred Hitchcock Film Psycho

In “A Century of Cinema”, Susan Sontag explains how cinema was cherished by those who enjoyed what cinema offered. Cinema was unlike anything else, it was entertainment that had the audience feeling apart of the film. However, as the years went by, the special feeling regarding cinema went away as those who admired cinema wanted to help expand the experience.

Montage could be used to create repeated pattern of movement in a film, with changes in cut to show excitement through editing. Famous director Alfred Hitchcock used montage to create suspense in one of his early films, Psycho, A woman was murdered in her shower by an unknown killer, Hitchcock cuts between the woman and the killer's knife which gives the audience a better understanding that the woman has been murdered, without showing the knife penetrating her. This method of suspense allows the audience to picture an event by showing different pieces of it while still having control on the

Article Three – Author: David Bordwell / Title of Article: The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film

Early cinema is often referred to as a progression to narrative cinema, Tom Gunning would argue that it was not a progression but had its own purpose and coined the term The Cinema of Attractions in his essay ‘Now you see it, Now you don’t’. This is the concept that a large quantity of the first film makers produced films that were more about the spectacle, most of the films leading up to 1900 reflected the fascination with technology and how things happened rather than why. Gunning noted that there were three assumptions of film; the general ideas that people had about the timeline of film and where it would end up. There is the cinematic assumption, the idea that film was ‘restricted to the technological reproduction of theatre’ (Gunning T.1993) early cinema was primitive and only a practice for what was to come. The narrative assumption is that film is ‘only important as it is a predecessor to a more engaging and effective form of film,’ (Gunning T. 1993) this suggests that narrative cinema is the natural form of film. The final assumption is the idea that ‘cinema only truly appeared when it discovered its mission of telling stories.’ (Metz C. 1974) These assumptions all encompass the idea that narrative is the end form of film. In this essay I am going to discuss Tom Gunning’s theory of The Cinema of Attractions and the differences between them and narratively driven films.

more creative. This is a good point as if you have a film were there

going back to the other views to see where the policeman is and how is

Vertigo, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films, was released in 1958. This film is a masterful example of the psychological thriller genre that Hitchcock is so well known for. Vertigo draws heavily on Freudian concepts of obsession, acrophobia, repression and melancholy. Highly symbolic dream sequences with cutting edge filming techniques provide the audience with a window into the psyche of the protagonist’s character. It is the first film to use the dolly zoom, which is a camera angle that pulls away from a subject and the lens, zooms in, creating a perspective distortion, to enhance the perception of acrophobia.

‘There are…two kinds of film makers: one invents an imaginary reality; the other confronts an existing reality and attempts to understand it, criticise it…and finally, translate it into film’

In all of the previously mentioned films, there are a range of camera techniques being utilized to their advantage. In the horror film Psycho, they use extreme close ups to help show emotions or to add drama. Point of View filming is also common in all three of the films, as POV can make the viewer feel more engaged and being able to see what the victim in the film can see adds an element of fear that wouldn’t be able to be achieved if everything was shot in 3rd person. For example, in Scream, it is often filmed in the Point of View of the victim who is being stalked and later killed by the antagonist and shows things such as the girls boyfriend tied to a chair or the killer running through her house. Another technique that is used in these films is Mise-en-scene.

which is switching shots a lot during a scene to be exact Alfred hitchcock used 48 different shots throughout a 1 minute scene which is a lot, this technique had the effect of scaring the viewers they use it still today but it is commonly called jump scares these scenes create a lot of tension and they scare the viewers because they don't know what is going on and it confuses them. directors now use this scene a lot in modern horror movies. The next technique and in my opinion the scariest it the use of different camera angles like in the shower scene they they use lots of different camera angles to be exact seventeen these shot include medium shot close angle shots and extreme close ups like when they zoom in on her eye in the end he also used low angles when he filmed her from underneath to make us feel scared and high angles to make us feel like she was vulnerable they use lots of camera angles in this movie

Alfred Hitchcock’s attention to detail in his films is one of the many things that makes him one of the most recognized film auteurs of all time. He was very particular what about he wanted seen on screen and how he wanted to get those shots. From camera movements to the things found in the mise-en-scène, Hitchcock was very precise about every little thing that is seen in his on screen worlds. He would strategically place objects throughout the mise-en-scène and have characters wear certain clothing. By doing this, Hitchcock is able to let the audience know things about the characters and the plot without it having to be said on camera. Hitchcock once said that “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on” (Tiffin). That’s why there’s no surprise that when Hitchcock finally made his first color film, he began to use color as another way of communicating with his audience.

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.

The romantic idea of the auteur is described by film theoretician, André Bazin, observing the film form as an idealistic phenomenon. Through the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard reference, Bazin primarily refers to an essential literary and romantic conception of the artist as central. He considers the relationship between film aesthetics and reality more important than the director itself and places cinema above paintings. He described paintings as a similar ethical creation to film stating a director ‘can be valued according to its measurements and the celebrity of the signature, the objective quality of the work itself was formerly held in much higher esteem.’ (Bazin, 1967: 250). Bazin contemplates the historical and social aspects that indeed hinder a director’s retribution to their own personalised film, thus en-companying their own ideological judgement upon the world ‘more so in cinema where the sociological and historical cross-currents are countless.’ (Bazin, 1967: 256)

Film Industry has been expansively affected by the changes in technology. The mechanical and digital innovations give cause to the influence of equipment, distribution and the way in which films are made and consumed. New trends shape directors and filmmakers to expand creatively towards telling stories in motions. The film industry has developed to one of the most important tools of communication, it's cause so powerful affecting the way individuals and societies think, act and behave. Among the new Era approaching film, and seeing celluloid film fade is that of the Digital Era and a camera that saw celluloid films passing hastened.

In today's busy world, people usually struggle to find time for fun and a way of relaxation but when it happens, they often spend it on entertainment. One of those forms of entertainment is watching stage or film productions. Theatre and film have lots of aspects in common and depend on each other, however, they involve differences. People choose between theater and film based on factors and their own preferences. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast between those two forms of art.