Psycho, Directed And Produced By Alfred Hitchcock

Based on a true story, The Wrong Man, presents the life of a musician Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero usually called Manny who had been arrested and brought to trial for a series of robberies he hasn’t committed. The early scenes itself gives the viewers a background of Manny’s family circumstances. He lives in a tiny bungalow in the Jackson Heights section of Queens suited for the lower middle-class. He works hard to eke out a living, for that he plays a double bass in a band engaged at Sherman Bilingsley’s Stork Club and his earning goes into a savings account. In an age of prosperity in the 1950s, Manny struggles. Hitchcock has tried to show that the image of America projected and idealised in the fifties was not one of milk and honey

In the shower scene in Psycho, The first shot he chooses to give us is

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.

The director of the film made a change of pace by making suspense and fear in Psycho. He used elements of violence together with eery and jump-scare soundtracks that makes such scenes thrilling. The violent scenes were shown upfront with the long knife stabbing into

Music has proven to be one of the most effective tools to aid films by helping the story flow and create emotional impacts within an audience. Hitchcock’s unorthodox and unique use of music is what creates the uneasy atmosphere of the film at the very beginning and it cues the audience to prepare for the upcoming scary scenes. The music is what arguably what holds the film together, without it the film would not hold up and there would not be as much suspense in this dramatic and psychological thriller. It’s the creepy music that makes Psycho such a memorable

Hitchcock explained the reason for filming a woman wearing only her under garments in the opening sequence of Psycho: "Audiences are changing....The straightforward kissing scene would be looked down at by the younger viewers....Nowadays you have to show them as they themselves behave" (Hitchcock 1). The director was keenly aware of how audiences responded to his films (Rebello 163) and sought to maintain their interest. He was among a handful of Hollywood filmmakers who deliberately sought out innovative composers (Nowell-Smith 258); for Psycho, Hitchcock hired Bernard Hermann who wrote a modern score which challenged the norm. The title itself, fifties and sixties slang for the violently psychotic, suggested the imminence of a new generation (Brill 200).

One of the ways why cinematography made the film was the lighting. To get the feel, the lighting appeared to be fake shadows that were painted on the set. The fake shadows that were painted on the set gave the lighting appeared to be harsh and sharper to set the mood for the audience. If it weren’t for the painted shadows, the movie wouldn’t have been so successful in the horror genre. Since it was a silent movie, if it weren’t for the shadows, you wouldn’t of seen it as a horror film, but as an original film that was trying to be creative.

I chose Psycho because the movie is number 14 on the top movie list and is black and white. The lighting plays a big role in both of the movies. They both were nominated for similar awards and shared a composer

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, the stylistic elements utilized by the director create a unique availability the depth of information available to both the characters in the film and the audience watching. The entire film is from the perspective of the rear window of the injured photographer Jeff. Jeff, unable to move is stuck with nothing to do but look out his window. As the audience, we are given an objective view, looking over his shoulder as he stares at the lives of his fellow tenants. From the window, we watch as Jeff essentially invades people’s homes with his high-powered photographic lens. In the scope of the entire film this is an incredibly smart tactic because it gives the audience the same emotions that the characters feel. During

When we follow him riding around there is ominous music playing and when he turns the corner there is a loud gong noise and he suddenly stops. You flash back and forth from seeing the two girls at the end of the hallway and Danny’s face. The shot of the girls goes between them asking Danny to play with them and them murdered lying on the floor blood everywhere. The use of the camera moving in closer between the flashes makes it seem like the hallway is getting shorter and the girls are moving in closer and closer. The hallway wallpaper, even though its busy the colors are very muted, making the scenes with the blood spilled everywhere on the floor more intense because of the vivid and bright color standing out. I think where they shot the scene was a good choice because of the dullness of the walls and carpet because it is very different compared to the other rooms and carpet of the Overlook

The film, Confessions of a Sociopath, was made by the critically acclaimed director Joe Gibbons. Joe Gibbons is famous for his experimental films, and this film is perhaps his best project to date. The film is an hour long and takes the viewer through real life events that have occurred in Joe’s life. In the film, Gibbons acts as a fictional version of himself where he finds a room full of footage from his life with events that he can no longer recall. The film describes his earlier film experiments, his descent into constructive behavior and his bottoming out on drugs and alcohol. It is intriguing to see a side of a well-known film maker that no one would have thought existed. The film is also greatly intriguing because it is not made in the traditional professional way. The viewer is taken through a series of events that seem normal and completely unscripted. It is also clear that most of the events in the film were shot without the assistance of professional cameramen and directors save for Gibbons himself.

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.

This film is widely considered as the one that popularized slasher films, a subgenre of horror. This film was based loosely on the novel of the same name which was inspired by the real life serial killer Ed Gein. The violence had to be tamed as to not traumatize the audience. By making the film black and white it did not scare the audience with rich sharp colors of blood flying everywhere. Using black and white film also added a dramatic effect with shadows, an effect that is harder to create with colored film. Not only did it help him lower the cost of the film, but it helped the viewers get a handle the film’s graphic nature.

American Psycho, the book, was an amazing work. The movie, however, was a tremendous let down. Movies based of off books sometimes never reach their full potential. It’s something everyone knows, but American Psycho, was a book that would’ve easily made a great movie… if a woman hadn’t directed it. I am not saying that a woman wouldn’t have done a wonderful job making the movie rise up to the standards of the book, but I feel like a man would have understand Patrick Bateman more. Mary Harron, the director of American Psycho, was trying a bit too hard to make the movie funny and not terrifying. She should have glorified Bateman’s insanity and illness for what it was in the book. I would not recommend this movie. I would, however, recommend the

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (Wes Anderson, 2014) combines a perfect mix of nostalgia and history. The film explores the themes of war as it recreates history through mise-en-scene. Anderson also incorporates other themes such as racism and elitism during pre-war Europe. The film widely explores Europe from many viewpoints, one of which is of Mr Moustafa. His nostalgia is seen through flashbacks of when he was a lobby boy that went by the name of Zero. As an audience the depth of his nostalgia is seen through mise-en-scene. With the help of cinematography and props we see can see the time and place that Moustafa acknowledges. Anderson shows how history is reimagined through ones nostalgia. Mr Moustafa recalls events, which he was not present in yet he explains them as if he were there. This also shows how one reimagines history from another due to emotions and personal attachment. Despite the outcome being the same there are many viewpoints it can be seen from.