In Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window," the concept of point of view is the primary tool in the plot of the film. Point of view serves as a way of exploring the perception and truth inside the film. Alfre Hitchcock successfully employs this technique through his cinematography, editing, and narrative. Hitchcock makes the audience bound by the perspective of the characters in the film, and invites them to question the reliability of their observations while watching and the nature of truth itself. First, what is a “point of view” film? Point of view in film is when we see through the eyes of the character. We see this in "Rear Window" as it revolves around the viewpoint of L.B. Jefferies is a "Jeff" Jefferies. Jeff is a photographer who has become bound to a wheelchair by a broken leg. Throughout his time staying at home, he …show more content…
These sequences not only put the audience into Jeff's perspective, but blur the line between reality and imagination, allowing the audience to question whether or not what they see is true or false. In addition to the subjective camera techniques that Hitchcock uses, he also manipulates time and space to further enhance the film's point-of-view structure. As the setting is primarily confined Jeff's apartment, this reinforcing the perception of the film being limited to Jeff's own point of view. As with the manipulation of time, we see this evident as the passage of time is marked by the changing activities of the neighbors below. Through these effective techniques, Hitchcock is able to create a narrative that meshes the act of looking with what is actually being observed. A major theme of "Rear Window" is the theme of truth and its elusive nature. As Jeff becomes more and more obsessed with solving the mystery of the murder he believes he has found, the audience is then drawn into a spiral of suspicion and
Point of view is the narrator’s position in the story being told. Point of view changes the story drastically, since you are hearing different stories and opinions by different characters in a story. Even if the plot is the same, the point of view will change the entire story. Point of view can also create tension between different characters. For example, if you are hearing the thoughts of one character in the story, and the actions of another character who is aware of these rude thoughts, the reader knows that the two characters tension between each other will eventually rise up to a certain point that a problem will occur. Point of view creates a lot of tension in the two books, Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, between the narrator and their parent. Both books
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
Point of view: the story is told from several perspectives so that the reader can experience what they had to deal with. He tells the story and his experiences
After checking out multiple sources to gather my understanding of Hitchcock's Rear Window. The piece of insight that I found most interesting was the overarching patterns in Robert Burks's cinematography. Throughout the film, as L.B. Jeffries, unable to move, studies what he suspects to be a murder across the courtyard, as the viewer is put into his shoes through Robert Burks's filmmaking techniques. Constantly stationed, the camera points to the courtyard outside of L.B. Jeffries's window to give us his point of view. Where Jeffries looks we look, what he notices we notice, and when Jeffries uses the telephoto lens we see through it as well, showing us only and exactly what he sees.
The mise-en-scene of this shot hints at important information about Jeffries, his neighbors, and the neighborhood in general. But what the camera does tells us something much stronger: Rear Window is a film about voyeurism, and a commentary on audiences watching drama on a screen.
Kracauer and Corrigan say similar things about point of view and how different points of view reveal different things in a film. Kracauer says in the section "Special Modes of Reality" that "...films may expose physical reality as it appears to individuals in extreme states of mind..." (pg. 271) Essentially, what Kracauer is saying here is point of view can be used to reveal the state of mind of a person. In other words, point of view can be used to reveal a character's reality, but in a vacuum the shot may be ordinary.
The film "Rear Window" employs a dark psychological storytelling style to illustrate the issue of voyeurism and surveillance while also successfully integrating the audience as a character in the narrative. Being a photographer and observing people with his long-focus camera, Jeff's symbolism expresses his voyeuristic tendencies. Due to his damaged leg, Jeff is restricted to his window and can only stare through this camera into the lives of others to escape reality. The audience is left in the dark, watching alongside Jeff as the narrative of peoples' lives is expressed. This film's cinematography effectively conveys the first-person point of view while also making a personal connection with the viewer.
The cinematography of “Rear Window” effectively makes the viewer a character in the story and portrays the theme of voyeurism and surveillance in a darker psychological storytelling. Jeff, the protagonist, is a photographer, which is symbolic as it demonstrates his voyeuristic tendencies. Jeff is restricted to his window and can only stare through his camera into the lives of others to escape reality. For the audience, the camera angle is positioned in the same spot as Jeff, the viewer is given a glimpse into his world and is invited to participate in their voyeurism as they take in the lives of others. This is effective because it gives the audience the impression that they are present with Jeff, solving the case while creating suspense and
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
The human eye is a funny thing. It gives us an accurate depiction of the world, informing us as to how we inhabit space and as to what we can learn from the space around us. To put it shortly, our eyes tell us about life. Vision can be remarkably narrow, in the sense that we are confined to it, but cinema can be eye opening - even life changing. Cameras and lenses allow us to alter this fixed view. When we are successfully able to alter our fixed perception of the world, we can get some miraculous, powerful, meaningful results. Alfred Hitchcock was very aware of the power of directing an eye. Through lens and camera, Hitchcock oh so naturally and subtly directs the viewer - directs us. One important case study into Hitchcock’s use of the
Point of view is the way a story is told through a character's perspective. This is important since a character's perspective can affect the accuracy of the story. Different topics such as biased view, a character's experience on a topic, how they stand on a set topic or what side they are on as well as other character interactions can all affect a character's perspective as it is told throughout the story. This is when compared to someone else telling the story who hasn't had the same experiences through their point of view. The opinions of the narrator throughout the story and the different events that happen through their point of view can affect the reader's view of the topic that is being discussed within the story. In the book To
According to Merriam-webster.com, perspective is defined as "a mental view or prospect (Merriam-Webster.) " In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the point of view is that of first-person. First-person point of view is when one character is narrating the story and is also the person that is experiencing the events. In any story, the point of view is extremely important and different points of view can change the story entirely. Taking this into account, what is the importance of the point of view in "The Yellow Wallpaper?"
Point of view is described as the perspective from which a story is told (Literature, G25). In the story "Everyday Use" the point of view is that of first person narrator or major character. The story is told by the mother in the story. The theme of this story is that of a mother who is trying to cope with changing times and two daughters who are completely different. Having the story told from momma's point of view helps to reveal how momma feels about herself and how she defines her daughters Dee and Maggie.
Point of View is the perspective in which the story is narrated - which includes first, second, and third person. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy tells the plot from his perspective (first person), giving readers a direct approach to his thoughts and version of what happened within the past week. Through this way
I extend my congratulations to you on the success of your latest play “Othello”, I believe the way you have constructed the play with the themes, ideals and techniques is simply genius and the way you addressed racism and the roles of woman in your play was a very brave and courageous move, but I believe you have pulled it off remarkably, in my opinion this is your best play yet, and this is why I wanted to create and appropriation of Othello. I have tried numerous times to get the people around me to take the time out of their lives to read or go to a showing of Othello, but unfortunately todays society of Yen Y are not too fused on reading a book, and the language in the play is very complicated and most can not understand, and therefor don’t bother. So what I have done with my appropriation is create a movie, entitled “O”. I have made my appropriation very modern through a range of different techniques.