Suspense By Alfred Hitchcock And James Mangold

Development of Suspense by Hitchcock in Psycho 'Psycho,' the somewhat infamous film by Alfred Hitchcock was produced in 1961, a time when the American censors, The Hays Office, still dominated the film industry with their strict rules and principles. It earned its notoriety by defying the traditional cinematic convections of that time and pushing the boundaries of what could be shown in mainstream cinema. The rules implemented by The Hays Office were far stricter than they are today, and Hitchcock uses all available means to reach and go slightly beyond the set limit. Using clever and different camera angles, he implies things that are not shown. He proves that innuendoes can portray the

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980), the “Master of Suspense”, was a English film director, who was well known for his use of suspense and psychological elements to shock and surprise his audience. Hitchcock was known for his use of recurring themes, motifs and plot devices, such as the use of birds, hand motifs, the audience as a voyeur, mothers, blonde women, and sexuality. He was also very technical in his editing, using filming techniques such as deep focus, point of view, close up and wide, tracking shots. Montage was also a technique he used frequently in his films. He believed that by using visuals, he could convey thoughts and emotions just as well as dialogue could.

“For some time I sat in silence. Then a cold shudder ran down my spine.” That would be one example of how suspense is created throughout a horror story. There have been multiple authors which have made frightening stories and put a lot of work into them.Furthermore, as in the story, “August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, it is composed of suspense around the piece. A prime example would be the use of foreshadow, reversal, and being unpredictable. Therefore, combining the three makes the completion of a story with frightening scenes, along with the suspense.

The viewer is introduced to the dolly zoom in the first scene when they look through Scottie’s eyes as he hangs from the gutter and looks down to the pavement below. The dolly scene gives the sense of vertigo. In this scene it makes the ground seem so much farther below than what it is. Hitchcock uses this shot throughout the film to give a feeling of false reality. The shot works by moving the camera back on a track while zooming in at the same time. This shot is also known as the vertigo shot. In the bell tower, this shot clearly puts the viewer into what Scottie is feeling at the time. It makes the viewer seem uneasy like they might suffer from Vertigo. In addition to this, Hitchcock perfectly uses the camera angle and the actors to tell a separate story. In the scene where he meets with his old friend, Gavin Elster, Hitchcock basically choreographed the actor’s movement and camera angles to set a mood and give foreshadowing. In this scene, Elster is sitting down while Scottie is standing in front of him asking the questions showing dominance. Once Scottie sits down, Elster stands up and stands on the steps to the second level, giving this sense of him being higher than Scottie. The camera follows Elster but then once Elster confesses why he wants Scottie to follow him, the camera pans in tight to his face. At this point Elster blocking is extreme in this shot. After his confession, the two men stay in the same position as the camera angle retreats on a dolly bringing both men into frame. This example shines light onto Hitchcock’s use of blocking and camera use that is evident throughout the film. Another major use of the camera is the way it used to show Scottie’s point of view. The narrative is restricted so that means the viewer can only see what the protagonist is seeing at that time. This is clear in the scene where Scottie is following Madeline as she

Alfred Hitchcock in the film Psycho and Peter Shaffer in his stage production Equus both explore the true nightmares that manifest from sexual and emotional repression. The writers emphasise the motives and the reason for the characters actions opposed to how the causations of this repression occurred. Conversely, both works draw on the common theme of the disturbed human psyche, offering a critical perspective on the upbringing of each individual with regards to their early development, each characters subcontious fixations and abnormal behaviours through the use characters behaviours and representations. The characters Norman Bates and Marion Crane in Psycho and Allan Strang and Martin Dysart of Equus all face internal struggles against

Shocking audiences of the 1960’s, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ is one of the most influential films in motion picture history, often being referenced to as the the origin of thriller films. Hitchcock successfully incorporates cinematography, music, and multiple techniques, rendering the perfect amount of tension and suspense right until the climax of the film. Thus, evoking the thrill after which the genre is named.

Literary suspense techniques used by the film maker is foreshadowing and imagery. Foreshadowing is used in the film through the use of fast pace music in combination

The sense of suspense is carried out in the

Alfred Hitchcock was known as the “Master of Suspense” for the psychological suspense in his

Francois Truffaut, when referring to Hitchcock said that “he exercises such complete control over all the elements of his films and imprints his personal concepts at each step of the way, Hitchcock has a distinctive style of his own. He is undoubtedly one of the few film-makers on the horizon today whose screen signature can be identified as soon as the picture begins.” Many people have used Hitchcock as the ultimate example of an auteur as there are many common themes and techniques found amongst his films. Even between the two films “Shadow of a Doubt” and “Vertigo,” many commonalities occur.

the movie they also used many things to create suspense, tension, sympathy, and many other

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

The first half of this course focused on Alfred Hitchcock and how his techniques are now recognized as iconic. From class discussions and film screenings, it is clear that Hitchcock pays every attention to detail when he crafts a scene. Many Hitchcock films we have seen this semester highlight how he builds suspense through cinematic elements such as shadow, dialogue, and composition. While many of his suspenseful scenes stir feelings of intensity and uncertainty, Alfred Hitchcock builds a more romantic suspense in his 1955 film To Catch a Thief in the fireworks scene (1:06:35-1:11:00).

The Alfred Hitchcock film; Vertigo is a narrative film that is a perfect example of a Hollywood Classical Film. I will be examining the following characteristics of the film Vertigo: 1)individual characters who act as casual agents, the main characters in Vertigo, 2)desire to reach to goals, 3)conflicts, 4)appointments, 5)deadlines, 6)James Stewart’s focus shifts and 7)Kim Novak’s characters drives the action in the film. Most of the film is viewed in the 3rd person, except for the reaction shots (point of view shot) which are seen through the eyes of the main character.(1st person) The film has a strong closure and uses continuity editing(180 degree rule). The stylistic (technical) film form of Vertigo makes the film much more

In his trajectory, Hitchcock was called by many the father of suspense. Usually, his films would contain a deep level of psychological thrill that would captivate his audience. Similarly, Nolan was perhaps influenced by Hitchcock and integrated the same degree of suspense and psychological thrill to his films. Nonetheless, the question becomes why would they choose this route, and the answer we find in psychology. There are people with adrenaline-seeking behavior, which means such individuals enjoy the adrenalin released through fear experiences. Nevertheless, real life dangerous situations could lead to death; as a result, people found a way to experience, to some extent, a similar level of fear without jeopardizing their lives. Possibly, both Hitchcock and Nolan had at least a basic understanding of how the human psyche works and incorporated the suspense