The Master Of Suspense By Alfred Hitchcock

Fourth, Robin Wood tells us, "A Hitchcock film is an organism, with the whole implied in every detail and every detail related to the whole" (Boyd 6). Through these four aspects, we can see that Hitchcock typically opts to show unsettling scenarios that can be seen as much in the intricacies of the film as in the entire premise. So, this sets the stage so that we, the audience, may know to look deeper into his films than just what is portrayed on the surface.

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.

I believe Hitchcock applied the study of auteur theory to his films (North by Northwest and Vertigo, as there are many aspects and ideas the make it proof that Hitchcock added these ideas himself. Hitchcock added many scenes of staircases in his film North by Northwest as he believed it creates a sense of suspense for the characters and the audience. This idea which he used in the film was brought from his childhood where as a young child he lived in a very big house which lots of staircases came along with it, from there he feared the stairs as it is the fear of the unknown, this applied to his film worked very well.

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.

Alfred Hitchcock's intense, complex shocking thriller, Psycho (1960) is the "mother" of all advanced suspence movies, it bravely introduced a time of sub-par screen "slashers" with blood draining and realistic, stunning killings. While this was Hitchcock's first genuine horror movie, he was erroneously named as a horror film director from that point onward. The nightmarish, worrying film's subjects of corruptibility, confounded characters, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and exploitation, the savage impacts of cash, Oedipal murder, and dull past histories are sensibly revealed. Its themes were uncovered through rehashed employments of themes, for example, birds, eyes, hands, and mirrors. Psycho additionally broke all film traditions by showing its driving female hero having a lunchtime affair relationship in her attractive white underpants in the first scene which shows the loss of innocence; likewise by capturing a toilet bowl and flush in a restroom (a first in an American film), and killing off its significant "star" Janet Leigh 33% of the path into the film (in a stunning, splendidly altered shower murder scene joined by

The structure of many of his films follow these characteristics: Happy setting, wondering camera, following the eyes of characters, and a silent murder. Hitchcock is labeled the “Master of Suspense,” which is much deserved with his body of work includingu films like, Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, and Rear Window. Francois Truffaut proposes the idea of auteurism, “There are no good and bad films, only good and bad directors.” This idea of auteurism means that the director’s role encompasses being the technician, stylist, and the author.

Suspense is a major genre used in the most American pop culture movies. Alfred Hitchcock and James Mangold pioneered numerous movie techniques of building suspense in the films they direct. Hitch Cock’s Vertigo (1958) and Mangold’s Identity 2003, are movies that vividly exhibit the use of different film techniques in creating suspense. Both movies make use of various film techniques that aid in the attainment of a thrilling mood to the audience.

Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Psycho” created a tremendous impact on 60’s American films. Hitchcock powerfully describes the murder scene of Marion, while taking a shower at Bates Motel. Viewers and critics of the film believe that it is unconventional and overly violent for young viewers eyes, but some analysts think that it is a form of deconstruction, a new structure of horror film that Hitchcock wants to share. Different perspectives and ideas emerge because of the murder scene in the film, but still, Psycho is viewed by millions of moviegoers who want to experience the morbid description of Hitchcock—for them to believe the critics and viewers’ negative reactions.

Intro: Bordwell and Thompson judge narrative to be ‘a chain of events linked by cause and effect in time and space’ as a filmmaker, Hitchcock’s biggest ally in creating suspense and mystery is his ability to manipulate point of view within a cause and effect narrative. The ‘Master of Suspense’ manipulates his audience’s perspective while simultaneously employing narrative techniques to build tension and expand the potential of his narrative. While both North by Northwest and Rope are fairly straightforward they are both riddled with plot twists and suspense. Hitchcock’s various narrative strategies include: plotting, release of story information, character development and spectator development. It’s these elements combined with classic manipulations

Hitchcock began his career in the early 1920s as a silent filmmaker, and rose to fame after his first successful silent thriller, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927). As sound technology progressed and became more accessible to filmmakers and movie theaters, Hitchcock began to work in sound. However, for the remainder of his career, Hitchcock was profoundly influenced by what he called ‘pure cinema’. This idea represents the film medium and its affective and expressive capabilities, unconstrained by the narratives and dialogue used to drive the storytelling process in literature and more modern ‘talkies’. Hitchcock’s early mastery of the silent film medium made him acutely aware of space, composition, blocking, and camera

It is difficult to imagine true pioneership. Being the very first person to imagine an idea is an obscure concept to the people who live in today’s world; a time where it seems everything has already been discovered and popularized. Though most well-known for being the founder of the suspense genre of film, Alfred Hitchcock pioneered a vast amount of film techniques that are littered throughout the silver screen. Color was used as a tool, not a gun, to subtly lay meaningful shades onto his audience's eyes. He challenged the status quo of Hollywood by pushing the envelope for what is “allowed”, meanwhile helping pave the way for English and suspense filmmakers. With his unheard of ways and eye for the grotesque, Alfred Hitchcock made positive,

When Hitchcock wishes to exemplify a particular trait within his character, or reveal the personality of a character, he does so with classy elegance. Such emphasis is laid onto few, yet vital shots, which can reveal a whole lot of information in a few shots. Instead of using a wide range of methods to convey the same information, why not simplify it, and convey the entire array of emotions in a single, unique visual. For example; to exemplify the personality traits of a lady, any other director of the time would have probably used a wide array of shots to convey the same information. However Hitchcock says a whole lot, without saying much.

Horror films have been around long since the 1890s, slowly gaining the following we now see today. The horror genre has continued to gain popularity with each passing year. Yet, comparing the films of today to those of the past, we can see a large number of differences that continue to evolve. Although there are examples of the horror genre found many years prior, director Alfred Hitchcock, also known as “The Master of Suspense”, highlighted many of the common horror formulas that are still prevalent within the genre today. Arguably one of, if not the most well-known Hitchcock film, Psycho (1960), captured the very essence of the horror genre, and grabbed audiences by their throats. From the characters to the music, each element of the film

Alfred Hitchcock – the dubbed ‘Master of Suspense’ – created a theory which revolved around the idea of shock vs. suspense; this theory was called ‘bomb theory’. Within this theory, Hitchcock identifies how if you place a bomb underneath a table – and tell the audience of the bomb’s presence – the audience will be waiting in anticipation for the moment the bomb goes off. The spectator is suspended in a state of anticipation and fear; hence, suspense. Following this theory, Under the Shadow creates Hitchcock’s proverbial ‘bomb under the table’ with a literal warhead crashing through the roof of our protagonist’s home very early into the film. From this point onwards, our sense of control within the film is lost – though the undetonated bomb leaves the film without exploding, a metaphorical bomb remains which we know has go off at some point. This metaphorical bomb being an era-appropriate, authentic horror with a supernatural being we do not truly understand.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) is definitely one of the films that everyone knows, if not the whole film, at least for the infamous shower scene. The film elicits different interpretations and responses from viewers. What two of which, Raymond Durgnat and Robin Wood, took away from the film are quite different.