When “Psycho” first came out in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock caused quite a stir by demanding a “no late admission” policy to his audience during the screenings of the movie. This decision was taken by the director in order to avoid spoiling the plot of “Psycho”; for the same reason, journalists and critics were also only allowed to watch the movie with the rest of the audience. Hitchcock was very particular about not giving any hints, so that in 1959 there were rumors he burned every available copy of Psycho, the book which inspired the movie, to prevent anyone from discovering the plot. This intent of his is also noticeable throughout “Psycho”: Norman (Anthony Perkins), the main character, is not shown until 20 minutes in the movie, and the presence …show more content…
The camera starts separating Norman and Marion by alternating between shots of him and her to follow the rhythm of the dialogue: as she is eating he is shown to be clearly nervous, stuttering on his sentences and playing with his hands. While Marion is the apparent portray of confidence, from her pose while eating to her sarcastic reply to Norman’s joke (“And you’d know, of course”), he seems to be a shy boy who does not really know how to talk to people. As the audience is slowly charmed by this innocent and almost sweet side of him, he reveals that his hobby “is stuffing things,” birds in particular because they are “kind of passive to begin with.” With these few lines already the director is subtly hinting at another level of reading behind the immediately apparent one. The seemingly innocuous similitude between Marion and a bird is not easy to ignore, especially given that the same term could be used, even then, as a derogatory definition of a woman. The line Perkins follows up with also contrasts vividly with the portray of Norman until now in the eye of the audience: even if “it’s more than a hobby” is justified by him stating he uses taxidermy to fill time, and not pass it, the sentence still appears as
Hitchcock utilizes sound, camera work, MacGuffins, and plot twists to tell the storylines of the movies. Hitchcock understood the importance of camera work and sound because he began his career making silent films.12 It is why he uses many close up shots so the audience can pay attention to specific details and the emotions on the character’s face. He does not rely on dialogue to tell the story. He uses sound to help convey the message of a scene.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).
“And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King, have grown so tired of the same old thing.” Jack the Pumpkin King from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is tired of his world being so repetitive; he was ready for something new, something exciting. Tim Burton creates movies that are new and exciting. His stories are never ordinary, and his use of cinematic elements is extraordinary. He expertly uses lighting, editing, camera angles, and sound and music to pull out a wide variety of emotions from joy, to sorrow, to curiosity from viewers in films such as: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and Big Fish.
Although the psychiatrist contends that Norman preserved his mother after murdering her in an attempt to recant his crime and bring her back to life, the image of the bird controverts this assertion. As Norman explains to Mary that he does not agree with stuffing dogs or cats because they are “not passive to begin with” .As Creed states that the stuffed birds in Norman’s parlour are birds of prey that Norman has immobilised at the very moment when they are most menacing and dangerous . Similarly, Norman associates his mother with the deadly passivity of a monstrous bird of prey, waiting to strike its next
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense.
With Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock proved himself to be one of the best directors of suspense thrillers filled with mystery and humour. He himself called the film his most cinematic one because it was told only in visual terms (Morrow), but it was also a challenging “editing experiment” as the entire film was shot from one place, Jeff’s apartment that overlooked his backyard. The Film follows L.B. Jeffries “Jeff” (James Stewart), a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg at work. He spends his days watching his neighbours and eventually suspects that one of them killed his wife. His caretaker, his girlfriend Lisa and his detective friend, at first unconvinced of his suspicion, eventually join him in his voyeurism and help him to solve the crime.
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcocks powerful and complex psychological thriller, horror film “Psycho” (1960) was classes as the first sub genre of horror, the slasher. The film ushered in the era of slashes with graphic content of blood-letting and shocking killings of the time. Although this was Hitchcock’s first horror film, he was labelled as a horror film director ever since. The film contains disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation. These themes symbolise the effects of money, oedipal murder and the dark histories.
The painting contains quite a small bird which can be translated to a powerless and weak figure that can be related to Marion since she is the weak and helpless character in this film being prey upon by Norman who is seen besides hawks in certain scenes. The painting is placed right outside of the bathroom in which Marion is killed showing that the bathroom was the trap for her while Norman, the hawk in this case, killed her in the shower. The painting reflects Marion’s personality as weak and powerless and foreshadows that something wrong was going to happen to Marion similar to the Susannah and The Elders painting. The painting symbolizes Marion since the bird in the painting is also small, powerless, and weak. The painting does an effective job in letting the viewer relate bird to Marion and foreshadows her death since Norman in placed in scenes with bigger birds like a hawk.
Tim Burton uses many different cinematic techniques to achieve very specific effects in his movies. The most important cinematic techniques that he uses to create his unique style are Non-Diegetic sound, lighting, eye level, and zoom. These techniques that can be seen in the films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and Corpse Bride, create the effects of sadness, dark moments, express the feeling of other without telling. He uses Non-Diegetic sound when he puts a song, he uses sad songs, happy songs, and more to show the feeling of the character, to give us like a hint of something that is going to happen, if it’s going to be bad or sad. He uses lighting to make the moment or scene sad or mysterious.
What Can “Forrest Gump” (1994) Teach Us About Scriptwriting? Forrest Gump (1994), an American comedy-drama film based on the novel by Winston Groom, with the screenplay adapted by Eric Roth, tells the story of a mentally disabled and very kind-hearted child that comes to lead an extraordinary life. The movie revolves around the irony that the protagonist, Forrest Gump, even though the most simple-minded character in the film, becomes the most successful, as his talents involve him in US history's most prominent historical events between the 50's and 80's. The storyline is very character-driven and resembles a ‘vignette into one's life' as opposed to having a traditional story structure. This is seen through the feather motif and the well-known
Falon Ortega Robert Reynolds Cinema 101 22 November 2015 North by Northwest Essay In North by Northwest, the main character Roger Thornhill is mistaken to be a spy named George Kaplan by the villainous Phillip Vandamm and his henchmen. When no one believes him about his own kidnapping, not even his mother, Thornhill flees persecution from his pursuers as he seeks the real Kaplan. Along the way, he unknowingly meets the spy the false Kaplan identity was a cover for, the secondary protagonist and his love interest, Eve Kendall. North by Northwest is a visually stunning and thrilling action film of the classic Hollywood film narrative, with romance and injustice.
INTRODUCTION QUOTE OR FACT. The Breakfast Club was a film produced in 1985 by John Hughes in Shermer, Illinois, that involved 5 different stereotypical teenagers in detention who were assigned an essay to tell his or her story. When the day ends, they all queried if they were all somehow the same. The experiences they had throughout the film made them question the stereotypes given to them. The purpose of The Breakfast Club is to inform teenagers and adults of the negative effects that stereotyping and parental pressure has on young adults.
Throughout his life in making films, Tim Burton has shown his unique talent and vision. He proceeds taking advantage of the cinematic techniques; lighting, sound, and camera movements creating a certain mood/tone. These three techniques are used numerous of times for the duration of each film. Although, many various emotions are constructed, there are feelings that anyone may connect to. Tim Burton is a successful filmmaker and has inspired many with the use of his cinematic techniques.
“Within the domain of cinema, the avant-garde differs not only from Hollywood cinema but from that other mode of film practice known as art-house cinema.” (Cardullo) The Film Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2009) reinvents the film style of avant-garde in a modern style using different techniques of montage, reverse narrative and film noir techniques. With a combination of several techniques, avant-garde has been reworked in many ways throughout film history. Christopher Nolan attempts to show this throughout his film in a way that is unfamiliar to most audiences.
In the film, My Week With Marilyn, the gaze is primarily drawn from a female perspective. In the opening scene, the camera captures Marilyn, the actress, performing for her audience. Immediately, the camera pans in on Colin’s face mesmerized by her. However, he is watching in a movie theatre, not a live stage. From the start, the camera views Marilyn Monroe as purely a star.