The Use Of Suspense In Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

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. In 2018, reviews of films often are headlined with “the book was better.” But, in 1960 there was no such thing

Many authors use setting to create suspense . Suspense is “the sense of growing tension,fear, and excitement felt by the reader” (95). Edgar Allen Poe and W.W. Jacobs create suspense throughout their short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw”. Three techniques, these authors use to create suspense are ambiguous ending, the scaring techniques , and the setting.

In the film Rear Window, the director, Alfred Hitchcock uses a variety of techniques to create suspense and leave viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the film. Hitchcock uses a good assortment of tempo to create thoughts in the viewer's mind. He slows down the pace to create anticipation, and speeds it up to show a change in intensity. In the ending scene of Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses changes in pace and tempo, lighting, and a short term deadline to constitute an immense atmosphere of suspense in the viewer's mind.

Hitchcock utilizes sound, camera work, MacGuffins, and plot twists to tell the storylines of the movies.

The handsome protagonist Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant, is mistakenly pursued by the antagonist Vandamm (James Mason) and his group of henchmen. Roger’s life is turned upside down by being falsely accused of murder, a seductive blonde (Eva Marie Saint) and near death experiences in the action thriller (North By Northwest). Alfred Hitchcock has become well known for his acquitted style earning the nickname ‘master of suspense’ (www.biography.com). North By Northwest is a hybrid film that involves elements of adventure, crime and mystery with the main genre being thriller and action (www.imdb.com). In an action thriller, the audience should expect to feel a wave of emotions leaving them anxious and uncertain which creates suspense and

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. These were explored by the use of the motifs of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors (Filmsite.org, n.d.).

Hitchcock uses Rear Window to examine the U.S.’s global Cold War strategy. The films use of many paranoia scenes such as when L.B. Jefferies discovered Thorwald making many late-night trips and noticing the missing wedding ring of Mrs. Thorwald encourages viewers to consider the post-war anxieties and personal surveillance of politics in the construction of the U.S’ s ideas about the world and possible consequences. In the film, L.B Jefferies, the protagonist, spies on the insides of many nearby apartments during a heat wave. L.B Jefferies observed people that were happy and jolly but he also saw sadness and loneliness in homes. For instance, in the film, there was a scene where a lady was having a romantic dinner with herself at night. This scene draws the conclusion that during the 1950s many Americans were very individualistic meaning they were unsociable. The

When you watch a tv show and do you find it annoying when they go to commercial break right before something important is about to happen? That is an example of suspense. You usually sit through the commercials to see what happens right? It keeps you hooked. The short story that I will be referring to and drawing examples of suspense from is Pickman’s Model by H.P. Lovecraft. This article will examine how H.P. Lovecraft creates suspense using Narrator’s point of view and sensory language. I will be showing how the literary devices create suspense by using quotes and explaining the reasons why they create suspense. Understanding suspense and literary devices can help us read and understand the story.

Both of Alfred Hitchcock’s films, North by Northwest and Rear Window, were great movies with lots of suspense. The suspense, however, would not have been created without the entire mise-en-scene of the movies. Hitchcock was a master at using the elements of lighting, sound, and cinematography to heighten the suspense in his movies.

Suspense was profound in “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. Throughout the entirety of the book, he left the reader with multiple questions. It is a story completely based off of not knowing exactly what will happen next. but knowing something will happen. Whether it had been in the beginning when one could have been asking themselves what makes him so crazy, or at the end when one could have been asking themselves what happened after the cops were made aware of the situation, suspense was always there. To conclude, in “The Tell Tale Heart”, Poe uses the technique of suspense

After watching The 39 Steps (1935), I realized that Alfred Hitchcock really did have a talent for establishing suspense through films. Even though suspense was the primary focus, Hitchcock managed to effectively and intelligently mix humor, romance, and thriller. He uses a variety of techniques to convey these feelings to the audience. According, to some of his interviews with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock mentions his love for The 39 Steps, specifically about the techniques he uses to create a bewitching experience throughout the film. In this film, he uses a variety of themes that he continued to constantly use throughout his later films. Around 1935, “talkies” were just being released and The 39 Steps was one of the many first “talkies” that

Suspense techniques are an essential part of creating a narrative piece of writing, it creates an anticipation and tension to keep the reader interested. Also it creates a lively experience and grasps the reader’s attention. Suspense enhances the story's appeal to the reader by creating a grim situation that utilizes strategies such as thoughts and isolation. The author of “Night Drive” Will Jenkins effectively uses suspense technique to build tension and anxiety for the reader. The short story demonstrates, skillfully crafted sentences that express many examples of suspense. Suspense is an element used to build tension and you can see the suspense technique in various parts of the story, strongly in the 3 forms thoughts, time and expectation.

“Mise-en-scene” is a French expression that was originally a theatrical term that refers to “staging” (Thompson & Bordwell 1999). When this term was transferred to film production, its practices involved the framing of the shots (Hayward 2000). According to Karam (2001), Mise-en-scene involves a choreographed set of visual elements that correspond to a set of ideas.

Without giving her any background information on the Hitchcock Etudes, I told her that I wanted her to listen to this song. I presented her with the video in a public and busy atmosphere, then after listening asked her what she thought. Overall, she enjoyed the piece. She felt that Lizeé expanded on the terror that Hitchcock created by using his intense cuts and repetition in audio and video. In her words, “These changes in the once familiar create a tension and anxiety in the piece. It makes the overall work more dark and robust.” Avery said that the variety and doctoring of the sounds made her feel disassociated from her surroundings and engaged in the new occurrences within the video. There is not one specific fear or theme to focus on, but rather a

When mention about suspense, “Hitchcock” must be the first word appears out in the mind. Alfred Hitchcock produced plenty of films which are suspense and thrilling. In his filmography, Spellbound and Rope were produced in a bit earlier stage. Spellbound is the first batch of film using the topic of Psychoanalysis. Rope is the first experiment film made by Hitchcock. Even though, these two films produce early before the well-known film such as Psycho and Vertigo in his filmography. Hitchcock was successful in creating suspense and mystery in these two films as using rusty technique and editing.