In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock released a psychological thriller titled Rear Window. The film focuses on L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies (James Stewart) who is a broken leg, wheelchair bound photographer. And out of boredom he looks out his rear window into the rear windows of his neighbors’ apartments. Hitchcock’s use props and camera angles, in the opening scene of Rear Window, gives reason and empathy to L.B. Jefferies’s actions. The opening shot begins with a clarinet and other instruments join to play jazzy, happy music, which may lead the audience to believe that they are about to see a romantic comedy instead of a psychological thriller. Three vertical windows with bamboo shades are shown under the opening credits, and as the opening credits roll
In the 1954 film, Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock uses the depicted sequence of frames to evoke feelings of anxiety and suspense in the audience by portraying an invasion of privacy and the fear of being caught breaking that boundary that society tends to cherish and protect. When assessed individually, the chosen frames provide a partial, but incomplete evocation of suspense. In the first of the two frames, the audience is outside looking into an apartment building with three people in view, none of whom are composed in a way that would suggest they know where the others in the building are. Additionally, the woman on the upper floor is smiling and waving in the direction of the audience. Coon explains that Hitchcock draws on “societal anxieties
Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a fillm full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcok’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye anitially sees when viewing this film there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.
Rear window Alfred Hitchcock quoted in the film's rear window, “Maybe one day she’ll find her happiness.” (stella) “ yeah and some man will lose his.” (Jeff). The characters in the rear window reflect a realistic view on marriage.
Alfred Hitchcock 's Rear Window explores the lives of those who feel isolated within society. The 1954 film, set in the tenements of Grenwich village, depicts those who are incapable of fitting into society 's expectations, as well as those who feel isolated from common interaction with others. Moreover, Hitchcock displays how its human nature to seek comfort and deeper connection even with those who are surrounded by others. Despite depicting characters as lonely, the progression of the film illustrates how individuals can be freed from isolation. The director asserts the loneliness and struggle that comes from fitting into social mores.
Rear Window Argues that people should mind their own business. Do you agree? Rear Window, a 1954 romance/murder-mystery by the renowned golden age director Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that explores a multitude of themes and genres through the voyeuristic gaze of protagonist L.B. Jefferies. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he commonly known throughout the film, is a middle-aged bachelor recently hospitalised due to his high-risk career as a photojournalist. This hindered condition serves as an important foundation on which the movie is built upon as Jeff’s forced lifestyle being in a wheelchair causes an abrupt stop in his usual high intensity way of life and causes him to quench his boredom in other ways, predominantly watching the other residents in his apartment complex through the ‘rear window’ of his apartment.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window has several themes. One major theme is relationships. The lead character, Jeff Jeffries, a photographer and committed bachelor, is involved in a relationship with Lisa Fremont, a model, although the relationship has some tension due to Jeff’s lack of commitment. When Jeff is confined to his apartment recovering from a broken leg, he begins spying through his rear window on his neighbors in a nearby apartment. Through her frequent visits, Lisa is drawn into this spying as well.
The movie mainly focuses on the use of fade in/fade out techniques, representing Jeff falling asleep and waking up, the passing of time, and the shutter of Jeff’s camera lens. While North by Northwest and Rear Window seem to have few similarities on the surface, both movies use expert cinematography to convey suspense. In conclusion, lighting, diegetic sounds, and cinematography are three key elements of mise-en-scene that director Alfred Hitchcock uses in his movies, specifically North by Northwest and Rear Window. These elements are skillfully integrated into these movies to create suspense that keeps the audience on their toes, questioning what is going to happen next, and wanting more.
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.
The idea of similarities among all people, an underlying connection, is expressed by Hitchcock when Lisa in Rear Window argues with Jefferies, saying, “There can't be that much difference between people and the way they live! We all eat, talk, drink, laugh, sleep, wear clothes --“. When she says this, Lisa has a lamp light shining from the upper right side of the screen to indicate the truth of her argument. There is also an instance in Rear Window where the ability to understand a person sprouts empathy. Jefferies is sitting in the dark, after Lisa leaves angry, when the piano man comes home.
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.
“If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.(Hitchcock).” An Auteur has full control over the movie and puts some of themselves into each movie they make. Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock were masters of this. Truffaut with his 400 Blows and Hitchcock with his Psycho. There is one very famous scene in 400 Blows that Truffaut made that was very different for his time.
She argues that the act of moviegoing satisfies these voyeuristic desires in people. She writes, “The mass of mainstream film portray a hermetically sealed world which unwinds magically, indifferent to the presence of the audience, producing for them a sense of separation and playing on their voyeuristic fantasy,” (pg. 186). In this essay, I will further discuss her viewpoints on cinema and voyeurism, and how it connects to the film Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock. Rear Window is a film that follows the
The connection of shots in this scene portrays Hitchcock’s use of montage very well because of the sound, shots, point of view, and emotions that he creates. Hitchcock uses his images with excellent taste, especially in Rear Window, and this scene. First off, the sound that is in this scene is very interesting to me. There is music that plays the whole time while Jeff and Lisa are conversing and it is very soothing and relaxing. When the lady who owns the dog sees that her dog has been murdered, the music stops, shifts to a different song, and somewhat becomes faster paced.
Camera narration is crucial to the effect the movie has on its audience. It is noticed that the viewer rarely gets close to the apartments or characters across the courtyard. The viewpoint is mainly fixed to Jeff’s apartment, apart from a few occasions where the camera plunges out of the window. The fronts of the buildings facing the main street are never shown either; instead all of the action takes place within the mystery and secrecy of the backyard, hence the title name ‘Rear’ Window. Perhaps Hitchcock realised that many people would not behave the same way in their front facing windows.
His editing in films show a different point of view shot when he cuts back and forth from the main character to an object repeatedly. For example, in Rear Window, he will show an objective shot of Jeff when he looks out the window at one of his neighbors. Then, he will switch to the subjective point-of-view shot, showing us the character's perception of what he sees out the window. Lastly, Hitchcock will switch back to an objective view of the character, so that we may see their reaction to what they have just witnessed. He has a bold and effective montage editing from his famous Psycho shower scene where Marion gets stabbed by Mrs. Bates.