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FILM STUDIES: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

FILM STUDIES: ALFRED HITCHCOCK.

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FILM STUDIES: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

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  1. FILM STUDIES:ALFRED HITCHCOCK Warm-up: Everyone will partner up. Find out who is more dramatic in each group. The “actor” will be given a piece of paper with an emotion on it that they WILL NOT let their partner see. In one minute, the person will have to communicate this emotion with no words/sounds– only facial expressions and eyes. Afterwards, the non-acting partner will guess which emotion was communicated. The non-acting partner may be asked to share with the class what the partner did to express the emotion.

  2. REMINDERS

  3. ALFRED HITCHCOCK • We will now begin a Director/Producer Study on Alfred Hitchcock. • Take notes and title these “Hitchcock Notes” • Make sure to write the date on these notes and keep them to turn in at the end of the semester.

  4. ALFRED HITCHCOCK • Hitchcock pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. • In Britain, he was successful with silent films and early talkies. • He then moved to Hollywood.

  5. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: VERTIGO SHOT • Vertigo shot: adjusting the zoom lens so that the background appears to stretch unnaturally. • Particularly notable in Vertigo. • http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/cameras/movies/vertigo.avi

  6. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES • Hitchcock preferred to tell the story visually rather than verbally. • Rather than using dialogue/speech, he’d use the film techniques to let us know about the characters:

  7. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: POINT OF VIEW SHOT • Point of view shots = when the camera moves in a way that imitates a person's gaze • He made the audience feel like they were seeing through the eyes of the character. • The audience then relates with the character’s perspective • Pay attention to P.O.V. shots that include men viewing women; there may be sexual suggestions (think “Peeping Tom”…)

  8. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: CLOSE-UP SHOTS • Often Hitchcock would have close-up shots of character’s faces revealing a certain emotion for several seconds/minutes • Usually, parallel sound (i.e. fearful music to express fear) would go along with shots to increase emotion. • Shots would maximize audience’s anxiety, fear, or empathy

  9. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: ZOOM-IN SHOTS • Hitchcock is famous for zooming in on characters. • It placed the audience in a position where they had no choice but to zoom in with the camera regardless of whether they were frightened or not.

  10. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: INTERNAL FRAMING • Internal framing = a shot of a character framed inside of something else (i.e.: a doorway, a window, a phone booth, etc.) • Usually it suggests that a character is trapped.

  11. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: TIGHT FRAMING • Tight framing = a close shot of characters which looks like the characters do not have room to move around in a scene. • Usually it suggests a feeling of being trapped. • Hitchcock also wants the audience to analyze the connection between characters tight framed together.

  12. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: LOW ANGLE SHOT • Low angles often have the effect of making something (i.e. characters/settings) appear bigger, and more threatening. • These angles create fear in the audience.

  13. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM TECHNIQUES: LIGHTING • Low-key lighting creates mystery, dread or tension for the audience. • Side-lighting shows only half of a figure lit (the other half remains in a shadow) • He would use shadows to suggest danger. • Pay attention to conversations, places and faces that contain low light/side-lighting/shadows

  14. ALFRED HITCHCOCK THEMES • Often, Hitchcock’s main ideas would center around a complex character’s psychology. • He’d examine the complex sexual side of people and often tied together sex and violence. • He borrow themes from Freud (believed that all of our actions are tied to our up-bringing, parents and sex)

  15. ALFRED HITCHCOCK CHARACTERS • Characters often struggle in relationships with their mothers • We often see characters who are likeable criminals/charming psychopaths • Heroines (lead females) tend to be lovely, cool blondes • However, when aroused by passion or danger, they respond in a sensual, animal, or criminal way.

  16. ALFRED HITCHCOCK SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS • A symbol is an action/object which represents something else • A motif is a symbol that comes up over and over • The following symbols/motifs often appear over and over again in Hitchcock’s films: • Birds • Staircases & violence • Falling from high places • Windows

  17. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PLOT • Almost all plot details work to create suspense. • Many of Hitchcock's films have twist that create irony. • Irony = the least expected outcome. • His endings usually have the greatest twist..

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