CASE STUDY OF ICONIC DIRECTOR OF

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

PSYCHOLOGICAL- ALFRED HITCHCOCK

QUICK OVERVIEW:

• HITCHCOCK WAS AN ENGLISH FILM PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR.

• HE WAS OFTEN NICKNAMED ‘THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE’

• HE HAD A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN BRITISH CINEMA WITH BOTH SILENT FILMS AND EARLY TALKIES (AND EVEN BECOME RENOWNED AS ENGLAND'S BEST DIRECTOR)

• HE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FILMS.

ALFRED JOSEPH HITCHCOCK WAS BORN IN 13 AUGUST 1899 (LEYTONSTONE, ESSEX, ENGLAND) AND DIED 29 APRIL 1980 (AGED 80) IN BEL AIR, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES.

ONE OF HITCHCOCK'S MOST FAMOUS FILMS IS PSYCHO (1960 FILM)

• PSYCHO IS A 1960 AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER-HORROR

• THE FILM CENTRES ON THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A SECRETARY, MARION CRANE (LEIGH), WHO ENDS UP AT A SECLUDED MOTEL AFTER EMBEZZLING MONEY FROM HER EMPLOYER, AND THE MOTEL'S DISTURBED OWNER-MANAGER, NORMAN BATES (PERKINS), AND ITS AFTERMATH.

• ITS PRAISED AS A WORK OF CINEMATIC ART BY INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS AND FILM SCHOLARS.

• IT SET A NEW LEVEL OF ACCEPTABILITY FOR VIOLENCE, DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR AND SEXUALITY IN AMERICAN FILMS,[6] AND IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE OF THE SLASHER FILM GENRE

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SCENES IN HISTORY WOULD BE ‘THE SHOWER SCENE’

KEY FACTS ABOUT THIS SCENE

• FEATURES 77 DIFFERENT CAMERA ANGLES

• THE SCENE "RUNS 3 MINUTES AND INCLUDES 50 CUTS

• MOST OF THE SHOTS ARE EXTREME CLOSE-UPS

THESE TECHNIQUES HITCHCOCK DESCRIBED IT AS…

"TRANSFERRING THE MENACE FROM THE SCREEN INTO THE MIND OF THE

AUDIENCE".

HITCHCOCK‘S USE OF CLOSE UP OF THE CHARACTERS DEAD FACE HERE, ZOOMING INTO THE EYE, IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF PORTRAYING SILENT VIOLENCE.

THIS IS BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE EERIE SILENCE AND CALM AFTER THE VIOLENT DEATH OF THE CHARACTER. IT GIVES A SECOND FOR THE AUDIENCE TO TAKE IN WHAT HAS HAPPENED, WHICH LEAVES AN EMOTION OF SHOCK AND ASTONISHMENT.

THIS CLOSE UP IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CINEMATOGRAPHY, AS THE CALMNESS AND STILLNESS OF THIS SCENE CONTRAST THE VIOLENT DEATH WHICH OCCURRED. THIS IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF CINEMATOGRAPHY WHICH CAN PLAY WITH THE MIND AS NORMAL PEOPLE WOULDN'T WANT TO STARE AT A PERSONS DEAD BODY, BUT WITHIN THIS SCENE A YOU ARE FORCED TO WATCH IT.

ALSO THE CHARACTERS OPEN EYES AND EXPRESSION CAN LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON A PERSON, THIS IS BECAUSE THE CHARACTER LOOKS ALIVE BUT THE AUDIENCE KNOWS SHE IS DEAD. IT CAN LEAVE THE AUDIENCE FEELING PITY FOR HER, BUT ALSO TOO SHOCKED TO LOOK AT HER FACE. MIXING EMOTIONS CAN ALSO BE PART OF A PSYCHOLOGIC THRILLER.

CLOSE UPS AND EXTREME CLOSE UPS OF THE FILM WHICH IS USED TO PRESENT THE

VIOLENCE.

SCORE WITHIN PSYCHTHE SCORE WAS BY BERNARD HERRMANN.

ITS SAID THAT HITCHCOCK WAS PLEASED WITH THE TENSION AND DRAMA THE SCORE ADDED TO THE FILM, THEN LATER REMARKING "33% OF THE EFFECT OF PSYCHO WAS DUE TO THE MUSIC.

A STRING ORCHESTRA WAS USED AND FOR THE STABBING IN THE SHOWER SCENE VIOLINS WERE USED IN A WAY TO SCREECHING, CREATING EXTRAORDINARY VICIOUSNESS.

HERRMANN BIOGRAPHER STEVEN C. SMITH WRITES THAT THE MUSIC FOR THE SHOWER SCENE IS "PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS (AND MOST IMITATED) CUE IN FILM MUSIC,"

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OVER A CAREER SPANNING HALF A CENTURY, HITCHCOCK FASHIONED FOR HIMSELF A RECOGNISABLE DIRECTORIAL STYLE

SOME OF HIS STYLISTIC TRADEMARKS INCLUDE THE USE OF CAMERA MOVEMENT THAT MIMICS A PERSON'S GAZE. IN ADDITION, HE FRAMED SHOTS TO MAXIMISE ANXIETY, FEAR, OR EMPATHY, AND USED INNOVATIVE FORMS OF FILM EDITING.

MANY OF HITCHCOCK'S FILMS HAVE TWIST ENDINGS AND THRILLING PLOTS FEATURING DEPICTIONS OF MURDER AND OTHER VIOLENCE