Alfred Hitchcock, The master of Suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13^th August 1899 in Leytonstone in London,
where he grew up and first started making silent black and white movies.

"The only way to get rid of my fears
is to make films about them"

From 1955 to 1965 Hitchcock produced and hosted the television
anthology series 'Alfred Hitchock Presents' where he would talk
about his new movies that were coming out.

 "If its a good movie, the sound could go off
and the audience would still have a
clear idea of what was going on."

Hitchcock liked producing, and one of his ways of doing this was by making an
appearance within the first few minutes of some of his films.

"Always make the audience suffer,
as much as possible"

He was known as the Master Of Suspense, whose films come to be
the benchmark for 'phsychological thrillers'.

"I am a typed director.
If i made cinderella the audience would
immediately be looking for
a body in the coach."

Film Language

Film Language
Camera framing

Camera framing is what we can see within the frame of the camera screen.
We concentrate on how far the camera is from the subject and from what angle the shot is taken.
There are different types of shots these are; Long shot, Close-up, Point-of-view shot and Mid shot.
Different types of shots are used in combination to give you information about where and when something is happening.

Camera Movement

Camera movement is used in the same way that framing is used to enhance out involvement in the film action, as the way the camera is moved can be used to direct our attention to a particular viewpoint.
Camera movement includes:

A panning shot - this is where the camera moves slowly across from side to side from a fixed axis

A tilt shot - this is where the camera moves up and down from a fixed axis

A crane shot - this is where the camera is mounted on a crane moves around at a distance above ground level

A tracking shot - is where the camera follows the action

A rolling shot - is where the camera moves diagonally, which makes the image askew

Mise En Scene
Is a French term meaning 'Everything in the Frame'
 A simple shot of a tree can be made to look threatening by stripping of its leaves,
adding a creature or some lightening and shooting it in darkness.
Giving the Mise En Scene a deathly, haunted atmosphere.
The same tree can be given a different look if it is surrounded by children and shot in a sunny light.
Giving the MiseEn Sence a happy, normal atmosphere.

Settings

The settings used in film are very rarely just backgrounds to the characters' dialogue and we will often see shots of places without any action taking place. Settings can also be used to manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then the action turns out different.

Props 

Props is the name we give to objects in the setting
which play a part in the action, rather than just being part of the background.
It can also be used to complete someones costume eg, a man in a suit carrying a breifcase.

Costume
Costume plays a large part in the mise en scene (everything in the frame) because it can be an instant indicator to us of a characters personality, social status and their job etc. It also tells us whether the film is set in the past, present or future, and what society or culture it will be about. It could also provide a clue to part the part the character will play in the action, througout the film.

Make-Up

In the early days of the cinema and film, makeup was used to highlight the actors facial features as black and white film stock could not register detail very well and detail would be lost, especially in their faces. Some certain genres traditionally use make-up more than others.
And make-up can also be used to create different atmospheres and mis en scene, and could be used to create a more surreal look eg, zombies, dead people etc.

Thriller Conventions:

-Young naive character
-'Goody' and 'Baddy'

-Resourceful character

-Antagonist/Villian which normally starts with more power

-Suspense throughout the whole of the film

-High tech gadgets

-Mysterious phonecall

-Fast pace action scenes

-Flash backs

-Hero is normally victorious

-Children and women are rarely killed

-Hero always meets a girl or falls in love

-Mystery that needs to be solved

-False hero

-Reason for conflict

-Distraction throughout the film
-McGuffin- what the plot evolves around
-Conspiracy theories
-Mystery that needs solving- Enigma

Do films follow rules?

-Some film makers will claim that there are 'no rules' or that 'rules are there to be broken'.

-However, most would agree that there are certain conventions that mainstream films observe in order for them to be acceptable to the mass audience.

The Rules

-The Roadrunner cannot harm or upset the coyote,

 except by going 'MEEP, MEEP'.

-No outside force can harm the coyote,
only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products.

-The coyote could stop anytime - if he were not a fanatic.

-No dialogue ever, except 'MEEP, MEEP'

-The roadrunner must stay on the road;
otherwise logically, he would not be called the roadrunner.

-All action must be confined to the natural environment
of the 2 characters. The southwest American desert.

-All materials, tools, weapons or mechanical convenincies
must be obtained from Acme corporation.

-Wherever possible, make gravity the coyote's greatest enemy.

-The coyote is always more humilated by his failures than harmed.
-Chuck Jones.-