Monday 12 October 2009

Research on Sir Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was a British filmaker and producer he was one of the first to create techniques in the suspense and psychological genres. The fifty feature films he directed consisted of the basic codes and conventions such as suspense, silence, fear, terror etc. such conventions have been developed over decades making the success and recognition of the thriller genre so evident in the present day. Hitchcock is one of the most popular and recognised film-makers.
He was popular for cruelly withholding information from his characters and the audience and most importantly engaging the emotions of the audience. Hitchcock's trademark has become gallows humour- a type of humour that arises from stressful, traumatic of life-threatening situations. He has become famous for his expert control of pace and suspense, his films are based heavily on the conventions of fear and fantasy.
About Hitchcock films:
The Lodger (1926) was an early silent film based on the serial killer Jack-the-Ripper, he made a cameo appearance which he made a habit of when it came to feature films. His next film was called Blackmail which was released in 1929. What makes Hitchcock the master of thriller and suspense is his ability (even in the early days of film and television)was to present a true
representation of reality



Cinematography in films is the art of adjusting sound and light and capturing it as a moving image.
When making our main task, I have researched the art of cinematography, which is essential for understanding the type of shots we use and why. Which ultimately is to instil suspense and wonder within the viewer.
In our main task it will be filmed from a subjective and objective point of view.
Objective - Is the audiences point of view
Subjective- Is What the character is seeing.


Below I have also included in my research Hitch-cock's filmography, I obtained this information from http://hitchcock.tv/mov/hfilm.html
The Silent Years
1925 The Pleasure Garden
1927 The Mountain Eagle
1927 The Lodger
1927 Downhill
1927 Easy Virtue
1927 The Ring
1928
Champagne
1928 The Farmer's Wife
1929 The Manxman

The British Classics
1929 Blackmail
1930 Juno and the Paycock
1930 Murder!
1931 The Skin Game
1932 Number Seventeen
1932 Rich and Strange
1934 The Man Who Knew
Too Much
1934 Waltzes From Vienna
1935 The 39 Steps
1936 Sabotage
1936 Secret Agent
1937 Young and Innocent
1938 The Lady Vanishes
1939 Jamaica Inn
1940 Foreign Correspondent
Vintage Hollywood
1940 Rebecca
1941 Mr. and Mrs. Smith
1941 Suspicion
1942 Saboteur


The War Years
1943 Shadow of a Doubt
1944 Lifeboat
1945 Spellbound

Perfecting the Art
1946 Notorious
1948 The Paradine Case
1948 Rope
1949 Under Capricorn
1950 Stage Fright

The Fourth Decade
1951 Strangers on a Train
1953 I Confess
1954 Dial "M" for Murder
1954 Rear Window

The Master of Suspense
1955
To Catch a Thief

1955
The Trouble with Harry

1956
The Man Who Knew
Too Much (remake)
1956
The Wrong Man

1958
Vertigo

1959
North by Northwest

1960
Psycho


The Grand Old Man
1963 The Birds
1964 Marnie
1966 Torn Curtain
1969 Topaz

Coming Home
1972 Frenzy
1976 Family Plot