Classic Thrillers

Alfred Hitchcock created for himself an individual and recognizable directorial style, in which he makes the viewers identify with the camera as it moves in a way which is meant to mimic a person’s gaze, making viewers engage in a form of voyeurism. The ways in which his shots are framed influences the feelings of the audience and maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and to exhibit the point of view of the characters, he used innovative film editing. Hitchcock’s films often placed an innocent victim into a strange, life-threatening situation, in a case of mistaken identity, or wrongful accusation. He would use a range of cinematic techniques; for example, in the crop-duster scene in ‘North by Northwest’, he showed the character running towards the camera,  used close up shots and motivated cuts to show danger coming from nowhere. Also, in the shower sequence in ‘Psycho’, Hitchcock used elements of surprise, and deliberately shot the film in black and white to effectively present violence. He used quick cuts for stabbing, and used slower, zoom shots. Red herrings are also present within the sequence as the money in ‘psycho’ is important but it ends up being trivial.

I intend to manipulate the feelings of the audience and maximize anxiety in my own work by using a range of camera angles and shots, with the use of mice-en-scene, editing and sound, to evoke feelings such as fear, suspense and fright, as well as emotions such as sympathy and sadness. I intend to demonstrate the point of view of the characters in my thriller opening by using point on view shots and over-the-shoulder shots to place the viewers in the characters shoes. Also, I will be using close up shots, as well as other shots, to force viewers to engage with the characters by viewing their emotions.