Alfred Hitchcock Essay

Alfred Hitchcock, An Auteur

Alfred Hitchcock is an American Auteur director.  An auteur is someone that makes films that can easily be identified as one director’s work. This is usually done is plot, themes, style and script. He has made a television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and at least two dozen movies throughout his career. All of Alfred Hitchcock’s work has a distinct style that viewers can easily view and recognize as his. Two of his most well known films are Rear Window released in 1954 and North by Northwest released in 1959.

Alfred Hitchcock is known all over the world as the master of mystery and suspense. When the French new wave were thinking about auteur, they decided that Hitchcock was the epitome of the auteur.  All of his films have a certain style and feel that are distinctively his. Hitchcock always and only made movies of this type. Hitchcock himself said, “I am a typed director.  If I made ‘Cinderella’, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.” (IMDb)  At least one character in every movie is going to die; it does not matter if they are minor or major in plot.  People come to a Hitchcock movie knowing that they will be seeing mystery and suspense before they even see the movie. The movies deal with psychology, even if they do not say it directly.  Hitchcock is curious to how the human mind works and feels emotion.

The German Expressionist Movement in film inspired Hitchcock throughout his career.  There are many similarities between the two. Both carry dark themes, although Hitchcock does add some dark comedy into the mix. They also have a similar lighting style that encompasses harsh lighting of obscure shapes.  This can especially seen in Rear Window when they are trying to show James Stewart hiding from the murder.  Both Hitchcock and the German Expressionists enjoy a complex and intellectual theme.

Hitchcock also advertises the movies with his name plastered all over the titles, posters, trailers etc. Even his television show is made up entirely by his name, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.  He knows that marketing himself is a way to keep an audience interested in viewing what he has created. The thinking is that if you like one films you will like them all. In themes, all of his movies are very similar, it is the details of the events and the people that make them different and interesting. Both Rear Window and North by Northwest have male-leads that are trying to woo and keep the attention of their female co-starts.

In both Rear Window and North by Northwest. Alfred Hitchcock plays with the viewer’s emotions, usually based on safety and well being of his female leads. Although Hitchcock is known to have many strong female characters; such as Lisa (Grace Kelly) and Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint).  Grace Kelly breaks into the murder’s apartment to get proof of the crime. His female leads also have blonde hair. Hitchcock himself has said, “blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints,” (IMDb). To Hitchcock blondes look innocent and naive but it is also their hair that shows blood the best. He always shoots his women in a way that allows for the viewer to gaze upon them. Female characters are always lit softly and almost to where it seems like they are glowing (Mulvey).

Alfred Hitchcock uses the same group of actors in most of his films. James Stewart (Rear Window) was in other Hitchcock films; such as Rope (1948), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958). Stewart’s Rear Window Co-Star Grace Kelly has also been a few Hitchcock films; Dial M for Murder (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). Carry Grant (North by Northwest) is also in Notorious (1946), and To Catch a Thief (1955). Because Hitchcock uses the same actors in all of his films it allows for people to associate that actor, with his movies. He knows that fans of an actor will follow and see any movie that they are in.

Alfred Hitchcock always makes cameos when making a movie. Never as a main character, but he is shown as someone in the background similar to an extra. In the beginning Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock is winding a clock in the musician’s apartment. In North by Northwest he is shown just missing his bus in the beginning, coincidentally right after his name appears on screen in the billing. When watching his movie he plays a game with his viewer’s. In a way he makes them wonder where he will appear next and it can be for the shortest amount of time.

Alfred Hitchcock has always been interested in the relationship between film and music. “He recognized the psychological potential of music to reveal a character's true feelings when words were not enough, to establish a mood or ambiance for a scene, to anticipate events, and to increase excitement,” (Daniel-Richard). Because he understood how important this connection was he has always worked closely with his composers while creating the score. This importance of music was sort of lost once the invention and use of sound cinema was popular. In Rear Window and North By Northwest, the music emphasis the emotions felt by the viewer. People can feel emotions through music, so this helps Hitchcock to create the illusion of mystery and suspense in his films.  The music alerts the viewer that something, usually bad, is going to happen so it puts them on edge until the scene ends or event happens. When watching a Hitchcock he finds the balance of the viewer wanting to look away but also not wanting to miss a single second of the movie.

What is very important in Hitchcock films is everything that you do not see in the shot.  This creates suspense because we do not know what is going on. Usually what the viewer creates in their mind is worse than what is actually happening. When letting our minds think it can lead us to some very scary places. In Rear Window it is what we do not see and know that creates the suspense throughout the movie. This is extremely true when the lights are turned off in the murder’s apartment and we do not know what is happening.  We never see the wife’s body, it is only hinted at.  We also never see any blood in the movie, whether it is the wife’s or James Stewart’s when he falls off the ledge.  The images that we create in our minds are more powerful than an image a director can show us.  If something is filmed, it can easily been seen as cheesy or fake.  The images that we create in our minds are real, sometimes more real than what is possible.

North by Northwest is different from most other Hitchcock films because it was so grand.  This film was filmed on location at the United Nations and at Mount Rushmore. This grandiose production is unusual for Hitchcock because he normally does not find it necessary to be so elaborate.  Hitchcock films are normally simple with minimal shooting on location.  Rear Window is shot only in an apartment with all camera shots being of the apartment or shot in the apartment.  Rope, another Hitchcock film, was only shot in one room and it gives the illusion that the entire movie is one shot.  Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes has a majority of its shots filmed on a train, a reference to North by Northwest.  This is a reference that Hitchcock makes to himself.

Alfred Hitchcock is an American Auteur director.   His films stand the test of time because they are still just as wonderful today as they were at the time they were released.  The themes characteristic of Hitchcock films are still relevant and important today.  Another reason that Hitchcock films are not dated is because the emphasis is on plot and story instead of on the technology.  Technology will always be changing, but what is important to us and our ideas are always constant.  Alfred Hitchcock has made many seasons of the television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and at least two dozen movies throughout his career.  Each movie sharing Hitchcock’s theme and are always filled with mystery and suspense.  It’s no wonder he is called the master of mystery and suspense.  Two of his most well known films are Rear Window released in 1954 and North by Northwest released in 1959.All of Alfred Hitchcock’s work has a distinct style that viewers can easily view and recognize as his.  Alfred Hitchcock’s have stood the test of time and always will.

Works Cited

"Alfred Hitchcock Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Daniel-Richard, Debra. "The Dance of Suspense: Sound and Silence in North by Northwest." Journal of Film & Video 62.3 (2010): 53-60. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

Mulvey, Laura "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen 16.3 (1975): 6-18.     Print.

Lab 11

My last lab for Creating Web Documents

Link to Lab 11 Part A
JQuery Collapsable Menu with added color

Link to Lab 11 Part B
JQuery Color Picker Code

Labs 9 and 10

Link to Lab 9
Learning Web 2.0
Linking to Youtube, Twitter, Flickr etc.

Link to Lab 10
Linking to your own video's and music
Creating buttons

Extra Work

A My Little Pony created for my roommate, Deanna, based on her personality and appearance.

Lab 8

Create a website for Meals on Wheels

Create strictly for 975px by 720px view.  Please Use the Rule of Thirds.  Please create all your own images.

Lab 8 Link

Color Palette

Website Screen Shot

Lab 7

Lab 7: Changing style sheets

Lab 7a: Make your own version of this

Lab 6

Link to Lab6: Learning CSS
Just changed the formatting to the website.

Sunset Boulevard Essay

My 1500 Word Paper for Cinema Studies.
Write a reaction to an american noir film, not viewed in class.
Include outside sources, quotes, and an original analysis.

American Noir Cinema and Sunset Boulevard

            Sunset Boulevard is a 1950’s American noir film.  It was directed by Billy Wilder and released in the summer of 1950.  Wilder is a well-known film noir director for his films Double Indemnity (1944) and The Apartment (1960).  He was originally born in Germany but moved to Hollywood before the Nazi takeover.  He was one of many German filmmakers came to come to Hollywood during that time period and he was also a German émigré.  It makes sense that there was an American film noir movement that has a heavy basis in German Expressionism when there was an increase in German people in the American film industry.  Sunset Boulevard is a take on the, at the time, current, 1950’s state of Hollywood.  This is because Sunset Boulevard is a movie within a movie; a movie about writing a movie. Although this movie is on the cusp of the years of noir, it still possesses the important traits of the noir style of cinema.

            Simply put film noir is a Hollywood crime drama.   Usually these movies are characterized with cynical plots and the eventual downfall of the main character.  The film noir movement started as a response to the end of World War 2.  The world did not know how to act, nor did the film industry at the time.  These movies, Sunset Boulevard in particular are categorized by complex and cynical plot lines.  Although there is a serious tone, there are some lighter moments such as Norma pretending to be Charlie Chaplin for the pure amusement of Joe.

            The movie is for the most part filmed in a mansion, which is unusual for Hollywood films of that time.  Filming on set was so expensive that it became more cost efficient to start filming on location.  Why spend tons of money creating a version of something when you could just go and film there for a cheaper price?  There were downsides to filming in possibly uncontrollable situations such as natural lighting and sound.  All and all it was a benefit to Hollywood to move towards filming on location. The film industry was in crises because people were watching television at home instead of going out to see movies.  One of the ways they kept people coming was changing pictures to be filmed in color; although Sunset Boulevard was shot in black and white. The black and white film creates a different atmosphere than a color film.  There is something very old and cluttered, yet beautiful about the mansion in which the film takes place.  It also keeps with the theme of having an older feeling cinema.  Even though the movie was filmed over sixty years ago, it has a slightly timeless feel to it.

            The lighting of the piece is always hard and there is usually a clear distinction between white and black instead of a consistent mixture of gray.  This is a very classic type of lighting in American film noir.  The character’s motives, contrary to the lighting, are very gray.  Both Norma and Joe have things that they want from each other.  Joe wanted a place to hide is car and make enough money to catch up on his bank payments.  Norma wanted company and sometime to help her correctly complete her script.  And as they develop feelings for each other those motives change and become even grayer.  The film keeps with the classic noir theme of using other people to further yourself in the world.  This theme is also very prevalent in the actual world of Hollywood as well.

Norma Desmond, was played by Gloria Swanson who like Norma, was an aged movie star trying to make a comeback.  Both Desmond and Swanson were aged Hollywood stars who were left in the dust once the invention of sound and voices in cinema.  “Gloria Swanson was coaxed out of long retirement to portray the pathetic, forgotten film queen, Norma Desmond, and now it can be said that it is inconceivable that anyone else might have been considered for the role” (Pryor, Thomas M.)  This is proven in one of the last scenes when Norma descends down the stairs to her moment of fame.  Swanson is able to give a real performance because she fully understands the way Desmond is.  The eccentricity of Norma Desmond makes her craziness believable.  The way she talks, acts and even walks on camera is exactly the way you think an actor would move around.  She wasn’t trying to be anyone but herself.

The final scene of her descending the stairs shows that Norma has finally accomplished her dream, a dream of finally being remembered.  The entire movie she is trying to make her come back and when all the cameras arrive after the murder she is put in a trance.  She is not a murderer but a women beginning a scene.  Descending the stairs as a princess Norma feels as though she is finally there, her dreams come to life.  The decision is like a moment frozen in time, all of the craziness of the reporter’s stops as she has her final moment of glory.

Just like Wilder’s other film, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard questions the actions and stability of the main character.  As deranged as Norma is, as a viewer we still love her even though we know reason is with Joe Gilles, played by William Holden.  From the beginning Norma is a strong weak character, which means she is strong in the way she carries herself yet weak from her need to once again rise to stardom.

The protagonist is arguable throughout the entire movie.  Yes, Holden is billed first, and he plays a character that we see in every scene although we have no emotional attachment to him.  It is Norma who we love and think about.  She is not in every scene yet when she is absent “her presence is felt like the heavy scent of tuberoses which hangs over the gloomy, musty splendor of her memento-cluttered mansion in Beverly Hills.”  (Pryor, Thomas M.)  This ambiguity of protagonist adds to the noir style of the movie.  America is in a state of uncertainty, as is the viewer that is trying to decide who they most care for.  We care more about Norma than we do Gilles.  As shocking as his death is, nothing matters more than Norma’s final moment of fame.  Classic American Noir has a main character that eventually falls from grace.  In this case both Joe and Norma do yet in different ways.  Joe is shot dead, a physical demise.  Norma’s death is more symbolic.  She finally gets the attention she wants because she becomes so out of it.  To her, the reporters trying to figure out if she is a murderer are press for her new movie. However, it is Gilles who does the voice over narration throughout the movie that is another staple of noir cinema (Trowbridge, Katelin.)

This movie has more important things, besides plot, that the viewer has to figure out on their own.  There is no closure at the end of the movie.  It just ends with the viewer wondering the fate of Norma while is strides towards the camera.  This unsettling ending is characteristic of noir cinema.  The ending leaves the viewer curious and not with the classic Hollywood happily ever after ending.  The movie would not have the same lasting effect if it ended happily with Joe and Norma in love and making a movie.

There is something remarkably loveable about Max, the butler and first husband of Norma.  When compared to the other characters of the film, he is the most likeable because of his ability to care deeply for the well being of Norma even after divorce.  He cares for Norma in a way that no one else does and in a way that Gilles never would or could.  Gilles was too self-concerned to ever love someone the way Max loves Norma.  It is a shame that there is no real true love in this film.  That is also popular in American Film Noir.  There is no true love or happily ever after.  The ending is bleak with no sign of a positive, or even possible, future.  It seems as if he is always around, similar to the idea of the big brother always watching.  He is always one step ahead, which is crucial to the stability of Norma.

Noir Cinema is important to the development of Hollywood.  Billy Wilder was an important director of that movement and Sunset Boulevard is a great example of noir cinema.  Even on the cusp of the movement’s end, the film still possesses the many traits that make cinema noir. 

Works Cited

Pryor, Thomas M. "Sunset Boulevard." The New York Times 11 Aug. 1950: n. pag. Print.

Trowbridge, Katelin. "The War between the Words and Images." Literature Film

Quarterly 30.4 (2002): 294-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.   <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=30ca33e7-b6d7-4366-9b52-0          c167bfcd2b9%40sessionmgr4005&vid=4&hid=4102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3 QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=8948084>.

Megan in Wonderland

The Link to the Megan in Wonderland Project

Megan in Wonderland

Enjoy.

Drawings for Megan in Wonderland

These are my illustrator drawings that are going to be a part of the "Megan in Wonderland" website.
All of these were traced, but then I created and colored my own shapes.

Beginning Sketches

Alice in Wonderland Website

Color Palette for Website

Directory for Website

Character Sketches

Lab 5

Learning Cascading Style Sheets

Link to Webpage Here

Screen Shot Below:

Intro to Digital Photo Week 4

20 Self Portraits: Use Self Timer