Film Director: Alfred Hitchcock - Coursework Example

Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock: Paper Outline Introduction Alfred Hitchcock: short biography 2. Hitchcock’s career phases 3. Main works of the director 4. Hitchcock and his awards 5. Contribution to cinematography 6. Psycho: the masterpiece by Hitchcock 7. Critical approach to Psycho Conclusion Alfred Hitchcock The name of Alfred Hitchcock is a legend; his horror films impressed people and inspired other directors to work in the sphere of horror. This famous director worked in the era of changes when silent movies adapted to sound, black & white shots became colored and filming techniques advanced to the Hollywood level. Hitchcock had money, fame and never-lasting imagination which allowed him creating masterpieces regularly. This essay will discover Hitchcock as a man, personality and talented director who created a number of the greatest films in human history. Biography of Alfred Hitchcock had a great impact on his art and career. Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899 in London (Cohen, 1995). He was brought up by strict Catholic parents who had very conservative values. Hitchcock entered St. Ignatius College in London where he prepared to become an engineer. His talent was discovered when he started to work as an advertising designer for Henley’s company (Cohen, 1995). There, he began to write some short stories which were full of conflicts and dark themes. In 1920, he was employed by Lasky Company as a designer of silent film cards. In some years, he worked as an assistant of director. 1925 was the year when the first film by Hitchcock was directed (Cohen, 1995). According to Cohen (1995), Hitchcock’s career path is possible to divide into three phases. The first phase corresponds to the period when young director created his first films in Britain. It lasted for 15 years and traced traditions of narrative films and family values. The second period of Hitchcock’s career is longer; it started in 1939 when Hitchcock came to work in Hollywood and lasted till the beginning of 1960-s (Cohen, 1995). It was the most successful period for the director as it brought him fame and commercial success. The last phase of career started in the late 50-s when the director challenged his own traditions and values seeking for a new approach to filming. The last three movies by Hitchcock represented his intention to change his art an experiment in different directions. All three career phases have their representative works. When Hitchcock worked in England, he created such masterpieces as “Blackmail” (1929), “The 39 Steps” (1935) and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1934) (Cohen, 1995). The second phase of his career presents films of totally different genres from comedies to horrors such as “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (1941, “Rear Window” (1957) or “Suspicion” (1941). The last phase of Hitchcock’s career includes his most recognized films “Psycho” (1960) and “The Birds” (1963) (Cohen, 1995). Overall, more than 50 films were created by Hitchcock during his life; many of them served as an inspiration for further remakes. Hitchcock was awarded by different institutions for his outstanding contribution to the world cinema. For instance, his film “Rebecca” received Academy Award as the best film in 1940. Even though Alfred Hitchcock never received the award as the best director, he was nominated 5 times. He received 2 Golden Globes; 5 times he was awarded by different institutions for all his career (Sterritt, 1993). Hitchcock’s successful career made him world celebrity. Obviously, this productive director contributed many things to developing art of cinematography. Experiments of the director and his natural talent for dark and gloomy plots made his art demanded and commercially successful. According to Rose (2012), Hitchcock created the feeling of suspense by careful planning of all details. Actor play, props, camera, light, music and montage had to be under his total control. Power of the scenes from his movies is always the result of hard work which starts from the cooperation of screenwriters and directors in order to craft the best script for the film (Rebello, 2010). According to Sheritt (1993), form, composition, performance and movement planning were polished to their perfect state. Even early works of Hitchcock like “Blackmail” utilized all these elements carefully. Music, action and looks were involved in the construction of emotions which made his films engaging. The genre of horror films became popular with people because of the talent of this director who managed to evoke real emotions by his films (Rose, 2012). Hitchcock often used silence in order to create the feeling of suspense which is so common in his films. The film “Psycho” released in 1960 is a pearl in Hitchcock’s career. This film is the realization of the aspects discussed above. All aspects in the film are perfect. Every scene is carefully planned and actors know their work well. For instance, according to Taylor (2012), the film is made black and white to make it more realistic and avoid “Technicolor blood”. Music which appears in the film reflects the atmosphere of each scene as a mirror. Close-ups, focus on detail and elements of naturalism add certain mood to the picture and make it realistic. Even though this film is not scary compared to modern thrillers and horror films, it has various twists of the plot which make the audience involved in the action. The themes addressed in the film are not trivial; Hitchcock’s film is a pioneer in showing the mind of a man who suffers from serious mental illness. At some points, certain scenes in the film are predictable. At the same time, expressive atmosphere and common aesthetics compensate predictable events and make them interesting. It happens only because Psycho is often used as the basis for further remakes or inspiration for the films with similar stories. Now “Psycho” is taken as a masterpiece for granted. However, it was not the case when the film was released. According to Sterritt (1993), different journalists wrote bad reviews about the film. Opinions were changing fast and those who claimed that Psycho was not worth watching included it in the list of their favorites.1 Sterritt (1993) suggests that the film reflects many concepts from Freudian theory; accordingly, it is better to analyze according to it. He offers to examine it through the prism of ‘anal anxiety’ concept taken from Freud’s works in psychoanalysis. According to Rebello (2010), there is one more reason why Freudian approach is so important for psycho; the concept of Oedipus fixation was used to motivate Norman’s disorder and his personality split. The beginning of the film focuses on the concept of normal; Marion and Sam talk in the hotel room. This first scene is used for the contrast with the rest of the film. Norman becomes the presentation of obsessive compulsive disorders. The bathroom scene with its revolutionary focus on physiology becomes the visit card of Psycho. Marion is focused on wealth while money is equated to filth in the film (Sterritt, 1993). Norman/Mother performance is persuasive enough to forget that the actions in the film are not real. Many elements have metaphoric roles in scenes where they appear. For instance, it is interesting that the film presents certain zones which can characterize each character. While Marion’s character looks naturally in the motel room, Norman’s disorder is brightly presented by his fruit cellar. In summary, reputation of Alfred Hitchcock and his contribution to world cinematography cannot be questioned. His films are not as scary as they used to be 50 years ago; however, they are still engaging and interesting for the audience. His films are perfect as all elements are totally controlled by the director. Great attention to details, appropriate decorations and music create impressive atmosphere which greatly influences the experiences of spectators. Overall, Hitchcock deserves his popularity as he still remains the icon of filmmaking industry. References Cohen, P. M. (1995). Alfred Hitchcock: the legacy of Victorianism. University Press of Kentucky. The book by Cohen (1995) is a great resource about Hitchcock’s art. First of all, it provides detailed analysis of the most important works by the director. Second, it reveals many personal details about Hitchcock and explains connection between life and art of this outstanding personality. Overall, the book contains enough facts to be used as a solid base for the research essay. Rebello, S. (2010). Alfred Hitchcock and the making of Psycho. Open Road Media. The book by Rebello (2010) is a detailed story of the film Psycho from the novel which inspires Hitchcock to the perception of the film and its effect on film industry in the world. The book is relevant for this essay as it reveals the stages of process of filmmaking and techniques used by Hitchcock to achieve desired effect. Rose, G. (2012). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials. Sage. The book by Rose (2012) is a comprehensive guide into cinematography. It uses the films by Hitchcock explaining different techniques applied by directors as well as approaches to filmmaking. Also, it explains necessary theoretical concepts like psychoanalysis which are required to understand Hitchcock’s art. Sterritt, D. (1993). The films of Alfred Hitchcock. Cambridge University Press. Sterritt’s book introduces Hitchcock’s films from different aspects. It analyzes each film separately providing its background and new techniques used by Hitchcock at work. This book is full of details; it allows choosing the best moment from director’s career to make the essay expressive and informative. Taylor, J. R. (2013). Hitch: the life and times of Alfred Hitchcock. Bloomsbury Publishing. This book is written in form of a memoir by the person who knew Hitchcock in person. It adds more interesting facts about the director and his works, showing the full picture of his art. The book focuses of Hitchcock career in England and the USA separately, pointing out important changes in professional career of the director. Read More