Presentation Script
[PROJECTOR]: In what way does Alfred Hitchcock's
specific use of suspense make him an auteur?
[PROJECTOR]: Image of Alfred Hitchcock (14)
[SPEAKER]:
During this presentation I will be giving evidence to why I think that Hitchcock
is an auteur "A film director who influences their films so much that they rank as their author".(4) I will be discussing the ways he conforms to my statement and the
ways in which he's directing contradicts this. I will additionally looking into
why he is more commonly known as the 'Master of Suspense'.
[PROJECTOR]: Scene from Vertigo, John hanging on to the side of the building (2)
[SPEAKER]:
In Vertigo (Item 2) Hitchcock uses different camera angles to create suspense
for the audience as the protagonist is hanging off the side of a building. I
think that the most effective camera angle within this scene is the one where
he uses a bird’s eye view, as they are up high it gives you the exact idea of
what John, who is dangling of the side of the building, is seeing when he looks
down. "Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."-
Alfred Hitchcock.(8) This shows that during this scene and many others
Hitchcock purposely has in mind what the audience is going to feel at all
times. It shows that he tries to create a reaction by making them suffer by
mainly using suspense, especially in particular scenes, which I think makes him
an auteur because not only is he trying to get the meaning of the film across
he is trying to make the audience feel uncomfortable. He is trying to engage
the audience in another way, making them feel different emotions instead of
just being spoon fed a story line they have probably already seen before and he
does this by using technical features to create suspense. Additionally by him
using the word 'suffer' states to the reader on how Hitchcock is as a person as
well as a director. It shows that he is trying to use suspense to specifically
make the audience 'suffer' which if by gaining the preferred reading will make
the audience remember his films more because of the emotional trauma they go
through from his uses of suspense.
[PROJECTOR]:
Psycho, 1960, Shower Scene (1)
[SPEAKER]:
Psycho (1960) (1) is one of Hitchcock's most
famous films, It has captured some of his most memorable directing moments
especially with the iconic shower scene. There is a shot reverse shot and
the camera jump cuts to her mouth open whilst she is screaming, getting closer
each time. It has sharp cuts from the murderer to the victim and continuously
back and forth as the woman is killed. Close ups of the knife stabbing the
woman are shown which then would be disturbing for an audience. There then is
close ups of her hand against the shower wall sliding down it. You can see the
blood running with the water on the floor of the bath. Constantly the angle of
the shot changes too which the enables you to see from all different views for
instance there is a high angle when she is struggling to try and get the
knife away from her. By doing this it gives the audience a sense of power and
belittlement to the woman showing she is highly vulnerable. "Psycho was,
simply an assault on the audience" (9, page 94) I think by being able
to use these simple techniques and create fear amongst the audience and so much
they themselves feel targeted, alongside the music, makes Hitchcock an auteur
because he essentially created one of the greatest scenes in cinema history by
using just simple technical conventions and completely terrified his audience. "I'm 47 years old now, and every day when I go into the shower and turn on the tap, I think of Psycho (1960)"- Del Toro. (5) I think that this quote shows how influential Hitchcock is to people even now. I think this is a strong quote to prove that Hitchcock is an auteur because he is remembered within people’s daily lives and activities. Additionally this quote from Del Toro who is a well-known film director and critic, therefore he will have seen many films in his lifetime yet this particular scene stands out to him. This shows that Hitchcock is a successful auteur because he stands out to someone who has probably seen the very best to the very worst of films. Additionally by the fact that this film is remembered by him just simply taking a shower, a normal human activity, shows that his films are stuck in his subconscious and that because they are so remember-able and impacting they stay with the audience forever and this is why I think Hitchcock's use of technical ability as a whole makes him an auteur.
[PROJECTOR]: Psycho, 1960, Arbogast meets the mother (1)
[SPEAKER]: In this scene Alfred Hitchcock proves he is an auteur as he
establishes an eerie feel to the scene with the help of the music. Arbogast
walks into the house and walks up the stairs he looks back behind him. Right
then from the start we subconsciously start to decode the fact that he is
slightly scared himself by being in that house alone. We then see a close up of
the bottom of a door, a beam of light is seen as the door opens, but we do not
see anyone. This can then make the audience feel terrified and create suspense
by the fact of the fear of the unknown, who opened the door? Is it the mother,
or something else? By the use of these camera angles Hitchcock is able to
create paranoia within the audience by not showing them exactly who it is
straight away. The music is slightly eerie and tense, however it is calm and
quiet. Then it cuts to a bird’s eye view the music becomes loud, sudden and
scary, more upbeat to previously. The camera cuts to a reaction of Arbogast, scared
with his mouth open, a headshot with blood on his face. Then from this shot it
tracks him as he falls backwards down the stairs. This kind of is like a point
of view shot from the mother as if she is following him as he falls. There is a
cut to a long shot of him falling on the floor and the mother raising her arm
to stab him. Then it cuts to a close up of the knife in the air as it moves
downwards towards him, you hear him scream and it fades to black. “The only way
to remove numbness [of civilisation] and revive our moral equilibrium is to use
the artificial means to bring about the shock. The best way to achieve this, it
seems to me, is through a movie” (9). I think that this shows that Hitchcock
wanted to bring a shock back to the audience, which I think he achieved by
having the mother kill a man. This is because stereotypically women are meant
to be loving and not harmful and they are usually the victim however this then
breaks that stereotype. I also think the shock is achieved by the sudden use of
music and by the way he cuts from a long shot to a close up of the knife,
making it more uncomfortable because it is suddenly so close to you.
[PROJECTOR]: The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock's cameo walking out the pet shop with two dogs. (3)
[SPEAKER]: I think the audience were prepared for the suspense from the beginning of the film, because they are looking for Hitchcock to appear. Therefore I think that this is another element of how the audience can feel suspenseful without using technical conventions. "By making a cameo appearance near the beginning of almost all of his films, he became personally famous at a time when most people never ever thought about a film's director." Roger Ebert. (6) I think that this shows that Hitchcock became influential to the film industry because as Ebert says, lots of people were not interested in directors at this time whereas if you look at directing now in a more modern time you can see the difference in how society has developed in appreciation for everyone who works on a film. This can be shown in categories for film awards for example; Best Director, Best supporting artist etc. Additionally as he was one of the people that helped change this not just for directors but for everyone within the industry and I think it makes him an auteur because he successfully made an imprint on the world of film and helped develop it further. "In fact, the auteur theory itself is a pattern theory in constant flux. I would never endorse a Ptolemaic constellation of directors in fixed orbit. At the moment, my list of auteurs runs something like this through the first twenty. Ophuls, Renoir, Mizguchi, Hitchcock, Chaplin, Ford, Welles, Dreyer, Rossellini, Murnau, Griffith, Sternberg, Eisenstein, von Stroheim, Buñeul, Bresson, Hawks, Lang, Flaherty, Vigo." (7). Andrew Sarris wrote a book called 'Notes on the Auteur Theory' in this book he explains the auteur theory in full and he also writes about the top twenty people at the time who he would consider an auteur and within this top twenty Hitchcock is included. I think that this is important because he is a specialist and as a specialist explaining the auteur theory he has established that Hitchcock in a auteur I think shows a real importance to how not only do people who do not specialise in film think he is a very important director but also people who specialise in film recognise his importance to the industry.
[PROJECTOR]: "All so different - so which one of those is Hitchcock? He's all of them. Over the course of more than 50 films, he became a genre himself" (5)
