1. Creating Suspense
Around the world, Alfred Hitchcock is known as "the master of suspense" because of his success in creating suspense in every one of his films. He used lighting, music, camera angles, and more in order to make his films suspenseful.
The main way Hitchcock created suspense was by making sure the audience knew more than the characters in the film. He would show the audience things that the characters don't know, and then he would build tension around what will happen when they find out the truth. Hitchcock used to say, "There's two people having breakfast and there is a bomb under the table. If it explodes, that is a surprise, but if it doesn't..." This Quote shows Hitchcock's preferred use of suspense rather than surprise.
Alfred Hitchcock said-"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
In this video Alfred Hitchcock talks about the idea of creating suspense and tension:
The main way Hitchcock created suspense was by making sure the audience knew more than the characters in the film. He would show the audience things that the characters don't know, and then he would build tension around what will happen when they find out the truth. Hitchcock used to say, "There's two people having breakfast and there is a bomb under the table. If it explodes, that is a surprise, but if it doesn't..." This Quote shows Hitchcock's preferred use of suspense rather than surprise.
Alfred Hitchcock said-"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
In this video Alfred Hitchcock talks about the idea of creating suspense and tension:
2. Point of View Editing
Alfred Hitchcock used POV Editing a lot in his films to create tension. He would take a character's eyes or expression and then add something for them to be looking at. That would put an idea into the character's mind without dialogue. He would have a close up of the character's face, then a shot of what they are looking at, and then he would cut back to the character to see his reaction. Hitchcock says that you can cut from character to subject over and over again to add tension, and it won't get boring. POV editing can also give information about a character without using dialogue. For example, in the film, "Rear Window" Jimmy Stewart looks at a dog and then we see him smiling. Then, he looks at a woman undressing and we see him smiling. Those two smiles have completely different meanings, even if they are the same smile, and the audience understands that.
Alfred Hitchcock said-"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."
Alfred Hitchcock said-"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."
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3. Mind of the Audience
Alfred did everything while thinking of the mind of the audience. Each scene was made to affect the viewer in some way, and to engage them and reel them in. Hitchcock knew why people are drawn to dark theaters where they can obsorb themselves for hours in a film. People do it to have fun, and the audience knows that whatever happens, they are safe. Hitchcock could put anything on the screen, and pull the audience into scary situations, but they still know that they will walk out of the theater safely at the end of the film. The more fun the audience has, the more they will be begging for more. Hitchcock manipulated the minds of the audience, and was able to make them feel whatever he wanted them to feel- scared, sad, anxious, happy, and more. He used shot sizes, angles, music, and more to control how the audience feels. For example, when there is a close up of someone's eyes who is very scared, the viewer feels scared too because there was so much emotion in that shot for the viewer to connect to.
Alfred Hitchcock said-"Give them pleasure- the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare."
Alfred Hitchcock said-"Give them pleasure- the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare."
4. Emotion
Alfred Hitchcock said, "The size of the image is important to the emotion, particularly when you're using that image to have the audience identify with it." He used differences in proximity to the actor's face to get the emotional impact he wanted from a scene. For example, by zooming in, he could show that a character is suspicious. Or, he could show emotional distance between characters by using a long shot. The closer the shot is to the character's face, the more emotion comes out of the shot.