Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director and producer. He was born 13th August 1899and died 29th April 1980. He is best known for his work in thriller films as he introduced many techniques which are used in todays thriller films. He is considered one of the best film directors ever and is well known for making the thriller genre well known and very popular. 

Born and raised in Leytonstone England, Hitchcock was raised a strict Catholic and had a pretty regular upbringing. He often described a lonely and sheltered childhood worsened by his obesity. Named Alfred after his father's brother, Hitchcock was brought up as a Roman Catholic and was sent to Salesian College.  His first job was as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. he often submitted short articles and eventually became one of its most prolific contributors. His first piece was "Gas" (1919), published in the first issue. This is when his interest in cinematography began. He started to frequently visit the cinema and even began reading US trade journals. In 1920 Hitchcock managed to secure a job as a title designer for Lasky's new studio in London. In 1920, he received a full-time position at Islington Studios with its American owner, Famous Players-Lasky, and their British successor, Gainsborough Pictures, designing the titles for silent movies. His rise from title designer to film director took five years. Three years later Hitchcock was given his first shot at directing the remainder of the film "Always Tell Your Wife" as the original director fell ill during filming. Hitchcock's first few films faced a string of bad luck. His first directing project came in 1922 with the aptly titled Number 13. The production was however cancelled because of financial problems so was therefore need finished; the few scenes that had been finished at that point have been lost. In 1925, Michael Balcon of Gainsborough Pictures gave Hitchcock another opportunity for a directing credit with The Pleasure Garden made at UFA Studios in Germany; the film was a commercial flop. Next, Hitchcock directed a drama called The Mountain Eagle. This film was also eventually lost. In 1926, Hitchcock's luck changed with his first thriller, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. The film, released in January 1927, was a major commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom. On 2 December 1926, Hitchcock married his assistant director, Alma Reville, at the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, London. Their only child, daughter Patricia, was born on 7 July 1928. For the next ten years, he kept making movies which were hits and were quite successful. In 1939, he and his family moved to Hollywood as he was known worldwide by then and started making his films in Hollywood. His first american film was Rebecca in 1940, and the film was also a success. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1940. His second American film "Foreign Correspondent" was also nominated for the same award. Alfred then went on to create over fifty films over a career spanning six decades. Because distinctive and recognizable directorial style he gained the status of a cultural icon throughout the world. Without Hitchcocks contributions to the film industry, modern cinema would not be what it is today.


Alfred Hitchcock's filmography. 

Number 13 (1922) (unfinished) Always Tell Your Wife (1923) (unfinished) The Pleasure Garden (1925) The Mountain Eagle (1926) (lost) The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) The Ring (1927) Downhill (1927) The Farmer's Wife (1928) Easy Virtue (1928) Champagne (1928) The Manxman (1929) Blackmail (1929) Juno and the Paycock (1930) Murder! (1930) Elstree Calling (1930) The Skin Game (1931) Mary (1931) Rich and Strange (1931) Number Seventeen (1932) Waltzes from Vienna (1933)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) The 39 Steps (1935) Secret Agent (1936) Sabotage (1936) Young and Innocent (1937) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Jamaica Inn (1939) Rebecca (1940) Foreign Correspondent (1940) Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) Suspicion (1941) Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Lifeboat (1944) Aventure Malgache (1944) Bon Voyage (1944) Spellbound (1945) Notorious (1946) The Paradine Case (1947) Rope (1948)

Under Capricorn (1949) Stage Fright (1950) Strangers on a Train (1951) I Confess (1953) Dial M for Murder (1954) Rear Window (1954) To Catch a Thief (1955) The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) The Wrong Man (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976) The Short Night (1979) (cancelled)

Lighting Exercise

The lighting in a film is really important because it can set the mood of the scene and can also tell the audience what kind of a character a person might be.
In this short clip, we tested the different lighting effects 



Shot one: Key Light:

The key light is the most important as it highlights the main subject in the video. The light is placed in front of the subject and often creates shadows on one side of the face.

Shot two: Back light:

The back light is placed behind the subject and it creates silhouettes, which creates a blackout shadow over the subject and makes her appear darker. This light is often used in horror film to make the villain seem more mysterious.

Shot three: Filler light:

The filler light gets rid of all the shadows that any of the other lights would make. It makes the subject look younger and have much clearer skin.

Shot four: Under lighting:

Under lighting is when the light is placed below the subject so the light is looking up. This creates a shadow over the face and hides the face a bit. This makes the actor look more scary as you cannot clearly see their facial features. This light is used in most horror films.

Shot five: Top lighting:

Top lighting is when the light is above the subject so the light is looking down on the subject. This light highlights key features of the subjects face to make the subject look  youthful. This happens because the light gets rid of any lines and shadows that appear on the face.

 Shot six: Low-key lighting:

Low key lighting creates some shadows in the shot. This includes shadows behind the subject and one on the side of the face.

Shot seven: High key lighting:

High key lighting uses all 3 lights and makes sure that there is no shadows that appear on the face.

Sound Exercise Evaluation

Plot
The story starts with Freddie stalking Alex. He watches her without her realizing. Alex then realizes something is wrong, so she gets up to leave and walk down the hall with Freddie following her behind. Alex is unaware of this but he bumps into the door while trying to be as secretive as possible. After hearing the door, Alex runs away down the stairs but the audience find out that he is hiding under the stairs. However, Freddie doesn't jump out at Alex. Alex then bumps into her old friend Carl, and tells him what has been going on. However, he doesn't seem to believe it. Freddie then appears and has a quick chat with Carl and Alex says how he is the stalker. As a result of this, they both walk to the stairs to look for Freddie, and he is nowhere to be seen. Out of nowhere, Freddie appears and kills Carl by slitting his throat. Instantly, Alex runs away from Freddie, and runs down the corridors and into a hall. She hides in a rolled up mat, which Freddie thinks she's gone inside. Freddie then goes inside the mat to try and find her, whilst Alex who is actually hiding on the outside, realizes he is inside. She folds the mat so the mat is covering his body. Freddie then suffocates and collapses on the floor. Alex then grabs his legs and pulls him out more to the open and then stabs him in the face to make sure he is dead. She quickly walks away from his dead body and leaves the scene.
 

Sound 
Diegetic (within the world of text, characters can hear sounds) 

• When Freddie hits the door, When Alex drops the book

Non-diegetic (everything outside of the world of text, characters can't hear sounds) 

• The Background Music

On-Screen (the audience can see the sound source) 

•  When Freddie hits the door, When Alex drops the book

Off-Screen (the audience can't see the sound source) 

• When Freddie gets stabbed

Parallel (when the soundtrack matches the action) 

•  When the music drops as Freddie enters

Contrapuntal (when it doesn't match the action) 

•  There was no use of Contrapuntal sound

We didn't use Contrapuntal sound because we felt that it wouldn't make sense within the film, because even when the film starts, the audience can tell that something isn't right.



I feel that as a group, we did capture all of the sound effectively. I think this because all of the important sounds were clear and loud enough to be heard and understood. All of the key sounds that happen are very clear in the video. For example, when Freddie bumps into the door, the door makes a loud noise which the audience can hear very clearly which makes it very realistic for Alex to hear too in the story. Also, we feel that we used background music effectively in the video as the music that we chose to use built up the mood at the specific time. For example, as Alex is walking out of the room at the start of the video, the music we chose to use builds up the suspense that something is about to go wrong. When Alex turns around, we stop the music to let the audience know that something is definitely wrong. This is effective use of sound because it built up the mood and then the stop of the music means that something is definitely wrong. We used the sound equipment very well, but there was one little problem in where you could hear rustling in the scene where I am talking to Alex. This is because we didn't want the audience to see the microphone, and so we clipped it on to my tie, but as I turned round, the movement of me turning around caused the mic to pick up the rustling noises. We did use diegetic sound and non diegetic sound well in my opinion and is easy to tell the difference of how we did so. For example, the diegetic sound is used well when Freddie bumps into the door because Alex actually hears the door bump so obviously that sound is diegetic. We used non diegetic sound with the background music and I feel that we used that well as it built up the mood and gave a clue to the audience of what's going to happen. We also think that we used on-screen sound and off-screen sound well. We used a number of on-screen sounds e.g. Alex dropped her book. This is effective because the audience knows why that noise has been made and knows that Alex could be in trouble. We also used an off-screen sound where Freddie got stabbed. We used this sound to make the stabbing seem more brutal. We didn't use a contrapuntal sound so we was unable to show the difference between a parallel and contrapuntal sound.


Overall, as this was my first finished project, I feel that the video was a success. We put a lot of time and thought into it and am quite proud of what we have done. If I had to make improvements, I would try to get a contrapuntal sound into the video and also make sure that there was no rustling sounds in the video.

Sounds Exercise

Different Sounds Learned

Diagetic sounds - Sounds in which the characters can hear i.e. other people talking

Non-Diagetic sounds - Sounds in which the characters can't hear i.e. background music

On-screen sounds - Sounds in which the audience can see the sound i.e people talking

Off-screen sounds - Sounds in which the audience can't see the sound i.e. knock at the door

Parallel sounds - Sounds which match the action i.e. Smiley person, with smiley music in the background

Contrapuntal sounds - Sounds which don't match the action i.e. Happy music while someone is killed.

Camera Exercise Evaluation

Due to joining the Media course late, I was unable to film the camera exercise myself. As a result of this, I was asked to do an evaluation on another camera exercise made by a group in my class.







Plot

The story is about a girl who is in class, and she begins to dream about an adventure she is having. The pencil case falls off the table, and she gets up and goes to get it. However, she is unable to get it as it is constantly on the move whenever she tries to pick it up. This adventure takes her all over the school which includes down the stairs and even outside onto the grass. When she is on the grass, we see her looking round trying to find the pencil case but this fails as she is unable to find it. Shortly after, we learn that she was sleeping and she dreamt the whole adventure and the teacher slams the pencil case on the table in front of her to wake her up. This is how the film ends. 

Shots Used

I think that this camera exercise was done very well as this group used a variety of different shots and used them effectively. For example, the film starts off with a medium shot of the girl and the environment that she is in. This is a good use of camera because it is the start of the film and it sets the tone for the film. For this one shot, we can see the activity that is going on and the setting. We can see that she is writing in a classroom and using the medium shot makes this clear. The next good shot used is a point of view (POV) shot. This is a shot where the camera is placed into the position of where the character is so we can see what the character is seeing. This is a useful shot because it places the audience into the characters shoes so they can understand the situation that the character is going through. The next shot is a long shot which again is used to show the environment and what the girl is actually doing. We can see her and we can see the pencil case which is achieved by using a long shot. The next shot used is an over the shoulder which again is used to make the audience feel like they are in the characters shoes. The next shot used is a tilt shot in which the camera moves down. This is to show the girl looking down the stairs and seeing that the pencil case is there. The next shot used is a tracking shot. This is used when the girl is walking and trying to get the pencil case. This is used effectively as it shows the struggle of the girl trying to get the pencil case but being unsuccessful. Another shot used well is the close up when the girl is outside. This is good because we get to see her facial expression which clearly shows that she is confused and is worried about her pencil case. Another shot which is used well is the crane shot. This is used when the girl is outside looking for her pencil case. This shot is used well because it makes her look small and vulnerable and makes the audience see how bad the situation is for the girl as she is unable to find the pencil case. 

How to Improve

There a few ways in which this film could of been made better. For Example, it would of been better if there was no errors in the film. A big error that I saw was at the end of the crane shot in where the camera wobbled. Another way to improve the film would be to use a few more different types of shot. An extreme close up would be my recommendation. 

Overall 

All things considered, I think that this was a good short film as it included many of the shots that a film should have. They was also used effectively. The storyline was good and only a slight error was made with the camera.

Cinematography

Cinematography - The art of photography and camerawork in film-making

 An Extreme Close Up shot is a shot which zooms in one particular item in the shot and makes sure the focus in on this one thing. For example, in the picture above, that is an extreme close up of an eye and this is the only thing that is shown. 

A close up shot is a shot which is zoomed in but not as zoomed in as a extreme close up. A close up shot would show more than just an eye and would show a whole face. However, the close up shot means that the face would be the main part of the shot.

A medium shot is a shot which would show a persons face and a bit of their body. The shot wouldn’t contain their whole shot as that is too zoomed out, and a medium shot would usually show their chest and stomach area but nothing else. 

A long shot is a shot which contains a lot of things and it shows the audience a number of things. It would usually show how many people there are in that scene, what the setting is like and what activities they are performing at that certain time. For example, in the shot above, we can see a lot of people, and we can see that the setting is a football pitch and they are playing football.

An extreme long shot is a shot where you can see everything. It is used to show settings in full detail. It is designed to make everything look small so you can see everything. For example, in the picture above, the extreme long shot shows the setting in full detail so you can see everything around it and the houses are made to look tiny.

A point of view shot is a shot where the audience feel like they are in the characters shoes. The shot is used to make the audience see what the character can see and so they can feel the same emotions.

 An over the shoulder shot is mainly used when two characters are having a conversation. It is used to put the characters in their setting so the audience can see where they are. 

A birds eye view is what it says. It is where the camera is in the position high up in the sky of where a bird would be and it is looking down. The shot is used to make everything look small so a whole setting can be seen.

A high angle shot is where the camera is high up looking down on the character. The shot is designed to make the character look small, vulnerable and in danger.

A low angle shot is where the camera is low down and is looking up. The shot is designed to make everything look bigger and more intimidating.

A tracking shot is when the camera moves along with the action. It does this by travelling along using some wheels on some kind of track so it can keep up with the action.

A rolling shot is a shot where the camera follows the action with the camera man walking/running along. This means the camera is unstable and shakes about alot and this can be used to show the state of mind of the character.

 

 

A pan is when the camera follows the character is a horizontal way. The camera can either pan left or right. It is used to follow a character.

A tilt is when the camera moves vertically. The camera can either tilt up or down. This can be used to slowly establish small details about characters.

A crane shot is a shot where the camera zooms out and goes vertically. This is used to show the helplessness of one character where we see that they are alone and have no one to help them. 

A steadicam is used to film around difficult places. For example, in this film, the steadicam is used to film around a maze as the camera needs to be steady when moving about all of the corners.