Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock (2nd Edition)
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- "Hitchcock Whisperer" Jeffrey Michael Bays takes a phenomenally detailed dive into this master director's visual language and suspense-crafting techniques. Throughout his career Alfred Hitchcock would piece together influences from German Expressionists, Soviet Montage theorists, and British macabre plays, to become the most prolific director in film history. For six decades he would actively shape the cinema artform as it transforms from silent to sound to color.
To get a free PDF containing 37 pages of Hitchcock quotes and notes used in this documentary, email jeff@borgus.com
Read the book:
www.amazon.com/Suspense-Camer...
Clips from motion pictures in this documentary are utilized under the Fair Use Doctrine, 17 U.S. Code § 107.
MUSIC
“Big Screen” by Silent Partner from CZcams Audio Library
“Intrigue” by Max Surla & Media Right Productions from CZcams Audio Library
“Pooka” by Kevin MacLeod from CZcams Audio Library
“Voyeur” by Jingle Punks from CZcams Audio Library
“Rag Time Time” by Doug Maxwell, Media Right Productions from CZcams Audio Library
“Echinoderm Regeneration” by Jingle Punks from CZcams Audio Library
Jeffrey Michael Bays
www.borgus.com
© 2021 Borgus Productions
All rights reserved
To get a free PDF containing 37 pages of Hitchcock quotes and notes used in this documentary, email jeff@borgus.com
I take it I'm still the only one who finds Hitchcock's shooting of the shower scene in Psycho poorly done, the knife in no danger of actually piercing Ms. Leigh, and the editing itself somewhat flaccid?
Just saw it and it was FANSTASTIC. If you're a filmmaker or movie fan you will love this!
This essay deserves more than 8500 views. There are no shortage of film related video essays on youtube, but few are as well constructed and clearly presented as this. There is value here whether you are interested in film history, film production, or screenwriting.
Thank you William!
1000%. I am constantly searching CZcams for film essays like this. Very rare do I find analysis of a directors film techniques at this level.
This is the BEST video I have ever seen that discusses the works and film language of Alfred Hitchcock. Thank you!
Thank you John!!
@@borgusfilm you are welcome!!!
Watch the listening
Proximity to the actors faces
Close up - nervousness or suspicion
Behind shot - denial
Side - guilt
Wide shot - emotional distance
High - objective or supernatural
The closer to the face equal more emotion.
Tracking away means its beyond our control
Tracking from wide to close u can find a hidden secret
Cutting from wide to close = shock
Following an actor emphasizes emotion
Moving the camera to the next shot instead of cutting holds onto tension
Long stationary camera shot allows opposing forces to converge within the screen space line in Marnie with the office cleaner.
Fast cutting is impressionistic can stretch out a fast event or evoke things not seen on the screen for the audiences imagination
Thanks for the summaries. Y have to stay organized.
I think of Alfred Hitchcock as a behavioral psychologist using film to get specific reactions out of the audience. Other directors, even great ones, concentrated on what was _in the frame._ Alfred Hitchcock never for a moment lost focus on the _effect_ of what was in that frame on the audience.
Analyzing his visual language and suspense-crafting techniques is fascinating and valuable but sometimes I think a problem is it’s, well, _analytical._ What makes Hitchcock great is not just the visual language or his suspense-crafting technique but that all of that occurs in basically _every_ frame of his films, creating a unified synthesis. No shot is a throwaway, no angle is just a random placement of the camera. _Every_ moment is thought-out, conscious, deliberate-again, with reference to the _effect_ on the audience. There’s almost a paradox in that, while Hitchcock had the audience on the edge of their seats for most of a film, that same audience could feel secure in surrendering to his control, knowing, perhaps unconsciously, that he knew exactly what he was doing to give them a thrilling ride.
Great. Yes, behavioral psychologist trying to elicit specific emotional reactions. I would say that it's the goal of all art. The emotional reaction.
@@ArthurXandTheScars Thanks. If you listen to Hitchcock, that’s exactly the way he talks about what he’s doing, even if he doesn’t frame it in terms of behavioral psychology. Other directors don’t talk about what they do in the same way.
Feet = safety, dramatic introduction to a character, personality differences, lack of safety, sense of place
Hands = anxiety and shock, interact with objects, objects are evidence of a crime, uneasiness
Eyes = shows thought process, the mind at work, show what they are looking at
Alfred Hitchcock's largest payday came from the film Psycho. He deferred his salary in exchange for 60% of the movie's profits. This resulted in an estimated $15 million payday, which adjusted for inflation is around $120 million today.
Oh man, this is so great. Thanks!
Interesting ideas on Hitchcock and sound. He eventually had an entire separate SOUND script for his movies. I once got a look at the sound script for The Birds and it is jaw dropping and precise and full of genius. He puts EMOTION into doors opening, feet scraping, the sounds of the mother cooking in the kitchen in Shadow of a Doubt etc. etc. As you mentioned, the 'incidental music' of the carousel was personally chosen with great care by Hitchcock. It was a song of his childhood and undoubtedly the words "...his brain was so loaded it nearly exploded, the poor girl shook with alarm..." take on scary meaning. Love the visuals and diagrams you use to clarify your points. As you noticed, I can't shut up about Hitch.
I like the sound script idea.
I feel like I just graduated film school. Who should I send the $120K to? Seriously, this is essential viewing for anyone interested in writing gripping stories or making excellent films. Amazing - thank you sincerely for sharing this. I'm going to review my short film based on Hitchcock and apply these lessons.
Todd, thanks so much for the kind words. This video was a labor of love for me. Great to see its having an impact on fellow filmmakers. -- JMB
Great video thanks...He was a master. I actually met the lady who was originally his script girl in the UK ...who left the UK with the family when he went to the USA and she was then his daughter's nanny later housekeeper before returning to the UK. She told me there was a knock on the door one day and she answered it. It was Cary Grant who said "Hi" to her and kissed her on the cheek. She told me she didn't wash for a week. I also saw and waved to Pat Hitchcock (his daughter) when she came to the UK and took her ex-nanny out to lunch. She always remembered her nanny. Pat was dressed in a red trouser suit and was with another lady and a man who drove the car. She (the nanny) had a photo of Hitch standing beside a bus...he was holding a sign that said "Hallo ...." But I have forgotten her name...darn it...anyone remember?
I am a full-blown Hitchcock lover.
I am deeply in love with his British films as the foundation of his cinema achievements.
His American films are great because of his British movie-making skill.
Hitchcock's experience in movie-making with the German and British studio systems enriched his filmic achievements.
When we say we love Hitchcock's movies, we are paying tribute to his international experience with film-making in his early days.
Agreed. I have only just discovered that he made films prior to Rebecca and have worked my way through what I could find and watch. Can definitely see his development as a director and there are absolutely moments in those earlier films that make you go "ooh, that's where that Hitchcock film-making came from." They are not all great films, in the same league as Psycho and Vertigo, but they are well worth the time and effort to hunt down and watch, just to see the evolution of a director.
@@waynechesser2000 I agree completely! Some of these British films are good, not great (Sabotage, The Secret Agent).
The Man Who Knew Too Much (34), The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes are masterpieces and in their primitiveness, are unique, unforgettable films.
Imitation flatters but is still only copies of an original. I am a fan of Hitchcock from his earliest films. There is one shot in Psycho that is pure Hitchcock. Arbogast, played perfectly by Balsam, is showing Norman the registry book. The camera is below and pointing up at Norman's throat as he's chewing his candy corn. No one but Hitchcock would choose that shot. Extraordinary!
This is amazing!!
Fantastic production value, Jeffrey. Engaging, educational and hypnotic.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Travis! Much appreciated.
Excellent presentation. Really enjoyed it. Hope there will be more...
Thanks Pauric!
Really excellent work. Thank you. Very inspiring.
Imma come back and rewatch this many times.
This is fantastic. Inspiring and informational. Thanks!
Really enjoyed this documentary. 👍
Love this - thank you ⛩🎥🎬
great quality! amazing content. love it.
Thank you Savannah!
Excellent! I did two video essays in 1992 by editing from my VHS collection suspenseful scenes from the opening of RICH 'N STRANGE to FAMILY PLOT but ending on the last scene of PSYCHO for overall effect. It took me hours do it perfectly with a VCR! Some students studied my essay when they did cinema studies. I have understood Hitchcock since discovering him in the early 80's. Love your shot frequency, that was something I really really noticed when I saw his movies! Now I have them on blu ray and 4k! Wish I had done my own show on Hitch. 😁
Thanks so much for watching. Would love to see your VHS video, Peter! If you want to appear as an expert on Hitch20 send me an email jeff@borgus.com. We'll be picking that up again later this year hopefully.
@@borgusfilm would love that. I will reach out.
Great video 👍👍
Excellent video essay
The world needs a modern day Hitchcock, Hollywood is dead.
I think Jordan peele is getting close
@@bendockter9989 I will check it out
Eh. The illiteracy at 6:13 is unfortunate. As an alternative, it's fine; as a commandment, absurd.
Let's just say each of today's great directors should make at least one "homeage film" dedicated to Hitchcock instead of a scene or two in their films.
If only tot prove their capability (and justify their salary).
@@bendockter9989Jordan Peele is getting nowhere near Hitchcock. No one currently is. Ari Aster is interesting though, I can see him as a major director in the years to come. Beau is Afraid truly will be a major movie
Excellent observations
Excellent video! My favorite class in all of college was a course on Hitchcock I took when I was in graduate school. I had been a film major as an undergraduate and studied photography in graduate school, minoring in film theory. I’ve never enjoyed homework and research as much as I did in that class! I spent countless hours in the professor’s office discussing all sorts of aspects of Hitchcock’s films.
My main project for the semester was looking at Hitchcock’s coded references to homosexuality - since he couldn’t just say that a character was gay, he had to give clues in other ways. I went through more than half his films looking for coded references to homosexuality, finding them in quite a few films. This was in the 1980s when there hadn’t been much published on the topic. I should have expanded that research into a book of my own…
Very interesting! Also notable the numerous gay actors he cast throughout his career. There are quite a few -- Ivor Novello, Raymond Burr, Farley Granger, Cary Grant, Anthony Perkins... there are more. Definitely a book there somewhere!
Can't wait to see this! 😀
Very fascinating stuff!
Really well done!
Well, this is really good. Thank you.
Wonderful
Excelente! , obviamente tengo tu libro, al fin alguien que me ayuda a entender las técnicas de Hitchcock, tengo todas sus películas, pero era muy difícil para mí entender como lo hacia, gracias!
Gracias!
This was good ! 👍
Great
Nice
The feet reveal where we are going, while the hands reveal what we are doing
03:30 camera techniques
One of the great "loosh" generators, was old Hitch.
Loosh?
@@maryannangros8834 Yes. Loosh. Do the research and be amazed. Hitch was a master.
Crack , Greetings from Peru.
No wonder Tarantino keeps bringing Hitchcock down,he's incapable of telling a story without dialogue,ie all the VO scenes in Hateful Eight or in OUTIH,where he literally stops the film and lays down the plot.Two different schools,I guess,one of pure Cinema and the other Audio Books on screen.
Well said…
Two different schools for sure, but that doesn’t invalidate either. Tarantino doesn’t “stop the film” to explain plot. His dialog is almost always used like music. It’s there to either create suspense or used as a comedic counterbalance to the situation. Whenever he does an exposition dump, it’s done in a satirical nature to pay homage to the old melodramas he loves. His problem with Hitchcock’s films is that he believes the Haze Code held him back from truly being as disturbingly violent as he could be. But he’s also recently called Hitchcock “one of the greatest filmmakers of all time”. He clearly is not ragging on Hitchcock so much as on the censors. That being said, although Tarantino is my favorite filmmaker, I actually disagree on this point. I think the fact that Hitchcock had to deal with censorship and STILL got away with what he did is a testament to his brilliance. But that takes nothing away from my adoration of Tarantino and his brilliance. One can appreciate vastly different filmmakers without undermining either. 🎞️🎥
@@matthewrocca4197 that’s a good point on censorship in some ways engendering creativity….zizek talks about that, and of course he’s a big Hitchcock guy
Tarantino is an idiot, an ignoramus for art and like a mere child doing magic tricks in comparison to the giants he flippantly attacks, never with any substance or actual critical thought to take seriously of course. Always the big mouthed contrarian yet I’ve not heard one thing come out of his mouth that suggests an intellect or understanding of the art. A decent entertainer (except when he’s making trash like Hateful Eight or Once Upon a Time) but no one should ever take his views seriously
Wes Anderson is the complete opposite to Hitchcock.
I wonder if Mr. Larson will see this..?
This principle of his to simplify everything and keepe the audience informed so they would emote backfired in Vertigo, imo. Ha ing Judy write that confession letter may have kept the audience informed, but it underminded suspense, was anticlimactic and prevented a natural, suspenseful denouement.
& you're a better director than *Hitchcock*
@@googleuser2609 Um, of course not. No one is above criticism though.
Thank you for saying that. IDK why anytime you point out a criticism people can just say And you're better than Shakespeare (or whomever)?@@JT-rx1eo
Hitchcock was never a good actor's director. Just look at Topaz, or Tippie Hedren in Marnie. But when he cast correctly, he got by very well like in Frenzy. Hitch was very good at the visual aspects of cinema, at that he was superb.
Why are his films so significant? How about: he was the greatest director who ever lived. The “development” of cinema after Hitch disproves the theory of evolution.
Tarantino should be called tarantula, spewing venom.