Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock used many different techniques that made his films popular and effective as a horror. Hitchcock always focused on how each scene would affect the audience. He made sure the content engaged them and reeled them in. Hitchcock believed that the camera should take on human qualities and roam around playfully looking for something suspicious in a room.  This allows the audience to feel like they are involved in uncovering the story.  Scenes can often begin by panning a room showing close-ups of objects that explain plot elements. One scene in the 1960 film ‘Psycho’ creates a forward momentum of suspense throughout the final Act. The phone call ‘Arbogast’ makes from a phone both in his final hours is a simple scene; lasting less than two minutes and comprised of only two shots this simple scene becomes a fresh look on cinematography, and how sometimes simple is more effective. Hitchcock ignites our curiosity at the outset of each film by his use of comical music score to his movement of camera through public space, and landscapes filled with caricatures. Hitchcock found new ways to manipulate the soundtrack in order to add new dimensions to the flat movie screen. Hitchcock was famous for leading his audience in one direction and then surprises them with a twist. This is a technique that is still used today in many narrative structures.  

Emotion was Hitchcock’s ultimate goal of each scene.  He considered where to place the camera so it would involve emotion in the. He believed emotion came directly from the actor's eyes and that he could control the intensity of that emotion by placing the camera close or far away from those eyes.  A close-up will fill the screen with emotion, and pulling away to a wide angle shot will dissipate that emotion.  A sudden cut from wide to close-up will give the audience a sudden surprise.  Sometimes a strange angle above an actor will heighten the dramatic meaning. Hitchcock used this theory of proximity to plan out each scene. These variations are a way of controlling when the audience feels intensity, or relaxation. “People don’t always express their inner thoughts to one another," said Hitchcock, "a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person thinks or needs.”  He believed that the focus of the scene should never be on what the characters are actually saying.  Have something else going on; and resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise.  "In other words we don’t have pages to fill, or pages from a typewriter to fill, we have a rectangular screen in a movie house,” said Hitchcock. 

Hitchcock had one style of directing that he used to build tension. This was start with a close-up of the actor, cut to a shot of what they're seeing, cut back to the actor to see his reaction and repeat as desired. This is now considered the most powerful form of cinema, even more important than acting.  Sometimes he had the actor walk toward the subject, then switched to a tracking shot to show his changing perspective as he walks. The audience will believe they are sharing something personal with the character.  This is what Hitchcock calls "pure cinema."
Hitchcock believed if your story is confusing or requires a lot of memorization, you're never going to get suspense out of it.  The key to creating energy is by using simplistic, linear stories that the audience can easily follow.  Everything in your screenplay must be streamlined to offer maximum dramatic impact.  Remove all extraneous material and keep it crisp.  Each scene should include only those essential ingredients that make things gripping for the audience. Hitchcock says, “What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out…” According to Hitchcock an abstract story will bore the audience. This is why Hitchcock tended to use crime stories with spies, assassinations, and people running from the police.  These sorts of plots make it easy to play on fear.

Hitchcock made all of his characters the exact opposite of what the audience expects in a movie. They should have unexpected personalities, making decisions on a whim rather than what previous build-up would suggest. These sort of ironic characters make them more realistic to the audience, and much riper for something to happen to them. Hitchcock criminals tend to be wealthy upper class citizens whom you’d never suspect, the policeman and politicians are usually the bumbling fools, the innocent are accused, and the villains get away with everything because nobody suspects them.  They surprise you at every step of the plot.