Alfred As The Master Of Suspense In The Climbing Frame Scene In The Film The Birds
'The Birds' is a film made in the 1960's based on the short story 'The
Birds' by Daphne Du Maurier. The film was directed by Alfred
Hitchcock, a British born director who is known for other tense,
suspense filled films such as 'Psycho' and 'Vertigo'. Due to the
extensive special effects of the film, it took three years to make.
During the film Hitchcock created several suspense filled, tense
scenes. Including the 'Climbing Frame' scene. Alfred Hitchcock tries
to live up to his title 'The Master Of Suspense' whilst creating
scenes like this and the following essay looks at if he achieved this.
The film is set in Bodega Bay - a small town by the sea. All the
residents of the town a fairly close together and know each other
well.
The 'Climbing Frame; scene takes place during the middle of the film.
So far, the main characters have been introduced including Melanie
Daniels - the most central character in the film. Also, other
characters like Annie Hayworth - the school teacher Cathy Brenner - a
girl who attends the Bodega Bay School and also Mitch Brenner, Cathy's
older brother.
Previously in the film there have been several attacks on the
residents of Bodega Bay by birds. The people of the town repudiate the
fact that these birds are attacking everybody. Lydia Brenner (Mitch's
younger sister) discovers that her neighbour has been slaughtered by
these birds and is unwell after an encounter with the body of the
murdered farmer. Lydia asks Melanie to go a pick up Melanie from the
Bodega Bay School. Melanie kindly agrees, and without hesitation
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mind. He uses the characters feelings and emotions to make the
audience feel worried and tense.
Hitchcock has used the point of creating birds as creatures which
could create so much terror in an effective way. It has a
psychological feeling in that birds are common everyday animals and
that they could turn against anyone, anywhere. When someone looks up
into the sky and sees a bird, they will reminisce about the film and
remember the birds as a symbol of terror.
Although Hitchcock has created suspense and tension in an effective
way. I think modern audiences might react differently to the film. I
think this because he uses the sound and camera work to send emotions
into the minds of the audiences. But modern day films are created in a
different style in which everything is there for the audience to see.
In the movie, the old west town of Hadyville, New Mexico and the tropical Ship-Trap island in the short story are very similar. "Metric goes down to the desk...other
The Birds, the movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was based on the short story “The Birds” written by Daphne du Murrier. If you would have read the book and then watched the movie, you would see that very few things are the same. In both the short story and the movie flocks of gulls, robins, crows, and sparrows join each other. This is really weird because different species of birds never work together. The story and the film both have the same climate. It is cold and chilly; “the ground is frozen and it will be a black winter.” The climate gives the versions of the story a creepy and suspenseful feeling.
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