Studying Four Films by Alfred Hitchcock

Studying Four Films by Alfred Hitchcock

In this piece of media coursework, I will study four films, which were

directed by Alfred Hitchcock. These films are called "North by

Northwest", "Vertigo", "Psycho" and "The 39 Steps". I will explain

what the films are about and explain how the three films start. I will

also explain how the three film titles are written and the colours of

the films.

Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899 in England and he died in 1980 in

America. His full name was Alfred Joseph Hitchcock and he lived for

most of his life in California, America. He made thriller, love and

action films. We remember him now because he was a high-quality

director. He made excellent films and people still watch his films

today.

The films he made in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s are called "Boy's

Flat Caps" [1920s] and "The Rise of the Great Escape" [1930s]. In his

early films his wife, Alma Reville, helped him. Three other examples

of his Hollywood films are "Rebecca" [1940], "Suspicion" [1941] and "Saboteur"

[1942].

The first film we watched was called "North by Northwest". In the

first fifteen minutes I think the film is about kidnapping a man

because of a misunderstanding and I also think it is about action and

thriller.

The first dominant colour, which comes on the screen, is green to show

the idea that somebody is being gullible. Roger Thornhill is being

gullible. The writing comes on the lines and then the lines change to

a building. On that building you can see the shape of yellow taxis and

the shape of the houses and therefore the city must be New York City.

The title moves from top to bottom and from left to right.

A good example of tension is when the scene where the man is standing

beside a road waiting for Caplan. The man is in the middle of nowhere.

He can only hear the sound of the cars, buses and plane noises. He can

see only cars and buses.