A Comparison Of The Movie And The Birds

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The film The Birds, was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and loosely based on the short story, "The Birds" by Daphne Du Murrier. Like most films that portray a book on a screen, there are techniques used to draw the viewer that differ from the short story. The main audience of these two stories are provoked into emotional state of fear and fantasy that helps both versions complete their goal of creating a suspenseful plot. In this paper, I will compare and contrast the major differences and similarities between the short story and movie by addressing the unique film techniques, the interesting characters, and the overall theme. There are many areas of contrast between the movie and the short story. First, is the location of both stories are completely different. The film setting is located in Bodega Bay, California and is set in the early 1960's. The timing of this film is important because during the 1960's America was engaged in World War II and The Cold War, as it was called, was fueled by fear and the hint of nuclear warfare supremacy between Russia and America. So because of this social climate the "birds" represented in the film, unknown fear and paranoia. The birds symbol The setting of the short story is in Cornwall, England. This setting is described as a small town in England. However, the climate and mood of both settings is very similar. Both settings take on a cold and chilly climate that creates the creepy feeling of not being able to see the sky and both towns are small in population and isolated near water. The opening scenes of the film starts out with the main characters Melanie and Mitch meeting in the a bird shop and having an exchange of flirtatious conversation and Mitch plays a joke on Melanie and ask... ... middle of paper ... ... and no musical score and bird sounds to build emotion. The film focuses on the character and their relationships. Trapped in the house while the birds are attacking is Mitch, his mom, Lydia, his ex-girlfriend Annie, and his sister Cathy. All of these women are looking for Mitch's attention. He is the object of desire in the room. His mother clearly seems threatened in the film by any women trying to get his attention away from her. The tension in the house is only interrupted when the birds attack. These character dynamics are also very unique to the film, however, even in the original short story, Nat is also in a setting where he is trying to break the tension in his house hold and assure his family. For example, Nat continues tell his wife and children that things are going to be alright, even when the radio goes out. Both verisons of the story deliver

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