Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock 1899-1980 was a famous English director, best known for his psychological films and the techniques he used to make them so suspenseful and thrilling.  Hitchcock has a recognisable style in his films such as the way he uses the camera, he made it move in a way that mimics a persons gaze. He framed shots in order to increase the fear and empathy. He is also knwn for using icy blonde female characters who were usually on the run from a crime. A lot of is films ends with a twist along with thrilling plots that involve violence, deaths and crimes. Within 60 years Hitchcock directed more than 50 feature films and he is frequently regarded as films most significant artist.

In 1926 Hitchcock directed his first thriller called The Lodger:A Story of the London Fog, it became a huge success in the UK, it was a film that was influenced by the 'Expressionist' techniques that Hitchcock has in fact seen in germany first hand.

In 1929, Hitchcock was working on his 10th film called Blackmail, while in the early stages it was decided by the BIP (British International Pictures) to convert is to sound. And because it was an early 'talkie' this film acts as a landmark film as the first British sound feature film. Blackmail was the start of the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences.

The the series 'The Men Who Made The Movies' Hitchcock said that he used early sound recording as a special element, emphasizing the word 'Knife' in a conversation with a woman who was suspected of murder.

In 1934 in the film The 39 Steps, was one of the first films to use the 'MacGuffin' concept, which is essentially a plot device which is what the entire story seems to revolve around, but overall has nothing to do with the true meaning or ending of the film story.

In 1941 Hitchcock produced his first film called Suspicion. It is about a wife who becomes increasingly suspicious of her husband because of his actions, lies and strange behavior, and thinks that he is planning to kill her for the life insurance. In this film there is a well known scene where hitchcock has used a lightbulb to light up what may be a fatal glass of milk.

One of Hitchcock's most famous film has to be Psycho. A black and white film about a man who has a psychological problem where he has a split personality. This film contains a shower scene with violence and blood, the demise of the heroine, innocent lives destroyed by a disturbed murderer were all trademarks of Hitchcock. Another famous hitchcock film is Birds. About an infestation of birds that attack the people of that area. This film also contains blood and violence but is essentially a mystery as the answer as to why the birds attack is never answered to highlight the mystery forces of unknown.

Both of these films used unconventional music. one of the most famous being from Psycho, where the screeching of strings is played during the shower scene. In birds an unaccompanied song sung by school children.