Case study of Alfred Hitchcock and his developments of the codes and

conventions in his films

As well as being the pioneer of thriller, Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director and producer.
He pioneered a variety of techniques especially in the psychological thriller and suspense genre.
Often nicknamed as "The Master of Suspense", Hitchcock had a hugely successful career in British
cinema with both the production of both silent films and also 'early talkies'.
Alfred Hitchcock made himself famous using various forms of cinematography, one of which came
across to be a distinctive yet recognisable form of directing. He came across to be most famous
because of a particular shot type, which was used to mimic an individual's gaze and maximise the
emotions felt by the audience when they watch the film. The emotions felt by the audience included
anxiety, empathy and fear.
Psycho
In this film, Hitchcock used a common stereotype of a female being the victim. Her vulnerability is
increased because of the fact she's naked in the shower. In addition to this, low-key lighting was
used to create a shadow effect, which created a sense of mystery amongst the audience as they are
unable to see who it is, it was used to hide the killers identity. In addition to this, it may have also
been used to represent the inner darkness within the individual, the shadow effect can also add to
the tension that is being created. Black and white editing is another convention which Alfred
Hitchcock may have used so the narrative gets across to the audience as 'dark' and eerie.
He used a lot of close-up shots of the female protoganist character to emphasise her emotions and
helplessness, Hitchcock also used close-up shots of the mystery killer welding a knife, this may have
been a way of him aiding the narrative. At the time of Psycho's release, one film critic described it as
'nasty,skilful & clever' from this, we can see that the individual who gave this response was able to
see the manipulative emotions and responses that Alfred Hitchcock was perhaps intending the
audience to feel or think about.
The Birds (1963)
Within this film, Alfred Hitchcock emphasises gender roles significantly. He used a typical character
dress code based on gender within the film because males are in suits, on the other hand the female
characters were wearing dresses and jewellery. Although, one similarity was that regardless of their
gender, victims were usually shown to be isolated. In many of his films we includes countless images
of birds, for example in 'The Birds' the narrative is based upon a flock of birds attacking a small town
called Bodega Bay. Another example of this may be in 'Pyscho' where Norman describes Marion's

eating behaviour as "eats like a bird."

Alfred seemed to get strong stereotype views of genders across in his film, because in 'Pulp Fiction',
males and females have similar dress codes as they did in 'The Birds', males were shown to be
wearing suits and ties, whereas females wore skirts and high heels.
Rather than taking the time to decide which actors he should give roles to for his film, he often
decided that major movie stars were the best way to go. This is because they have a well-known
fanbase that's already established, therefore he didn't have to worry much about whether they'd
need guidance when it comes to acting, he was more keen to focus on the plot on his films rather
than anything else.
Mistaken identity is a common plot device in many of his films, in my opinion this is an interesting
way of engaging the audience further into the storyline, they'll start wondering who the actual
criminal could be, and continuously ask themselves questions as the film goes on. An example of this
may be in 'The 39 Steps', where the main character (Richard Hannay) is mistaken for a government
spy.
Besides him having an attraction for blonde women, Alfred Hitchcock had a dramatic preference for
them because they were "a symbol of the heroine". He claims that he chose them over brunettes
because they photographed better in black & white, which was the predominant colour for most of
his films. Blonde women were the typical female leads for most of his films, they would often
become a romantic interest for the male hero towards the end of the film.
Rather than shooting at the actual location of the scene, Alfred Hitchcock preferred shooting in the
studio as he had full control over factors such as lighting. Although he did frequently use bathrooms
as a setting to some of his films, they were often used as a plot device, a hiding place or somewhere
lovers used to go. In addition to this, Hitchcock frequently used the letters "BM", which standed for
'Bowel Movement'.
Use of shadows
More noticeably in his early films such as the "Glowing Milk" scene in 'Suspicion' or the shadow
during the opening scene of 'Saboteur', Hitchcock used to create more shadows reflected on the
wall to emphasise the tension and suspense that he intends to build amongst the audience.
"Macguffins"
His use of his "Macguffins" drove the plot in most of his films and somehow the objects associated
back to the film's characters. Although to most of the audience, they will have gone unnoticed and
forgotten. Some of these examples include bottled uranium in 'Notorious', the microfilm in 'North
By Northwest' and the $40,000 in the sealed envelope in 'Psycho'.
The Perfect Murder
As mentioned earlier, murder was one of the themes which was mainly used by Alfred Hitchcock in
his films. Several of his movies features characters who are deeply fascinated regarding the craft of
murder. It's often treated as a highly-intellectual puzzle, where it requires the killers to carry out the
murder crime without leaving any evidence at the scene, the characters seek to establish a "perfect

murder". This is demonstrated in 'Strangers on a Train', 'Rope' and also 'Vertigo'.

In order to extend cinematic time, he used to alternate between various shot types, this also helped
him build up suspense within the films. Examples of where he used this technique may have been
during the climax built up in the film 'Saboteur' or the cropduster sequence in 'North by Northwest'.
In scenes which had the involvement of cars, he would often use shots such as the character's
viewpoint while they're driving, or the dashboard. This made the audience feel as if they're more
engaged in the film, creating more realism as the film goes on.
Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock was able to direct more than fifty films.