SEE: 0.33 - 1.49 AND 1.58 - 2.07 AND 4.16 - 4.35 AND 4.58 - 5.55 - THESE ARE THE MOST NOTABLE SHOTS WHICH WILL INFLUENCE ME.
The above scenes, taken from 'Rear Window' by Alfred Hitchcock, feature extreme long shots, point of view shots as well as long shots and pans. These are all POV shots that put the audience as voyeur directors; watching people go about their daily lives from afar. Something that makes these scenes voyeuristic is the use of the extreme long shots, which place the audience and character a long distance away from the people being watched, and therefore we know that we or the character watching can be seen. We get pleasure out of this, also. This voyeuristic approach will be something that influences me as I wish to use extreme long shots, pans and POV shots, but in the opposite way: instead of the audience being the protagonist and watching the antagonist, I want the audience to see through the eyes of the antagonist as he stalks his victim, who is the protagonist in my short film. Another stylistic that I wish to use is the extreme long shot, previously mentioned, but used to have a different effect on the audience. The above clip of 'Rear Window' features extreme long shots, and what the audience are supposed to be looking at isn't clear. This makes the audience have to search through the frame, looking for the point of interest. This emphasises the voyeur-director of the audience as they are engaging with the film, looking for something which they're supposed to be looking at. In my short film, I will use this influence to make it hard for the audience to find the victim (after all, the killer is only human, and therefore can't magically suddenly spot his/her victim) and has to search the setting for his prey. In the same way as the example above, this will make the audience engage with the film by searching the diegesis for the victim, wanting to find her so we can kill her, put simply. This psychological feature highlights the genre, making the use of it correct for the genre as it is engaging with the audience on a psychological level, but more importantly it is turning the audience in to the killer. Another sequence from one of Alfred Hitchcock's other films will also influence me in the same way, as it too turns the audience in to the killer as well as the victim. This film is 'Psycho', one of the great psychological thriller films, and I will be focusing on the "pre-shower" sequence:
Psycho:
This small sequence, taken from the film 'Psycho', Dir: Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1960, shows the antagonist watching, who we presume to be, the protagonist (due to the actor's star qualities (although she turns out to be a minor character as she dies quite near the beginning of the film)) through a peep hole. The first shot is a close-up of the peephole, although Norman Bates is seen in the shot, the focus is on the peephole due to it being critical to our voyeur-director experience. This then cuts to Norman Bates' face, at a close-up about to look through the peephole. This connotes that, because he is shown in profile, he is the antagonist, although throughout the film, apart from the various hints, the audience believe it is his mother committing the crimes. Following this is a cut to a female undressing in her hotel room (Marion Crane). This shot is a POV shot, at a mid-shot angle, as we are looking through Norman's eyes. This is enhanced through the use of an elliptical camera lense, with the corners of the shot rounded, as to resemble the edges of the hole Norman is looking through. This puts the audience in the shoes of Norman, and we have become voyeur directors, which is emphasised by another use of cuts. The next cut is to an extreme close up of Norman Bates' eye, looking through the hole. This draws the audience in further, and the use of non-diegetic sound, in the form of strings/violin music, seals this. As the sound, starting off quiet, gradually grows louder, adding this with the use of reverse syntax from a MCU to CU and then to ECU, draws the audience in, making their experience as voyeurs more natural, especially when we see Norman's eyes and the hole, making for an intense shot.
The non-diegetic sound, I believe, represents the heart rate of Norman as well as the audience. As the sound volume increases, and as we see Norman's eye in ECU, followed by the POV shot of Marion undressing, the scene also becomes more intense, an we can imagine Norman's heart rate go up, as well as most of the audience's as we spy on Marion in a private act. In addition to this, the music used allows the seamless flow from this scene to the next, as the staccato sounds found in the shower scene, representing the cutting motion of the knife as 'Norman's mother' kills Marion, fits in with the sound scheme, as it flows from the previous scene. It is also worth noting that, when the camera brings the audience closer, as previously said, turns the audience in to voyeurs, when the camera cuts from the point of view shot to reveal Norman in a MCU angle, the audience un-become voyeurs because of the framing, with the peep hole no longer in shot.
The mise en scene in Marion's bedroom is representative of Norman's nature as he is on the outside. He seems nice, and so the picture frames in the guest room were Marion is staying are of small, cute birds. Furthermore, playing on the infamy, which he must've knew he'd get, with the shower scene, the shower is seen in the background. As we see Marion in the private act of undressing, the use of binary opposition is found. Norman is wearing white, as we see him as an innocent, believing the murders to be down to his mother, and Marion's underwear (costume) being black. This latter point is because black is less seductive, and she is, at this point, an anti-hero. This is because she previously stole a large sum of money and is effectively on the run, but because she is played by Janet Leigh, a huge star who incidentally is printed on the DVD package as well as the theatrical release posters, even though she isn't the main character of the film, the audience assume that she is the protagonist. Furthermore, because black is seen as less-seductive and she is wearing respectable underwear, as well as Norman, a male, not being in the same room as her, the regulators such as the BBFC haven't censored the scene as it follows all of the regulations expected at the time of release and onward. Norman's room has effective mise en scene, also. The curtains are drawn in the shot with the profile shot of Norman, as well as the room being darkly-lit, connoting that he's up to no good. In addition to this, when the camera cuts to a MCU when he moves his head away from the peephole, we can see a stuffed eagle in the background. Eagle's are predators and the fact that the eagle is behind his back is like a comparison, connoting that he is a predator, and therefore the antagonist. We also see a stuffed eagle in the same shot of Norman in the previous scene were he and Marion are talking. I wish to achieve something like this in my short film, as well as turning the audience in to voyeur directors, by adding something subtle to it. As seen in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I may add an ambient, diegetic sound of an eagle in the distance, when my antagonist is finally revealed, to have the same affect as the above clip has.
(The scene was watched on a DVD because the YouTube video I had was taken off, and another couldn't be found).
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