Notes on Rear Window
(1954)
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Who Was Alfred Hitchcock?
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Hitchcock was born on August 13th, 1899 in London, England.
He was raised by strict ________________ parents.
He described his childhood as ___________ and ______________, partly due to his
obesity.
He was once sent to a local __________ station by his __________ as
________________ for behaving badly.
His _____________ would also make him ___________ at the foot of her bed for
_____________ hours as punishment.
This idea of being ____________ treated or wrongfully accused would later be
________________ in Hitchcock’s films.
Hitchcock Film Techniques
#1: It’s the Mind of the Audience
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___________________ knew why people are ______________ to a darkened theatre to
absorb themselves for hours with ___________ on a screen They do it to have
________.
Nothing is more important that how each scene is going to affect the viewer.
______________ know they are ___________.
As a film director, you can ___________ things at them, hurl them
________________________, or pull them into a _________________ love story, and
they know that _____________ with happen to them.
They’re _________________ they’ll be able to walk out the _________ and __________
their normal lives.
The more fun they’ll have, the more they’ll come back for more!
#2: Frame for Emotion
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Emotion is the ______________ goal of each scene.
_______________ comes directly from the _____________ eyes.
You can _____________ the intensity of that emotion by placing the _______________
close or far __________ from those __________.
Hitchcock used this ___________ of ______________ to plan out each scene.
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These ___________________ are a way of controlling when the ________________
feels intensity, or __________________.
#3: Camera is Not a Camera
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The camera should take on ______________ qualities and _________ around playfully
looking for something _____________________ in a room.
This ____________ the audience to feel like they are _________________ in
___________________ the story.
______________ can often begin by panning a room showing close-ups of ___________
that explain plot __________________.
This goes back to ____________ films. Without ___________, filmmakers had to create
ways to tell the story _______________ in a succession of images and ___________.
#4: Dialogue Means Nothing
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One of your _________________ must be pre-occupied with something during a
dialogue scene.
Their eyes can then be _______________ while the other person doesn’t notice.
This is a good way to pull the audience into a character’s _________________ world.
The _________ of the scene should ___________ be on what the characters are actually
saying.
Have something else going on. __________ to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do
_________________.
#5: Point of View Editing
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Putting an idea into the mind of the character without explaining it in dialogue is done by
using a __________-______-___________ shot ________________.
This is _____________________ cinema.
You take the eyes of the character and _________ something for them to look at.
This is the most __________________ form of _________________, even more
important than _____________.
The audience with _______________ they are sharing something _________________
with the character.
#6: Suspense is Information
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“_______________________” is essential to Hitchcock suspense; showing the audience
what the characters don’t see.
If something is about the ___________ the characters, show it at the
______________________ of the scene and let the scene play out as ________________.
Constant ______________________ of this ________________ danger will build
suspense.
But remember—the ________________ is not in the mind of the character. They must be
completely ______________ of it.
Rear Window
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Rear Window is a story about a man who becomes more ______________________ with
the lives around him than living his own life.
He uses his ________________ and ____________________ to __________ into the
lives of others.
Instead of solving his own problem, he becomes involved in his neighbors’ problems,
esp. when he thinks his neighbor has committed _________________.
Things to Consider
1. Why does _________________ watch his neighbors? Do their lives and problems
comment on or parallel his in any way?
2. Consider point of view in the film. With whom is the audience made to
______________? Is this identification ever broken?
3. What is the film’s _______________ toward voyeurism?
4. Of what _______________ significance is Jefferies’ profession?
5. In what ways does this profession ________________ on Jefferies’ romance with Lisa?
6. How ___________________ is it in the climactic confrontation with Thorvald?