Rear Window
(1954)
Directed By Alfred Hitchcock
Who Was Alfred Hitchcock?
• Hitchcock was born on August 13th, 1899 in London,
England.
• He was raised by strict Catholic parents.
• He described his childhood as lonely and sheltered,
partly due to his obesity.
• He was once sent to a local police station by his father
as punishment for behaving badly.
• His mother would also make him stand at the foot of her
bed for several hours as punishment
• This idea of being harshly treated or wrongfully accused
would later be reflected in Hitchcock’s films.
Hitchcock Film Techniques
#1: It’s the Mind of the Audience
• Hitchcock knew why people are drawn to a darkened
theatre to absorb themselves for hours with images on a
screen They do it to have fun.
• Nothing is more important that how each scene is going
to affect the viewer.
• Viewers know they are safe.
• As a film director, you can throw things at them, hurl
them off a cliff, or pull them into a dangerous love story,
and they know that nothing will happen to them.
• They’re confident they’ll be able to walk out the door and
resume their normal lives.
• The more fun they’ll have, the more they’ll come back for
more!
#2: Frame for Emotion
• Emotion is the ultimate goal of each scene.
• Emotion comes directly from the actor’s eyes.
• You can control the intensity of that emotion by
placing the camera close or far away from those
eyes.
• Hitchcock used this theory of proximity to plan
out each scene.
• These variations are a way of controlling when
the audience feels intensity, or relaxation
#3: Camera is Not a Camera
• The camera should take on human qualities and
roam around playfully looking for something
suspicious in a room.
• This allows the audience to feel like they are
involved in uncovering the story.
• Scenes can often begin by panning a room
showing close-ups of objects that explain plot
elements.
• This goes back to silent films. Without sound,
filmmakers had to create ways to tell the story
visually in a succession of images and ideas.
#4: Dialogue Means Nothing
• One of your characters must be pre-occupied
with something during a dialogue scene.
• Their eyes can then be distracted while the other
person doesn’t notice.
• This is a good way to pull the audience into a
character’s secretive world.
• The focus of the scene should never be on what
the characters are actually saying.
• Have something else going on. Resort to
dialogue only when it’s impossible to do
otherwise.
#5: Point of View Editing
• Putting an idea into the mind of the character
without explaining it in dialogue is done by using
a point-of-view shot sequence.
• This is subjective cinema.
• You take the eyes of the character and add
something for them to look at.
• This is the most powerful form of cinema, even
more important than acting.
• The audience will believe they are sharing
something personal with the character.
#6: Suspense is Information
• “Information” is essential to Hitchcock suspense;
showing the audience what the characters don’t
see.
• If something is about to harm the characters,
show it at the beginning of the scene and let the
scene play out as normal.
• Constant reminders of this looming danger will
build suspense.
• But remember—the suspense is not in the mind
of the character. They must be completely
unaware of it.
Rear Window
• Rear Window is a story about a man who
becomes more fascinated with the lives
around him than living his own life.
• He uses his camera and window to peer
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 murder.
Things to Consider:
1. Why does Jefferies 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 identify?
Is this identification ever broken?
3. What is the film’s attitude toward
voyeurism?
4. Of what thematic significance is Jefferies’
profession?
5. In what ways does this profession
impinge on Jefferies’ romance with Lisa?
6. How effective is it in the climactic
confrontation with Thorvald?
Happy Screening!