This is the North by North West Poster. It grabs peoples attention as it shows Cary Grant, who was one of the most successful actors of his time. As well as Alfred Hitchcock as director who was known as one of the best directors in the world. It was made in 1959 by Hitchcock.The picture shows Cary Grant with an airplane behind him, which leaves people mysterious and wanting to watch what is going to happen.
Alfred Hitchcock- The director, was named "The Master of Suspense" and pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He was born in August 13 1899 in Leytonstone, East London and died in April 29, 1980 in Bel-Air Los Angelees.
In all of his films Hitchcock planned every scene visually in advance. Before shooting Hitchcock has learned all the dialogue and rarely needs to look at a script. When directing Hitchcock never looked at his camera. The intricate plot was written by Ernest Lehman.North By NorthWest gets 8.5/10 ratings, which was clearly a big success.
- This shows us the trailer of North By NorthWest.
The Trailer shows us all the interesting and intense scenes from North By NorthWest, such as the shooting and Eva Saint hanging off the cliff in the final scene, which made people want to watch the film to see how they got to the situations and if they survive. It appealed to its audience because it showed a lot of Cary Grant who was a very famous actor at that time, it also showed a lot of its fast passing action scenes such as the shooting.
Now You See Me Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OtM9j2lcUA
This is a modern thriller movie made in 2013, compared to North By NorthWest it is more appealing to the audience of today, as it has better sound affects and has used non-dietetic sounds. North By North West has also used some non-dietetic sounds however it is more dull and contrapuntal and mainly a voice over.
Examples of where Hitchcock used high amount of suspense is the crop duster and the shooting scene scenes.
Crop Duster scene. This is also the fantasy Scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbpUcAI86MY
Alfred Hitchcock builds up the tension slowly and slowly by using a red herring at the side walk scene, and making the audience think that Roger is sent there to be shot. When we see the black limosine drive up we are expected to think that it is George Kaplan, but when it drives past that idea is slowly erased. Then a car pulls up and a man steps out of the car, now the audience are certain that this is Kaplan and the tension builds, as Roger goes up to this man we discover that he is only waiting for the bus and is not Kaplan. Once again the audience are confused at what will happen next and where exactly Kaplan is. The man then mentions "that's funny. That planes dusting crops where there aint no crops." The audience keep this in mind as the plane may hold a key point in this scene. And the suspense and Tension begins to build as we move onto the Crop Duster scene. The audience already know that if Mr.Thornhill was going to be murdered, he would have been shot and not taken to a remote place and killed by a crop duster. Conversingly, it makes it more exciting and builds up more and more tension as the auidence wonder what is going to happen next...
Hitctcock expresses his thoughts and talks though the scene in detail in his interview. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_7Es1h0eQ
Hitchcock believed the stress on the visual makes cinema accessible in different languages. This is because there isn't much dialogue taken place after the man leaves to get on the bus. In addition, if Mr.Thornhill was going to be murdered he would be shot, not get a crop duster to kill him, which builds up the tension and suspense as the audience wait for what is going to happen next. Another example of suspense is where Mr.Thornhill is driving while drunk in the car, it leaves the audience at edge wondering whether he is going to make it out of there alive.
Hitchcock likes the subjective view point close ups on a face, then what the person is looking at and then close up again as the character to reacts to what has been seen. Hitchcock said he wants to transfer the menace that appears in screen into the mind of the audience.
Drunk Driving Scene- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNsNlCPXGiA
Shooting scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAhKLfzDHcI
Examples of Cliff Hangers include the Mt,Rushmore Scene
Mt. Rushmore scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zr_zL_T3g8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0JcK4-Dx0 - Auction Scene
At the start of the Auction Scene we see Mr.Vamdamme stroking Eve Kendall's Back and slowly moving to her neck. At first we seem this is some sort of sexual tension, but looking closely it seems to appear as if he may be chocking her. This suggests Mr. Vandamne's dangerous and mysterious side. Also Alfred uses suspense and tension at the end of the auction scene when Mr. Thornhill pretends to be drunk to cause disorder and so that he doesn't have to face Mr. Vandamme's assiosaites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bdfenrWYTs- The ending of the Auction Scene, we see how shocked the other characters are by Thornhill's behavior. This is because they are all middle/upper class and Mr.Thornhill's behavior would be considered lower class and not elegant, or not how higher class people should act.
Hitchcock beliefs
- Mt. Rushmore is a symbol of order. Hitchcock throws in disorder.
- Hitchcock said that audiences often need relief from suspense - a change of pace. e.g a joke. An Example of this is where Roger gets kidnapped and is in the car and makes a joke.
- He states " A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome".
- The MacGuffin is a plot or device in the form of some goal or desired object, this is often where the audience don't care about. In North by NorthWest the MacGuffin is the microfilm. In the end Eve and Roger get the microfilm but all the audience care about is what happens to Mr.Vandanm and if they survive!
North By NorthWest also follows narrative theory of 5 stages
1. The equilibrium is when Roger is having some drinks with his friends at the bar.
2. The disruption of the order by that event is where Roger gets mistaken as Kaplan and gets kidnapped by Mr. Vandame's associates.
3. Roger than realizes what is going on, and that he has been mistaken for someone who he isn't.
4. An attempt to repair the damage is where he tries to defeat Vandame and get Eve to not go on the plane.
5. The new equilibrium is where him and Eve defeat the villains and get married.
Difference in groups in
NBNW
In North by North West different groups are presented stereotypical and expected. For example; Men and Women,
In NBNW Men are represented as powerful strong meaningful characters. The villain is Mr. Vandamme and the hero is Mr. Thornhill who are both men.
Whereas the only main female character in this film is represented as weak, powerless and controlled. This is Eve Kendall, she is being controlled and ordered to be Mr. Vandamme's mistress and to wheel Roger into his plans. Any actions Eve make is not really noticed or meaningful due to her position.
Furthermore, the working class mans uniform fit Mr. Thonhill perfectly even though Roger is tall and much bigger than him, which doesn't make sense.
In addition, another difference between groups are the upper/middle class and lower/working class people. The middle/upper class people have the say and are in charge, where as the lower class don't have much say. In north by northwest, the working class man on the train sells his uniform for money, which shows the typical expectation for working class people; which is that they will do anything for some extra cash.
Laura Mulvey's ; Male Gaze Theory
Laura's theory was that in cinema, the camera looks like a man. Meaning that it has the same views and thoughts as a man would have. This can also apply to North by North West, as Eve is viewed as the objects of male erotic desire in the film and also to the audience.
In addition, Laura said that Women do not have agency and do not move the plot forward, therefore their actions are meaningless, just like Eve Kendall in North by North West. Eve is told to chat up Roger Thornhill and doesn't do anything from her own intentions. Eve is also used as a sex object.
Laura's theory also continues into saying that;
- The audience is forced to identify with the male gaze whether they know it or not.
- Cinema reflects patriarchal society.
- Patriarchy and Phallocenrism is linked to Phallus, which shows a symbol of power. For example. Guns are used to show power and control.
- North by North West and No Where To Run by Claude Van Damme are both key examples of this,
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