1. Compare the opening of The Lodger to the opening of The Pleasure Garden - what similarities and differences do you see between the two films?
Lots of activity, close-ups of people in the theatre/people in the street.
2. Identify elements of the "Hitchcock style" in this sequence? Please provide specific examples. Even if you are not sure if it is the "Hitchcock style," what images or techniques stand out in your mind as powerful storytelling? Or images that provide an excess of emotion?
The crowd's reaction to the witness. Although she's probably saying a lot, since we don't hear her, the crowd's reaction to her wild-eyed emotional reaction helps to let us know what's going on.
3. Even though this is a "silent" film, the opening image is one of a woman screaming. What do you notice in how Hitchcock frames that particular shot that makes it work in a silent film even though no audible scream that can be heard. And what other screams like that come to mind from Hitchcock's later work?
I know a lot of people might think of Janet Leigh's silent scream in "Psycho," but the first thing I thought of was Tippi Hedren and Jessica Tandy's silent screams in "The Birds."
