[Daily Dose #3: Fighting For Her (Scene from The Ring)]

1. How does Hitchcock use montage or expressive editing to add vitality and rhythm to this scene? 

Using this technique clearly brings more to the film. I think one scene in particular is when Jack is listening to his manager talking but he can't stop thinking about his wife flirting with Bob. Hitchcock uses montage to show what he sees and what he is thinking about at the same time. 

2. As is the case with a lot of German Expressionist films, in this scene, there are many shots that are very subjective and put us into the psychological mind of a main character. Please note the various techniques Hitchcock uses to create that feeling of subjectivity. 

This films does focus on Jack and what he goes through mentally throughout the film. Hitchcock puts us into his mind and shows us what he is thinking especially in the scene mentioned above. 

3. How does Hitchcock stage the action, use set design, and editing techniques to increase the stakes in the rivalry between the two gentlemen?  

The important scene here is when Hitchcock stages Jack in one room and he can see down the hall and sees Bob with his wife. It angers him and really gets him to want to fight to win his wife back. 

 

[Daily Dose #2: To-night Golden Curls (Opening Scene of The Lodger)]

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? 

These are two completely different style of films but I did see some similarities.

1.) The opening gets you right away. The girls coming down the staircase in The Pleasure Garden and the victim screaming at the beginning of The Lodger.

2.) The other similarities are the obvious in that they are both silent films, both black and white (even though the restored version of The Lodger shown here is in Monochrome) and have a love story.

3.) The use of blonde hair being attractive to men is shown in both movies. Women using blonde wigs. 

Differences

1.) Pleasure Garden is more of a drama with some comedic elements but not suspenseful or horrific. The Lodger is suspenseful and horrific. 

 

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 use of of "To-night Golden Curls". It has a double meaning as you first see it as a headline to the woman killed but then it can also be seen as the marquee for the modeling show as a lot of the women wore blonde wigs. This also seems to be a Hitchcock theme as Hitch himself loved blonde hair on women and cast a lot of his major female characters with blonde hair ( Tippi Hedren, Kim Novak, Grace Kelly and Janet Leigh to name a few). 

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? 

The closeup of the woman is very important. It sets the tone of the film. It shocks you from the beginning. You don't need to hear it by looking at the look of terror on her face. 

This is revisited in many of Hitchcock's films including Janet Leigh in Psycho and Tippi Hedren in The Birds. 

[Daily Dose #1: Spiralling into View: The Pleasure Garden (1925)]

I watched The Pleasure Garden for the first time yesterday and finished it today. I did notice the following in the first clip:

1.) The Spiral Staircase. Staircases play a significant role in a lot of Hitchcock films. Most notably in Psycho when Martin Balsam's character falls down the stairs. It is a great way to open a film.

2.) The look on the mens faces. It was interesting to see the looks and reactions on the men's faces and how they were all attracted to the women. This could have been an early burlesque show. The one man in general is fixated on the girl named Patsy. We see how he is so fixated on her that the camera focuses on her as he uses the binoculars. 

3.) The clip of hair: Hitchcock shows his humor when the man is so fixated on Patsy and her hair that he states how he loves the clip in the back. She then pulls it out and gives it to her. He meant this to be a pick up line but it backfired. 

4.) Men's view of women. This film does showcase how men are so attracted to women and will sometimes do crazy things for them.