Annie is very focused in her class and doesn’t give much attention to Melanie; she just nods her head. Since Annie is so engrossed with her class, the children in it become the focus of that scene, expressing to the audience that the children may be a key factor in events to follow. Melanie does not seem too bothered either; she just mumbles under her breath to Annie. Annie does not seem as calm as Melanie because she displays negative facial expressions. Maybe she is depressed because of the previous bad events caused by the birds. In this whole scene there are minimal camera shots to help you know what to focus on for instance Annie, Melanie and the children. The audience would experience a strong sense of suspense and tension because of the singing from the children because the continuous lyrics and melodies of the song sound very eerie and also gives the impression that something bad is going to happen.
This paragraph will describe the main scene, the ‘climbing frame’ scene. Here the audience are able to understand the main focus, which is the contrast between good and evil; the contrast between innocent children and the evil birds. This is because through out the whole part in which Melanie is shown with the birds, there is constant singing from the children. The children sound sweet and innocent and the birds show horror and danger because of the way they make their entrance on the climbing frame and their bad reputation from the past (the deaths they caused). This acts as a contrast and comparison between both sides. In this scene there is no silence at all increasing suspense with the audience hearing the same thing over and over again (singing) and they become eager to find out what is going to happen next. The birds gradually gather in the background on the climbing frame influencing more suspense and tension because it also makes the audience anxious about what is going to happen next and it makes them sit on the edge of their of their seats.
Melanie came out of the school creating loud footstep noises as she went down the steps in front of the school, placing the main focus on her, as the audience would concentrate on her first. Melanie walked in a fashion-model style, which made me suggest that she is posh and of a higher class compared to her surroundings. As she sat down on a small bench near a farm, she looked frequently looked at the school maybe signifying that she is now thinking of the people in the school and past events for example these could be the trouble the birds have caused. Still looking around, Melanie takes cigarette from her handbag and lights it. She smoked and held the cigarette in a very posh manner maybe portraying that she is from a more well off place than where she was at that moment. It also seems that she tries to show a posh image because she keeps her head high through out this part of the scene.
As soon you hear the sound of Melanie’s bag landing on the bench, one bird arrives. Despite her looking very calm, the tension is being developed with audience because only they can see the birds one by one gathering on the frame and they know that Melanie cannot see this so they feel sorry for her and wonder what is going to happen next. With every arrival of a group of birds there is always a long wide shot which has the birds and Melanie in it. This is so that we do not forget the resemblance of the birds for instance, evil (the birds) versus good (the innocent children and Melanie). At this point Melanie looks bored as is shown when she repeatedly looks around and wonders. This was very clever of Alfred Hitchcock because when the audience sees that Melanie is bored, they would become bored and quiet too which would be brilliant because if suddenly something great and drastic would happen the audience would be in great shock and surprise. Whereas if the scene was very loud and something was to happen, the audiences reaction wouldn’t be as great. This stabilises Alfred Hitchcock slogan “The master of suspense”. In this first scene there is no speech at all also playing a role in the audience’s heightened reaction.
Melanie still looks very bored; she takes a puff from her cigarette and suddenly a bird flies above her catching her eye. As Melanie watches the bird there are two camera shots on it that are taken in such a way that they look as if they are exactly what Melanie is seeing through her eyes. Melanie keeps watching the bird in horror and follows it to the climbing frame. As the bird lands there is a big camera shot on the whole frame with hundreds of birds on it. There are many switching camera shots of Melanie and the birds to increase tension; this also shows that the two are linked. Melanie reacts almost suddenly to this, she throws her cigarette and walks off very stiffly and she is terrified which can be seen from her facial expression and her walking technique. As she walks her mouth is open, showing that she is in great shock and horror. The children’s singing still continues to make the audience not forget the children’s innocence with their sweet voices in contrast to the dangerous birds. Again she frequently looks back and forth at the birds and the school. The audience would become very uncomfortable because of her troubled state of being. The way the camera shots were made looked as if Melanie was witnessing the shots through her eyes. This was very effective because the audience would experience some of the emotions that Melanie was feeling for example terror and vulnerability.
As soon as Melanie approached the steps of the school she makes loud footstep sounds again. Annie’s voice is then heard giving instructions to her class and they stop singing. Melanie enters the class very quickly but remains quiet until she reaches Annie for the sake of the children and you can see this because she looks at the children and changes facial expression. She is still is in a panic state but has calmed down because of the fact that she is in a building and is considerably safe now.
Melanie hurries to Annie and commands her to shut the door because of the birds. She seems very demanding and superior compared to Annie because she is the one who is giving instructions: “close the door quickly, PLEASE!” she really expresses herself and after her command Annie’s facial expression is very confused. Annie quickly goes to shut the door and Melanie shows Annie outside the window towards the birds on the climbing frame. After Annie sees the birds she looks very surprised. Melanie insists Annie to get the children out of the school and says “look you’ve got to get the children out of here!” The children are not happy because they are told to leave the school. Instead of Annie making her class worried about the birds she lies and tells the class that Melanie wants to see them in a drill and that as soon as they are out of the building, to run as fast as they can to their houses. It sounded very amusing when Melanie said that when she said to run that everyone should run too because she said it in a formal way even though it could be fatal for example, the birds. The children groan to this command and do not seem happy at all.
Before the children exit the building there is a long duration shot of the birds showing they are linked to the children. As soon as the footsteps of the children are heard there is a shot of the children’s feet and the energetic flapping of the birds wings can be heard as they rise to attack the children. This gives the impression that the birds were waiting for the children.
This is the climax of the horror in this whole scene because it is depressing seeing the children being attacked. The children keep getting pecked at which is too horrendous to watch; the audience would really be feeling for the children. The audience could see on the children’s faces that they are in danger. There are many shots with the children being attacked in them, increasing the audiences’ sorrow for the children. This scene is very grotesque and chaotic and there is no calm at all to make the audience really feel sorry for the children’s suffering. Cathy falls and lands with a very big thud making the feel of threat increased to the audience. She shouts out “LYDIA!” and Melanie helps her up.
Melanie, Cathy and Lydia quickly get into a car. When they are in the car the children keep crying and Melanie hoots the horn very abruptly showing her anger and eagerness for the birds to leave them alone. The scene becomes a bit calmer now with the birds unexpectedly clearing away. Suddenly as there are no birds around, everyone’s facial expression relaxes but this increases the suspense and tension because the audience would be confused to where the birds are and when they are to come back again. Luckily the birds do not reappear.
This evidence shows that Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense. When the film was produced, Mr Hitchcock would have been the master of suspense because he would have been one of the few who would have conquered the art of using suspense and tension in his films, this was also due to his experience of being a successful film director. The standard of this film would not be suitable today because of the rise in technology and experience of film makers. His film is too simple to compete with the great film hits of today. Today’s audience expect much higher standards of film, which include special effects, choreography, and deeper storylines like the film Titanic.
