The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock is known as the ‘Master of Suspense’. How effectively does he create this in the climbing frame scene, in the film ‘The Birds’

The film ‘The Birds’ was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and created by Daphne de Maurier. ‘The Birds’ was created in 1964. The main characters in the film are: Melanie (the main character), Mitch (Melanie’s boyfriend), Cathy (Mitch’s sister), Lydia (Mitch’s mum), also there is another character and that is the school teacher (Anny). Alfred Hitchcock’s nickname was the ‘Master of Suspense’. This nickname was given to him because in all of his films he builds a lot of tension. The main scene he was remembered in ‘The Birds’ was the climbing frame, which builds up suspense and tension. The film was set in two places. It started it San Francisco but the main part of the film was set in Bodega Bay, which turned out to be an unwelcoming place to live.

The birds are used because people take them for granted. We see birds every day and never think that they will attack humans. In this film Alfred Hitchcock has chosen birds, which would build a lot of suspense. Some of the birds are trained to act in this kind of way, others are mechanical and graphical.

Before the climbing frame scene there have been many attacks. Melanie was attacked by a bird on her head while on a boat. Each attack gets more violent and vicious. Next a bird hit the teacher’s front door, and then died. At a children’s party, a flock of birds attacked the school people. Then a huge group of birds came down Mitch’s mum’s chimney. After that, there was a man lying dead against a wall. The birds had eaten his eye out and there was blood all over him.

The birds attack a café near by, and there is a huge rampage. There is even a fire, which was caused by the birds. Some birds attack Annie at her house and kill her, leaving her dead on the front stairs of her house. Then there is an attack at Mitch’s house, consequently Mitch boards up all of the windows and doors. The final attack before the climbing frame scene is when Melanie gets attacked again by some birds.

We know that the birds can kill because the audience have already seen the damaged caused by the birds. ...

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We know that the birds can kill because the audience have already seen the damaged caused by the birds. The audience is worried that the birds will attack the innocent little school children because they know that the birds are violent. We try to keep birds in cages, and not give them freedom to roam around. They do the opposite in this film by caging humans in houses, phone boxes and cars.

At the start of the climbing frame scene Melanie was driving towards the school. The camera pans her car and the audience can clearly see the school in the background. When we see the school, it gives a feeling of horror, also it looks very chilling. This gives a lot of tension to the audience. The shot of the school is very still and nothing is moving.

As Melanie drives towards the school the audience and hear the children singing and as she goes closer towards the school the singing gets louder. This shows the audience that the school children are innocent because they are singing nursery rhymes. Melanie then goes into the school trying to pick up Cathy but the school hasn’t finished yet.

When she opens the door, Melanie asks Anny (the teacher) something. Melanie lip reads with Anny so the audience can’t hear what they are saying. This gives a feeling of suspense again, because the audience can’t understand what they are saying to each other.

When Melanie comes back outside the school, the camera shows her at a low angle shot. As Melanie walks down the stairs. The camera follows her to ground level. There Melanie starts to walk to a seat in the playground. As she is moving, the camera pans with her. She is walking away from the camera. This is also a long shot, because the audience can see the climbing frame in the background, as well as Melanie walking. When Melanie sits down she lights a cigarette. This shows how fast the time is going. She is anxious because she is in a rush and trying to calm down.

The camera stays at the same angle and same distance for about a minute. This is because the birds are gathering on the climbing frame. As she is three-quarters of the way through her cigarette there are about four birds on the climbing frame. This is where the camera cuts between the climbing frame and Melanie. Every time the camera cuts back to the climbing frame there are more and more birds on the climbing frame. This is creating the most tension in the film because Melanie doesn’t know that the birds are behind her, but the audience do.

The cigarette still isn’t finished. The camera then stays on Melanie for a couple of seconds. She then turns half way to look at the school. The children are still singing a tune that repeats it self over and over again. This all creates tension because the audience know that the children are still in danger because the birds are just outside.

Then Melanie looks up at the sky and spots a bird flying and she follows the bird, as she is doing this, the camera pans. It is almost like we are seeing what Melanie is seeing. The bird then lands on the climbing frame. Most of the playground is covered with birds, and Melanie is in shock. This is one of the most famous shots in the whole of the film.

She then walks slowly away from the birds, not wanting the birds to know that she is there, or else they will attack. She moves out of site, and the camera is behind her. When she is out of site she runs into the school for safety. Melanie then rushes to tell the teacher about the birds, who is just about to let the children go outside for a break. Both of them look outside the window. You can tell that Melanie knows that the birds are about to attack, by the look on her face. Then Anny tells the children hat Melanie wants to see how they want to practice a fire drill. The children react in a way that tells the audience how innocent they are. They repeat whatever the teacher says.

Next you hear the children’s footsteps, while looking at a long shot of the birds on the playground. The children run as fast as they can, wanting to get to a safe place, where the birds won’t attack. Most of the children get injured a little bit by the birds, and there is some close up shots of where the birds are hitting the children. One girl falls down while running and the birds are pecking her back. This is a mid-shot because you can see the whole of her body, and where the birds are attacking her.

Hitchcock creates suspense by using different shots and angles. For example the climbing frame scene. The birds seemed really vicious because of the earlier attacks. It sticks into your mind, that if you see the birds in big gangs, they are about to do something.

This scene is very affective because it brings the most suspense in the whole of the film and also by the positioning of the camera and the different shots and angles used to make this affective.

Sachin Shah