Discuss the narrative techniques used by Hitchcock to set the scene for the audience in 'Rear Window'.
Discuss the narrative techniques used by Hitchcock to set the scene for the audience in 'Rear Window'.
Stuart Graham 10W1
L.B. Jeffries is a high-class magazine photographer for what seems to be a worldwide publication. In Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window', he is a temporarily wheelchair-bound man and his voyeuristic side appears later on in the film.
'Rear Window' depicts a 20th century New York in which fraudsters, murderers and salesmen all live alongside each other. The story describes a man who broke his leg during a photography assignment. He is, for the time being, stuck in a wheelchair with nothing to do but look at the neighbours through his 'Rear Window'. He hasn't seen the light of day since seven weeks ago.
Rear Window is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most memorable films. L.B. Jeffries becomes engrossed in voyeurism, which carries on throughout the film. James Stewart, in one of his most unforgettable roles, represents a photographer with a broken leg, who amuses himself by casually spying on the neighbours. All of the windows he peers into presents a glimpse of relationships, in which the men and women are poles-apart, the newlyweds who can't get themselves off of each other, the crooked salesman, the forlorn musician. These become mirrors into his mind, reflecting his apprehension he feels about his bond with the fashion-writer Lisa Carol Fremont who wants him to get married. Rear Window gets even more enthralling as it moves to an excruciatingly fast-moving climax.
The opening scene, the credit sequence, creates an image in people's minds of a new day, people waking up on a summer morning. We know it is summer as there are people waking up on their balconies of their apartments. This is also shown by the radio playing at the start in the background. This is also why there are blinds rolling upwards throughout the duration of the credit sequence. This also shows that it is the start of the story. The window fills the whole frame of the shot. This is a good way of setting the ...
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The opening scene, the credit sequence, creates an image in people's minds of a new day, people waking up on a summer morning. We know it is summer as there are people waking up on their balconies of their apartments. This is also shown by the radio playing at the start in the background. This is also why there are blinds rolling upwards throughout the duration of the credit sequence. This also shows that it is the start of the story. The window fills the whole frame of the shot. This is a good way of setting the scene for the viewers. Old-style joyous jazz music is played at the start - a good way of portraying happy times. The opening scene in Rear Window has no dialogue, leaving even more of the viewers in a pool of anticipation. The scene highlights the fact that every single thing in the film will be seen through that particular window.
Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window is a great example of first-rate camerawork. The camera is used as the narrator and probably plays the biggest role within the film. At the start of the film, the camera is used to pan around every single apartment within the inner city New York apartment block to introduce the characters. Although the characters do not speak, they still play a major role in the film. Alfred Hitchcock puts the viewers in the position of L.B Jeffries, making us all voyeurs. The camera is used to tell the story, as there is very little dialogue in the film. Throughout nearly all of the film, only one shot is used to tell the story, there are very few cuts. By doing it this way, Hitchcock is showing us exactly what the character is seeing.
The cast of Rear Window includes Jimmy Stewart, the lovely Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. As the story unfolds, the character's identities are revealed. Jimmy Stewart plays a wheelchair-confined photographer, LB Jeffries, who is trapped inside his apartment day after day with nothing to do but watch his neighbours attentively through the rear window of his apartment. Stella, Thelma Ritter plays Jeffries' insolent nurse. Together they talk about the life of Mr. Jeffries and his gorgeous girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont, played by Grace Kelly, whom he does not want to marry. While in the care of Stella, she notices that Jeffries has taken a liking to watching the neighbours with great captivation. As the days pass he is more and more intrigued by the actions taken on by his neighbours -the nagging couple, the newlyweds, "Ms. Torso," "Ms. Lonelyheart," and the strange artist. Both Lisa and Stella believe Mr. Jeffries to be a Peeping Tom and that he should pass the time in his apartment another way. In time, Mr. Jeffries notices peculiar actions happening between the nagging couple. The wife suddenly disappears and Jeffries is lead to make the assumption that her husband, Mr. Thorbird, has killed her and quickly phones his detective friend. The detective finds nothing that would lead to the death or killing of Mrs. Thorbird. But as the plot unfolds, there appears to be more to the story than the detective suggests. Things turn for the worse and Lisa, Stella, and Jeffries do their own detective work on the case of the nagging couple. Lisa and Stella show bravery in taking action on trying to solve the mystery of Mrs. Thorbird's disappearance. The theory of Mr. Thorbird killing his wife is to be proved in good time. Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window is a great display of suspense and drama. The movie has its viewers constantly on edge. Hitchcock also never fails to expose the confined Jeffries in his wheelchair and his brilliant work with one main setting captures the very feeling of being right in the movie with the Peeping Toms.
The music/sound in Rear Window has several functions. While it can create an exultant mood, it can also depict a world of crime and murder within the same scene. It is used to create suspense in scenes where dialogue is substituted for music. The music plays quite a substantial part in setting the scene for this film. When Hitchcock wants to create a jovial mood, he uses the correct music. If he wants to create a creepy mood, he will use slightly eerie music.
Conversation in the film is rare. Because Hitchcock uses mise-en-scene to set the right mood and atmosphere, there is very little dialogue needed. The first and one of three or four pieces of conversation is at the start, when L.B. Jeffries receives a phone call from his boss. From just a ninety-second phone call, we learn a substantial amount about the characters in the film. From this call, we learn that L.B. Jeffries is a magazine photographer and that he had broken his leg on a big assignment. There is a big photography assignment that Jeffries would benefit financially substantially from; he cannot go as he has a broken leg. Hitchcock uses the conversation on the phone in an intellectual way. When Jeffries is on the phone to his boss, talking to him about marriage, he is looking at a married couple having an argument.
Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' had a great balance of suspense, mystery and romance in it. He uses the camera as a narrator and focuses on telling the story through the tremendous use of film language rather than dialogue.
