Key Director Case Study

Alfred Hitchcock:

Alfred Hitchcock was renowned for using close up shots of a characters face in order to convey their reactions and emotions in various scenarios. I will be able to apply this to my groups thriller film opening and use close up shots of characters, as well as various objects in order to show how important they are. For example, our group is likely to use a close up shot of a murder weapon such as a knife in order to show the audience how significant that object is. Moreover, we could use a close up of the protagonists face to show their fear when the antagonist is about to kill them which will hopefully be very effective for our thriller opening. 

One of Hitchcock's most famous thriller films is "Psycho" which uses various sound effects in order to create an eerie and sinister tone, I'll be able to apply this idea to my groups thriller opening to create a disturbing tone, also to allow the audience to get an idea of the type of situation the characters are in (in our case an extremely scary one). Hitchcock is also famous for using a technique called "dolly zoom' which makes the scene appear stretched and it gives a really unique effect. I'll be able to apply this to my groups thriller opening as it can be used to make our characters look disorientated. This can be effective and could convey how we want the victim to appear to the audience.

In Hitchcock's film, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" he uses the effective technique of gradually building up tension and suspense. The audience are ensnared gradually via curiosity and apprehension, Hitchcock uses this as a way of structuring the films narrative. When it comes to creating our thriller opening, I believe that it will be useful to consider using suspense and tension to make our thriller as effective as it can be.