HITCHCOCK: THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE AND EDITING
Alfred Hitchcock camera cut all his movies far more than most other directors — and achieved superb results. He had an unerring visual sense of where to place the camera to get the effect he wanted and then was able to masterfully cut those preconceived shots together in his head and on his drawing pad. “I wish I didn’t have to shoot the picture,” he said. “When I’ve gone through the script and created the picture on paper, for me the creative job is done and the rest is just a bore.”11 He also had the instinct to know what psychological buttons to push and when to push them in order to make the audience tense — and terrified.
Hitchcock brilliantly used the arsenal of techniques for creating suspense such as cross-cutting, cutaways, extreme close-ups, and, most importantly, the balance of subjective and objective camerawork. For instance, the audience might be let in on enough information to identify with the character and feel a constant sense of dread and danger, and then at a crucial moment the audience would be allowed to know more than the character did. Hitchcock might then switch back to the subjective point of view, so that at the character’s most vulnerable point, the audience would also be sideswiped.
FRAME GRAB ILLUSTRATION: REAR WINDOW
The movie Rear Window allowed Hitchcock to display his techniques for building suspense in all their glory.
The setup:
Jeff (Jimmy Stewart) is a photojournalist who has broken his leg and is confined to a wheelchair in his apartment. His rear window faces many other apartments beyond a courtyard, and he’s able to spy on the lives of his neighbors.
As Hitchcock said:
Of all the films I have made, this to me is the most cinematic.… It’s composed largely of Mr. Stewart as a character in one position in one room looking out onto his courtyard, so what he sees is a mental process blown up in his mind from the purely visual.12.… You can have a man look, you can have him see something, you can have him react to it… Without him speaking you can show his mind at work comparing things. It’s limitless, I would say, the power of cutting and showing the various images, the assembly of them, the juxtaposition of imagery relating to the mind of the individual.13
By shooting from the viewpoint of the immobilized man, Hitchcock makes us lean forward in our seats to glean whatever information we can hear and see from the neighbors, causing us to get frustrated, intrigued — and ultimately become full-blown voyeurs just like Jeff. In one apartment Jeff becomes aware of a bedridden woman who is constantly nagging and mocking her husband, Thornwald (Raymond Burr). As time progresses, Jeff notices that the wife has disappeared, and he begins to suspect that her husband has killed her. At first, his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his police detective friend Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey) are all skeptical of his suspicion. Jeff becomes more and more obsessed with the desire to prove that the murder really happened. As the evidence piles up, Lisa becomes convinced of the murder, sneaks into Thornwald’s apartment and finds the “smoking gun,” Mrs. Thornwald’s wedding ring. But Thornwald returns and catches her. Worse still, he sees Lisa signal across the courtyard to Jeff that she’s found the ring. Jeff quickly jerks his wheelchair into the shadows. Has Thornwald seen him or not? Since Lisa is then arrested and Stella sent off to bail her out, we know that Jeff is now alone in his apartment – and in jeopardy.
INT. JEFF’S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Medium close shot of Jeff in a wheelchair.
The phone rings, Jeff answers, knowing that Doyle is returning his call. He whispers a frantic explanation of all the facts that he’s uncovered that prove Thornwald murdered his wife. He ends the conversation with:
JEFF
Now hurry up, will ya. This fellow knows he’s being watched. I’m not gonna wait around forever. Hurry up.
Jeff hangs up the phone, looks off.
CUT TO:
Long shot, Jeff’s POV across courtyard of Thornwald’s darkened apartment. The phone rings again, Jeff snatches it up.
JEFF
Tom, I think Thornwald’s left. I don’t see.…
He suddenly stops himself.…
JEFF
Hello?
There’s a click on the other end of the line.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Jeff. The camera moves in for a close-up. There’s a thud/door slam off screen. He reacts, startled. His eyes dart over, then his head turns as he looks over his shoulder at the source of the sound.
FRAME GRAB #1
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of door, light from hallway coming through bottom.
FRAME GRAB #2
CUT TO:
Close-up of Jeff from higher angle as he slowly turns his wheelchair around, toward the door.
FRAME GRAB #3
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of door. Light is still seen under the door.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff. He moves the wheelchair back and forth in a panic, as off-screen footsteps approach.
CUT TO:
Full shot of Jeff from front angle. He starts to get out of chair.
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Jeff. He continues to struggle to get up, then sits down in frustration.
CUT TO:
Close shot of door. Light at bottom of the door goes out.
CUT BACK TO:
Full shot of Jeff. He backs up his wheelchair in a panic, then notices his camera flash wedged next to him in wheelchair.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Jeff. He reaches into bag and pulls out bulbs, placing them on his lap.
CUT BACK TO:
Full shot of Jeff. He’s backing his wheelchair up against the window as off screen footsteps get closer.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of door. Fumbling noise off screen.
CUT BACK TO:
Full shot of Jeff. He’s frozen in place, listening to one more footstep.
CUT TO:
Medium shot of door. A sliver of vertical light as door slowly opens to reveal silhouette of Thornwald, then in half light, as he moves into the room and closes door behind him.
FRAME GRAB #4
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff at far end of the room in half light.
FRAME GRAB #5
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald in shadows.
THORNWALD
What do you want from me?”
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff.
He doesn’t answer
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald.
THORNWALD
(cont’d)
Your friend, the girl, could’ve turned me in. Why didn’t she? What is it you want? A lot of money? I don’t have any money.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald.
THORNWALD
(cont’d)
Say something.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald.
THORNWALD
Say something! Tell me what you want!
Can you get me that ring back?
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Jeff.
JEFF
No.
THORNWALD
(OS)
Tell her to bring it back.
JEFF
I can’t. The police have it by now.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald
He slowly moves forward, just starts to step down.…
FRAME GRAB #6
CUT TO:
Full side shot of Jeff.
He holds up flash, covers his eyes.
FRAME GRAB #7
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald.
See impact o
f flash as he’s awash in bright light.
FRAME GRAB #8
Then light fades back to original light as he reels backward, bringing his hands to his face.
CUT TO:
Close-up of Thornwald.
His eyes squinting in pain as he reaches for his glasses and struggles to open his eyes.
FRAME GRAB #9
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot, Thornwald’s POV of Jeff. Distorted by the effect of the flash, becoming a superimposed faint red circle.
FRAME GRAB #10
It widens to the edge of frame to become a red mist that finally fades back to normal clarity and color. Jeff pops out used bulb, quickly looks over his shoulder to see if his rescuers, Lisa and Doyle, have returned to Thornwald’s apartment.
The following sequence (already shown in FRAME GRABS #6, #7, #8, #9 & #10) repeats itself three more times, showing Thornwald barely moving into the room and coming out of shadows, and Jeff in progressively closer shots:
1) Medium long shot of Thornwald (barely moves out of shadows and barely closer).
2) Full side shot of Jeff as he holds up flashbulb, covering his eyes (closer and closer from full shot to medium close shot).
3) Full shot of Thornwald awash in bright light (barely closer, until last shot when knocks over chair and is in middle of room).
4) Close-up of Thornwald struggling to open eyes (same distance throughout).
5) Medium long shot, Thornwald’s POV of Jeff seen with flash’s red ball effect, then with normal clarity (getting closer and closer to a medium full shot).
The third time the pattern repeats itself, the editor uses four of the five sequential shots. Then he cuts to Jeff in medium full shot, loading a bulb into the flash. He starts to turn to look over his shoulder.…
CUT TO:
Close-up of Jeff. He continues to turn, looking over his shoulder. He hears something off screen, looks back again over shoulder.
FRAME GRAB #11
CUT TO:
Long shot, Jeff’s POV across courtyard of Lisa, Doyle and police in hallway outside Thornwald’s apartment.
FRAME GRAB #12
JEFF
(OS)
Li-…
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Thornwald. He moves toward camera, arms reaching out menacingly.…
JEFF
(OS)
…sa!! Doyle!!
…until his face fills screen.
FRAME GRAB #13
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Jeff and Thornwald. Thornwald lunges toward Jeff, grabbing him by the neck as Jeff struggles to push him away.
FRAME GRAB #14
CUT BACK TO:
Long shot across courtyard. Lisa, then Doyle, see him and rush down hallway.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Thornwald. Jeff struggles to push him away.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Jeff. He struggles to pull Thornwald’s hands off his neck.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of neighbor running toward door.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium close shot of Thornwald and Jeff. Thornwald starts to tip wheelchair over.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald and Jeff.
Continuation of action as chair tips over and Jeff rolls over onto stomach bouncing onto bed.
FRAME GRAB #15
CUT TO:
Close shot of leg cast
FRAME GRAB #16
as Jeff continues to roll onto back.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Jeff’s head and shoulders. First blurry, then in focus hanging over edge of bed, as he struggles to get up.
FRAME GRAB #17
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Thornwald. He’s moving toward camera.
CUT BACK TO:
Close shot of Jeff’s head. He tries to get up, then shot becomes blurry as their bodies struggle.
CUT TO:
Medium shot of a neighbor couple coming out on terrace.
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Thornwald and Jeff. Thornwald struggles to lift Jeff’s legs up in the air and out of open window.
FRAME GRAB #18
CUT TO:
Close shot of the struggle. Starts with Jeff’s back, then Thornwald’s arm around Jeff, ending with Thornwald’s back over Jeff.
FRAME GRAB #19
CUT TO:
Medium full shot of neighbor running out of door.
FRAME GRAB #20
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Thornwald and Jeff. Thornwald’s back to camera as he grabs under Jeff’s arms to try to lift torso up and out of window.
FRAME GRAB #21
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Jeff and Thornwald shooting down over Thornwald’s back at Jeff’s agonized face. He hangs out of window, with arms holding on to ledge.
FRAME GRAB #22
CUT TO:
Close shot of Thornwald struggling to push Jeff away.
FRAME GRAB #23
CUT TO:
Close shot Jeff’s fingers. They grip, slip, then grip ledge of window.
FRAME GRAB #24
CUT TO:
Close shot of Jeff. He struggles to hold on as Thornwald hands push on his neck and shoulders.
FRAME GRAB #25
CUT TO:
Medium shot of a neighbor couple opening window.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of two cops and Detective Doyle running out of building and across courtyard, jumping fence.
JEFF
(OS)
Doyle!!
Camera pans up side of building to Jeff’s body dangling outside window with Thornwald gripping onto his shoulders.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Doyle, shooting past his back to building wall, looking down at patio and cops.
DOYLE
Creel, gimme your gun!
Cop turns and tosses back gun. Doyle raises his arm to shoot.
FRAME GRAB #26
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Doyle shooting past his back as arm continues upward to shoot, but now background includes second story window that Jeff’s body is hanging from.
FRAME GRAB #27
In distance cops arrive inside Jeff’s apartment and struggle to pull Thornwald off Jeff.
The Invisible Cut Page 11
