Camera techniques in dramatic and humorous scenes in Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes"

Seminararbeit , 2008 , 21 Seiten , Note: 1,3

Anglistik - Sonstiges

Alfred Hitchcock is, without doubt, one of the most famous film directors in the history of cinema. Many of his movies are still regarded as well-planned and marvellously produced classics; apart from his masterpiece, Psycho, the films made in the 1950s belong to the best-known ones of the 20th century.

The appeal of Hitchcock′s films lies, amongst other features, in the narrative camera techniques he uses to integrate the audience directly into the plot action. Pans, cuts, and visual special effects are essentials of his work. The camera techniques contribute in a large degree to Hitchcock succeeding in keeping the audience on tenterhooks and manipulating their perception. The repeated award-winner describes this a structure of film making as follows:

"In all my films, about two-thirds of the way through, I try to supply a definite contrast. I take a dramatic situation up and up and up to its peak of excitement and then, before it has time to start the downward curve, I introduce comedy to relieve the tension. After that, I feel safe with the climax. (Sidney Gottlieb, Hitchcock on Hitchcock, London: Faber and Faber, 1997. p. 81)

The Lady Vanishes, a Hitchcock movie of 1938, is not an exception to this: Hitchcock mixes a dynamic and surprising plot with elements of comedy and satire.



Inhalt der Hausarbeit

Es ergibt sich folglich die Frage, ob eine bestimmte Kameraführung in humoristischen und dramatischen Szenen grundsätzlich verwendet wird und aus welchem Grund diese so gut funktioniert. Die Analyse ausgewählter Szenen aus The Lady Vanishes soll hierauf eine Antwort geben, nachdem die Grundzüge der Kameraführung und Hitchcocks favorisierte Stilmittel in seinen Filmen vorgestellt wurden.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• Definitions and key concepts of the camera
  • Shots, camera movement, and perspectives
  • Cutting, matching, and blending
• Sir Alfred Hitchcock and The Lady Vanishes
  • Short biography of Alfred Hitchcock
  • Hitchcock's most important elements in a movie
  • Summary of Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes
• Analysis of The Lady Vanishes
  • Scenes of drama and suspense
    • Death of the Singer
    • The Spiked Drinks
    • Charters Is Shot
  • Scenes of comedy and relief
    • Charters and Caldicott Meet the Room Maid
    • The Newspaper Scene
    • The Nun Helps Gilbert
  • A sequence mixing up both genres
• Conclusion and private statement

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This paper examines the use of camera techniques in both dramatic and humorous scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 film, The Lady Vanishes. The objective is to determine if a particular camera style is consistently employed in these scenes and, if so, why it is effective. The analysis will be conducted after a discussion of the fundamentals of camera work and Hitchcock's preferred stylistic devices.

• The importance of camera techniques in creating suspense and manipulating audience perception
• The use of camera techniques to integrate the audience into the plot action
• The interplay of drama and comedy in Hitchcock's films
• The analysis of specific scenes from The Lady Vanishes to illustrate these themes

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The introduction provides background information on Alfred Hitchcock's filmmaking style, emphasizing his use of camera techniques to create suspense and engage the audience. It also introduces the specific focus of the paper, which is the analysis of camera work in both dramatic and humorous scenes from The Lady Vanishes.

Chapter 1 defines key camera concepts, including shots, camera movement, and perspectives. It explains how these techniques can be used to create different effects, such as establishing a sense of realism or emphasizing the subjectivity of a character's experience.

Chapter 2 provides a brief biography of Alfred Hitchcock and discusses his most important filmmaking techniques. It also summarizes the plot of The Lady Vanishes, setting the stage for the analysis to come.

Chapter 3 analyzes specific scenes from The Lady Vanishes, focusing on the use of camera techniques in both dramatic and humorous moments. Examples include the death of the singer, the spiked drinks scene, and the scene where Charters is shot, all of which demonstrate how camera work contributes to the film's suspenseful atmosphere. The chapter also explores scenes of comedy and relief, such as Charters and Caldicott meeting the room maid, the newspaper scene, and the nun helping Gilbert.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This paper explores the use of camera techniques in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. Key terms and concepts include: camera movement, shots, perspectives, cutting, matching, blending, suspense, drama, comedy, satire, and the narrative use of camera techniques.

• Hochschule: Universität Koblenz-Landau (Institut für fremdsprachige Philologien, Fachbereich Anglistik / Cultural Studies)
• Veranstaltung: The Cultural Study of Film - British and American Hitchcock
• Note: 1,3
• Autor: Marc Faber (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2008
• Seiten: 21
• Katalognummer: V118524
• ISBN (eBook): 9783640219674
• ISBN (Buch): 9783640219896
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: Camera, Lady, Vanishes, Study, British, American, Hitchcock, Techniques, Dramatic, Humorous, Scenes, Cultural, Studies, Film, Analysis