History Of Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director and producer who is widely considered to be one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He directed over 50 films over six decades. Movie studios began to advertise their films with his name. Hitchcock was also involved in many interviews, and had cameo roles in most of his films. His films achieved a total of 46 Oscar nominations and six wins. All of the stardome ultimately contributed to his influence, becoming a household name, and being known as 'the Master of Suspense'.

Hithcock existed in a time where cinema went through many changes and experienced different movements. One of these movements was german expressionism. German Expressionism is an artistic genre that originated in Europe in the 1920s initially through other artistic mediums rather than film. Conceptually it rejected Western conventions. Some influential artists of this movement were Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and El Greco, The expressionist goal was to create powerful reactions from their work.

German expressionism greatly influenced Hitchcock. in 1924 he was sent to work at the UFA as assistant director and art director for The Blackguard. Hitchcock absorbed the Expressionist style through the set designs of the film. Hitchcock also observed and learned from the famous German filmmaker FW Murnau in the 1920s. ‘“ What you see on the set does not matter,’ Murnau told him. “All that matters is what you see on the screen”. Hitchcock lapped up Murnau's advice. When The Blackguard required a scene outside Milan cathedral, Hitchcock built an exact replica of one tiny corner of the doorway, rather than attempting a more extensive yet less authentic set. ” (The Guardian).

While The Blackguard clearly contained heavy inspiration from German expressionism, let's look at a more popular film. Hitchcock's Psycho is considered to be not only one of the greatest horror films of all time, but one of the greatest movies ever made. Psycho completely revolutionized horror. Hitchcock was able to create such an iconic film from his unique inspiration of German Expressionism.

The shower scene in Psycho is not only iconic, but a perfect example of Hitchcock’s inspired craft. The blurry image of the murderer translucent through the shower curtain is a reminiscent of Nosferatu and his shadow. Expressionism had influenced Hitchcock’s use of set design, lighting and even camera tricks.

German expressionism also was about distorting color scale and space. This is scene throughout Psycho however is the most prominent in this shower scene. The use of contrasting colors (In this case only black and white) showcases this perfectly.

We cannot forget that German expressionism did not only inspire Hitchcock’s methods visually, but also conceptually. It is said that German expressionism was supposed to surprise or shock the audience, changing the way they looked at the modern world. By having the murder take place in a the shower Hitchcock achieves this. The shower is where we are all most exposed yet feel safe. To his viewers, he stripped away the safety of being alone in the shower and left us with only the feeling of exposure. When this was made it shocked people as the were much more sensitive to violence then viewers are today. That leads us into our next topic.

Another time period that hitchcock worked in was the era of the hays code. “The Hays Code was the informal name for The Motion Picture Production Code, adopted in 1930 but not seriously enforced until 1934. The Code was a set of rules governing American filmmaking that shaped—and in many ways stifled—American cinema for over three decades. ” (TVTropes). The Motion Picture production code was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1952. We can see how Hitchcock utilized the disarmament of the government's overarching policy to enhance his film Psycho which was released in 1960.

In this interview when asked if his killings were getting more gruesome he said “the were getting more realistic” (cinephilia beyond). Hitchcock catapulted a transition in Hollywood to normalize violence in movies. As he stated above, the violence and gore in his films were not included just be gruesome. The violence and gore that Hitchcock utilized served a purpose to enhance the film and make it more “realistic”. This choice ultimately shocked his audience and for the time it was horrifying. This gave rise to an entirely new genre in cinema called slasher films.