THE BIRDS ALFRED HITCHCOCK essays

THE BIRDS ALFRED HITCHCOCK essays Alfred Hitchcock was the master of horror thrillers- a genre that he single- handedly created and developed. Hitchcock's films were meant to evoke a blood-curling response from the viewers and the two films that managed to achieve that completely were Psycho and The Birds. The Birds was released in 1963 and while it was a total fantasy with no hint of realism, the director used exceptional camera tricks and photography techniques to convince the viewers that it could actually happen to them. "The Birds was fantasy in purest form. Hitchcock deserted his former dependence on classical unity in plot construction and occupied himself instead with a strictly thematic approach, which, henceforth, became his principal mode of operation. In the wild, savage behavior of the birds he wanted to show the menace which surrounds us everywhere, although we are The film was loosely based on Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds. But Hitchcock personally chose to make a number of additions and subtractions to enhance the impact of the movie. So it was not solely Maurier's story but it has certainly been a source of inspiration for the film. Hitchcock's camera work and his cinematic genius is a good example of limitation giving birth to immense creativity. With limited technology, Hitchcock managed to create exceptional special effects. For example there were "more than 370 trick shots in this picture and a mixture of fake birds and trained birds, including trained seagulls" and special attention was paid to location. Only some outside scenes were shots at real locations, most other scenes were specifically shot within the studio by recreating the interiors of original buildings. It is quite interesting to learn that most of the aerial shorts were over-blown images of painted mattes that helped achieve an amplified image of the town. Hitchcock used his exceptional camera ski...