Analyse the Trailer

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0GbTMMbP0

• Why will this appeal to the audience?

North by Northwest (1959)

• A ‘innocent’ New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

• Director: • Alfred Hitchcock• Writer: • Ernest Lehman• Stars:• Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason

Hitchcock

• Every scene planned (visually) in advance.

• Before shooting Hitchcock has learned all the dialogue and rarely needs to look at a script. Hitchcock likens it to a conductor conducting an orchestra without a score.

• When directing, Hitchcock never looked at the camera – he always imagined he was looking at a cinema screen.

“North by North West”

In what ways is this an archetypal thriller?

“North by North West” Thriller Conventions.

• “Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action,”

• Find examples of this in “North by Northwest”

“North by North West” Thriller Conventions.

• “resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.”

• Is this true of “North by Northwest”?

“North by North West” Thriller Conventions.

• “Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively.”

• Find examples of this in “North by Northwest” Be specific!

• The ‘Auction’ scene

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0JcK4-Dx0

Crop Duster Scene

• Watch a few times.• Analyse the scene and write up how/why it is an iconic action sequence.• Hitchcock believed the stress on the visual makes cinema accessible in

different languages.• Hitchcock likes the subjective viewpoint. Close ups on a face then what

they are looking at then a close up again as the character reacts to what has been seen. Hitchcock said he wants to transfer the menace that appears on screen into the mind of the audience.

Hitchcock analyses the scene (French TV).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_7Es1h0eQ

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g458w2X9uHc

Hitchcock

• Setting is important. Mount Rushmore is a symbol of order – Hitchcock throws in disorder.

• Hitchcock said that audiences often need relief from suspense – a change of pace –possibly a laugh.

“North by North West”

• “A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome.”

• Is this true of “North by Northwest”?

“”The McGuffin”

• Hitchcock said the McGuffin is the plot device that causes the action to happen.

• The McGuffin usually comes in the first part of the film and sometimes returns at the end.

• In his thrillers the audience don’t really care about the McGuffin.

• In this film it is the Microfilm.

Do these theories apply to this film?Where? When? Be specific!

• Explain why narrative is so important to this thriller – what conventions does it follow? Does it follow?:

1. Classic Hollywood narratives – linear (chronological), few, if any, sub-plots, tendency towards closure at end of film.

Three Act Structure = the typical Hollywood narrative = set up (25% time) /confrontation (50%) /climax (Final 25% of film time)

2. Vladimir Propp – character types – analysed traditional folk stories – 8 keycharacter roles: Hero/Villain/Helper/Donor(Provider)/Father/Dispatcher/Princess/False Hero -

N.B. one character can perform more than one role – how many in your thriller?

3. Todorov – equilibrium – disruption –acknowledgement - resolution – new equilibrium

Do these theories apply to this film?Where? When? Be specific!

4. Roland Barthes: all texts are ‘complex’ bundles of meaning.• Enigma codes (problems introduced) – usually in

‘disruption’ stage.• Open – not resolved at end• Closed texts – resolved at end• Polysemic texts – lots of different meanings

5. Levi Strauss – Binary Opposition –narratives can be organised through binary opposition - two things opposed – often dominant vs subordinate - e.g. male/female, hero/villain

“North by North West”

• Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like”

Has he succeeded in this film? Where? When?

Representation in “North by Northwest”

• How are different groups are represented in “North by Northwest”?

• Men/Women,

• Ethnic Minorities,

• Gay/Straight,

• Old/Young,

• Able/Disabled, upper/middle/lower Class,

• Regional Identity- North/South, country/town

• Disabled/Able bodied

Representation of different groups in“North by Northwest”

• Link to Levi Strauss’ idea of binary oppositionwith dominant and a subordinate groups.

• Is the Representation positive or negative?• Does it challenge/reinforce stereotypes?• Are they archetypes (typical examples) or generic

types (only found in Thriller genre)?• What is conventional representation within the

Thriller genre?

Representation of Women in “North by Northwest”

• Consider apply Laura Mulvey’s theory of The Male Gaze.

• Laura Mulvey – “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975). She said:

The Representation of Women in “North by Northwest”.

The male gaze =

• women viewed as the objects of male erotic desire – in film and audience

• men active / women passive.

• Women do not have agency – they do not move the plot forward.

• The audience is forced to identify with male gaze.

• Cinema reflects patriarchal (male dominated) society

• Patriarchy and phallocentrism linked – phallus (penis) a symbol of power – e.g. in cinema guns = phallus = power.

Analyse a key scene from the film in terms of media language.

• Camera work: angle, shot, movement, position; high or low tilt; long, medium or close up; wide shot, over the shoulder, zoom, reverse shot, point of view, tracking, pan, steadycam, rolling, hand held, deep focus etc.

• Editing: speed (long or short take); Style – straight cut, dissolve, fade, wipe, jump cut; shot/reverse shot, Eyeline match, Action match, Montage, Slow motion, Graphic match, Ellipsis (showing what happens before and after – audience fill in the middle).

Analyse a key scene from the film in terms of media language (continued).

• Sound: diegetic/non-diegetic, parallel/contrapuntal, on screen/off screen, sound effects, sound bridges, pace, dialogue and music.

• Mise en Scene: setting/location, props; hair/make up/costume; positioning of characters in frame (deep focus); body language/facial expression; colour –denotation/connotation; lighting – high

• key/low key; SFX.