Surely one of the masters of generating audience expectation is the great Alfred Hitchcock.
Let''s take a look at ''Rear
Window'' as an example of this.
In the movie, a wheelchair-bound photographer named L.B Jefferies (played by James Stewart) is passing time in his apartment recuperating from a broken leg. As his boredom reaches boiling point he starts spying out of his window into the apartments of his
neighbours.
This in itself is nothing strange, but once he becomes totally engrossed in the private lives of these people we are made to go along with him. At first
curiosity gets the better of the watching audience. Then as we realise that Hitchcock is turning us all into Voyeurs we start to feel uncomfortable. A sense of ''should I be looking at these peoples intimate, most private moments?'' makes the viewer want to look away yet a need to keep watching glues us to the screen. Hitchcock promised us a mystery and a mystery he has given us. Hitchcock intended this movie to make the audience feel embarrassed and awkward. The fact that his main character gets so involved in the goings on of his neighbours gives us the go-ahead to do so ourselves. after all, the neighbours won''t be able to see us looking, will they? Again, you get the feeling that what you''re doing is wrong. By creating this feeling, Hitchcock puts his main character in the same position as he places his audience. a viewer who is powerless to stop what he sees.
When he thinks one of his neighbours that he has been spying on has murdered his wife. Jefferies is thrilled. Then the audience is freed from it''s voyeurism in the fact that now they can play detective, thus giving us permission to watch.
Hitchcock is the master of knowing his audience and creating in them the very fear or curiosity that drives his central characters.
Rear Window is a gem of a movie that if you have never seen you should do so.
Window'' as an example of this.
In the movie, a wheelchair-bound photographer named L.B Jefferies (played by James Stewart) is passing time in his apartment recuperating from a broken leg. As his boredom reaches boiling point he starts spying out of his window into the apartments of his neighbours.
This in itself is nothing strange, but once he becomes totally engrossed in the private lives of these people we are made to go along with him. At first curiosity gets the better of the watching audience. Then as we realise that Hitchcock is turning us all into Voyeurs we start to feel uncomfortable. A sense of ''should I be looking at these peoples intimate, most private moments?'' makes the viewer want to look away yet a need to keep watching glues us to the screen. Hitchcock promised us a mystery and a mystery he has given us. Hitchcock intended this movie to make the audience feel embarrassed and awkward. The fact that his main character gets so involved in the goings on of his neighbours gives us the go-ahead to do so ourselves. after all, the neighbours won''t be able to see us looking, will they? Again, you get the feeling that what you''re doing is wrong. By creating this feeling, Hitchcock puts his main character in the same position as he places his audience. a viewer who is powerless to stop what he sees.
When he thinks one of his neighbours that he has been spying on has murdered his wife. Jefferies is thrilled. Then the audience is freed from it''s voyeurism in the fact that now they can play detective, thus giving us permission to watch.
Hitchcock is the master of knowing his audience and creating in them the very fear or curiosity that drives his central characters.
Rear Window is a gem of a movie that if you have never seen you should do so.