An Alfred Hitchcock Classic

Rating: 9/10 (29 September 2018)

Rear Window is one of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpieces. This movie uses many film techniques, one of them being camera angles that help builds suspense and creates such a phenomenal film. Hitchcock's use of experimentation using only one soundstage for the entire length of the film while most of the filming was in one small part of the soundstage; the apartment of L.B. Jeffries "Jeff". While using this one scene, Hitchcock is able to keep the audience engaged for the duration of the film, he is able to do this by using suspense.
Hitchcock's use of camera angle as a means to communicate to the audience helps to keep the audience engaged while also a better understanding of the events occuring in the film. The film is based off of Jeff being confined to his apartment after he broke his leg while trying to take a picture at a race track. This is very important planning by Hitchcock as he would have been seen as a stalker taking pictures and having the binoculars. Hitchcock's planning of Jeff's character is very important as he's curious by nature, this is emphasized as his job of being a photographer. His curiosity is defined by the camera angles of Jeff's apartment and his perspective view. Many scenes are built off of suspense that has been created by the characters saying things first and then the viewer is able to see the scene. One example of a camera angle showing a clearer perspective for the audience is after Lisa -Jeff's girlfriend- is finally convinced that Mr. Thorwald may have injured his wife. The camera pans in towards Lisa to show that she is now the center of focus and that she is on the same level as Jeff, sharing the belief that something terrible has happened to Mrs. Thorwald. Another example of Hitchcock's use of camera angle is when Lisa is in Thorwald's apartment and Lisa is snooping around his apartment. Hitchcock pans back and forth between Lisa and Jeff to help build the suspense of the scene as Thorwald approaches Lisa. This back and forth between the different reactions of the characters builds suspense by leaving the audience questioning about what is going to occur.
Hitchcock uses suspense to develop the plot of the movie. There were snap shots in the movie of clocks ticking which showed intense situations and the camera angle panning Mr. Thorwald and Jeff to show the scene getting more intense. Using the clock ticking away to show time moving creates an environment for the audience to be involved and become emotionally attached to the movie. As the audience becomes more caught up in the film they start to focus more on the time as an event occurs. The panning between both characters gets the viewer even more emotionally attached to Jeff when he is being attacked by Mr. Thorwald. As the scene becomes more intense with Thorwald getting closer and closer to Jeff as he is about to attack. While this is occurring the music tempo picks up, this influences the audience's heart rate to increase and makes the scene more intense for the viewer. Hitchcock also uses lighting as another effect to give a more realistic feel to the scene and a first person perspective to present the film in a more dynamic manner. Jeff uses the light and a first person perspective to show Thorwald approaching Jeff as he uses the flash bulb and Thorwald's first person perspective to show the buildup of the scene. It also helps to build suspense of the scene as Hitchcock uses the blinding of Thorwald to leave the audience questioning of what is happening to Jeff as Thorwald approaches slowly.