Suspense through lighting

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 2018)

Rear Window is a great example of Hitchcock's mastery of cinematography. This movie follows the story of Jefferies, an adventure seeking photographer that is stuck in his small apartment due to a leg injury he received while on the job. He resorts to finding entertainment by watching his neighbors through his rear window. When he notices some suspicious behavior from one of the occupants across the way his boring recovery becomes a lot more interesting. Through solving this mystery Jefferies learns a lot about himself, his relationships with others, and how people interact with each other.
This movie is a great example of using lights and shadows to create suspense. By having the entire movie filmed from one vantage point, Jeffeirie's apartment, the light was pretty restricted. However, Hitchcock creates amazing effects with minimal light. By using the window blinds to highlight certain parts of the room Hitchcock is able to make certain moments in the film more intense for the viewers. One of the most effective ways lighting was used to create suspense was by only having the eyes of the actors in the light. This made the characters more mysterious and invoked a sense of fear into the viewers.
Overall this was a fantastic film that incorporated the elements of cinematography extremely well and had a entertaining and captivating story line.