Camera Techniques in Rear Window

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2018)

Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" is a masterpiece made with all of the elements known to a Hitchcock film: suspense, a love story, great use of frame and point of view shots, and a murder.

Rear Window is about a professional camera man named L.B Jeffries that is confined to his apartment due to a broken leg. He spends his time looking out his window and watching the neighbors for entertainment until he witnesses what he thinks was a murder. While struggling with his love life they tend to bond over trying to figure out what really happened, even though the detective Jeffries continues to call for help tells him to stop prying.
The suspense builds throughout the entire film and hits home right before the climax when Lars Thorwald confronts L.B Jeffries. The three part point of view shots that are used to out us in the eyes of Jeffries also help to build the suspense, because as viewers we can only see what he sees and make similar assumptions to his character based on what we are being given.
The shots start with Jeffries looking towards something, often quizzically, and then we are transferred to a lens or frame that he is looking through so that we can see what he sees, and then we see his reaction to what we both saw. This method is incredibly engaging, as we are connecting with the character and need to piece together the puzzle of is going on in a similar way that he must do.
The way that they use the frame itself also helps to pull the viewer in. When Jeffries is looking with just his eyes we get a further, broader view of what he is looking at. When he looks closer we get zoomed in slightly, which gives us the indication that this is more important. When he looks through the binoculars or the camera lens it gets us closer yet again, but we also get a circular view to feel like we are also looking through a lens with him.
The use of camera movement is also realistic. It follows the path of someone that is panning over an area to understand what's going on. This helps to add to the feeling that you are there in the room with Jeffries. Along with the movement of the camera, sounds that we hear from the neighbors also come into play only when we are looking at or near them through Jeffries eyes. Hearing the piano usually meant that we were going to get a view of the man playing it, or that we had just seen him. The sounds come in and out of focus also based on what Jeffries is focusing on. When he looks closer at some things and the camera zooms in, we often hear what is going on a bit better too.
The editing of the film in general plays a large part in keeping the audience engaged and further creates the feeling that they are a voyeur like Jeffries, watching the people around them and trying to solve the mystery. Being able to suck viewers in to make them feel like they are part of the experience is no simple task. There's a reason that people still learn about film techniques and methodologies from Hitchcock films and Rear Window is a prime example of why. At first I was slightly confused as to why the film was doing things the way it was near the beginning, but I quickly forgot about my confusion as I was absorbed into the environment and story that was presented to me through Jeffries perspective.