A writer creates a unique atmosphere by using some narrative techniques. This atmosphere is a writer’s signature as it demonstrates characteristics of them. Similarly, auteur director creates their own world with the help of a camera instead of a pen. The term auteur refers to a creative director who creates an original atmosphere via cinematic language. Hitchcock is one of the most significant auteur directors, who is mostly credited with the cult movie “Psycho”. The iconic bathroom scene in Psycho is one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history with its sounds, point of view, and cuts. Also, it may be the key for understanding Hitchcock’s cinema. For example, Hitchcock mentioned, “My main satisfaction is that the film affected the audiences, and I consider that very important. I don’t care about the subject matter; I don’t care about the acting: but I do care about the pieces of film and the photography and the soundtrack and all the technical ingredients that made the audience scream. I feel it’s tremendously satisfying for us to be able to use cinematic art to achieve something of a mass emotion. And with Psycho we most achieved this. It wasn’t a message that stirred the audiences, nor was it a great performance or their enjoyment of the novel. They were aroused by pure film.” (Hitchcock-Truffaut, 1966, p.431)
In the films of Hitchcock, it can precisely be seen that their way of storytelling is based on visuals instead of dialogues. Hitchcock developed a visual narrative language that uses elements of place, symbols, and camera. The single-set production movie “Rear Window” may be the second most efficient movie of Hitchcock because of its narrative language. Adair stated that the character aspects are reflected by the “subjective technique” due to the combined shot of character from the third person view and the first-person view of a character. This technique is named by Hitchcock and used by him in almost every movie he made but the most efficient usage can be seen in Rear Window. The character obsessed with getting killed showed his emotions more evident through this technique because mostly he stared at neighbors and the camera looked at him, so the technique is fitted with the main character of Rear Window. (Alfred Hitchcock: Filming Our Fears, 2002, p.101) There is a technique called Kuleshov Effect which refers to multiple camera shots carrying more meaning than a single shot. Subjective technique is similar to Kuleshov effect, but it is also known by this name owing to the fact that he skillfully uses this technique. Also, he perfectly defines the term by giving an example. He says when we see a woman carrying a child in the first shot, then a man who smiles; we automatically assume that he is a kind man; but if in first shot we see a girl in a bikini, then a man who smiles; it reminds that us he is a man with bad intentions.
There are various types of filmmaking techniques that are used or created by Hitchcock, such as the subjective technique, creating constant suspense, McGuffin and Vertigo effects. Firstly, it is known that suspense provides audience to hold constant interest for the film throughout the movie, but shock lasts only a few seconds. According to that information, Hitchcock uses suspense methodically in his films. To increase tension, Hitchcock makes the audience know more about the scene, than the characters in the movie. For instance, in “Hitchcock Presents”, a worldwide known horror tv series, suspense is used often. Dolly zoom is another camera trick where camera and the camera lens are moved in opposite directions. It is commonly known as the Vertigo effect, owing to the film “Vertigo”. The protagonist in the movie Vertigo had vertigo’s disease, so when he was looking down the stairs, he felt absolute dizziness. Hitchcock reflected protagonists’ disease into audience by using the Dolly zoom technique. Another technique called “MacGuffin”, is created by the scenarist Angus MacPhail who worked with Hitchcock on most of his films. A MacGuffin can be an object or an event that the narrative but then suddenly disappears. This kind of misleading allows the story to recreate itself.
The suspense Hitchcock created in his movies, made him one of the most well-known and reputable directors. “Psycho,” “The Birds”, and “Hitchcock Presents” can be considered as the most noticeable instances among Hitchcock films. While interpreting Hitchcock, the audience should pay attention to his contribution to cinema. Especially, his way of storytelling and his filmmaking techniques that he created or efficiently used should be focused on. Furthermore, his style was so influential that it became known as “Hitchcockian Style”. The term Hitchcockian is used to define the filmmaking style of Hitchcock or films which are created by using his techniques. Isaacs mentioned that some Hitchcockian directors whose types are different can be merged to methodize the perception of pure cinema. This kind of effort consists of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Brian De Palma who is one the most incomprehensible director of recent American cinema. (The Art of Pure Cinema, 2020, p. 5) The Hitchcockian style approaches to pure cinema mindset and some widely known directors created their style by adapting Hitchcock cinema to their cinema. Therefore, Hitchcock should be watched with the perception of pure cinema and his imitators show the sides of this perception.
