North by Northwest

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  I heard about Sir Alfred Hitchcock before as a famous British movie director who is especially good at making thriller movies. North by Northwest is one of the most famous representative works of Hitchcock’s thriller movie, which, however, does not only focus on the suspense or the intensity of the story, but also put some effort on characterizing the character and adding humorous elements to the movie. As Weiler in New York Times noted that Hitchcock not only can produce suspens films, he

is also good at comedy. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9404E7D91631EE3BBC4F53DFBE668382649ED. In addition, unlike his other works, which focus on only one suspensful event throughout the story, this movie makes suspense and thrillingness work together to control audiences’ attention and makes them feel they are personally on the scenes.

  This is a complicated story which consists of many short plots. Roger, the main character, is facing too many dangers that when he successfully escape from one, the next is coming.  The camera movement and editing then establishes a consistent tempo and allows the viewer to follow the story in a logical manner.

Firstly, there is a lot of continuity editing that help the audiences understand what is going on. For example, in one particular scene early in the film, the camera views Roger Thornhill, the protagonist, entering the building through an extreme long shot. Although Thornhill cannot be clearly identified, the viewer assumes that Thornhill has entered the building. However, in the next long shot, the viewer can now clearly make out Thornhill with his blue suit as he enters the lobby room. After Thornhill enters the lobby, the camera follows him to the front desk. The establishing shot gives the viewer a sense of the environment around the character. The viewer then can identify the location of the scene as well as the other background action occurring at the moment. As for the scene between Thornhill and Mr. Townsend, it consists of medium shots with no camera movement throughout the conversation. Hitchcock used the medium shot and medium close-up as an appropriate conversational distance; the viewer can focus on the conversation between Thornhill and Mr. Townsend without becoming distracted with other background or side action.

Secondly, there are some classic shots that make viewers feel the mood of the scene, whether it is horrifying or romantic. One of the most famous shots that engages the audience the most is the scene when the aircraft chases after Thornhill. Hitchcock uses the point of view shot to make audiences see the movement of the aircraft from the eyes of Thornhill, which allows viewers feel the approaching of the aircraft personally and sense the intense and danger. The film ends with a shot of a train  passing through a cave, which, from my point of view, is a signifier of sex between Thornhill and Kendall. It could be predicted from the previous shot that Thornhill and Kendall survive from all the killings and kiss each other on the train.

All in all, Alfred Hitchcock's camerawork and editing techniques provide the viewer with a clear visual and narrative structure as well as a sense of the mood while creating drama and suspense.