Hitchcock was influenced by German and Russian film making. Some of the alternatives filmmaking that existed were Soviet Expression, German Expression and French Avant Garde.

Soviet Expression films were known to express the internal and subjective nature of reality. Basically expressing what is going on in the character’s mind. One of the way’s they would do that visually was to show bar-like shadows on the character’s face to show that he feels like he’s in prison.

German Expression films were known for displaying the psychological life of characters.

French Avant Garde (aka French Experimental) films hit on things such as art, culture, and politics.

In contemporary films you will see moments of expressionism. In Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” with Robert Dinero, there is a scene where hes driving, but everything has a red haze, as if hes driving through hell. This is to show that is how the character feels. Departed is also known for this, where Jack Nicholson’s face is almost always half in shadow to signify that he is two charactered.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of film history’s most acclaimed directors. He was popular and commercially successful. He was known as the “Master of Suspense”. He stated that, “Films should offer the highs and lows of a roller coaster. They should shriek with delight.” When making his films he was very much like a craftsman. He would carefully plan each of his shots.

He started in England during the silent film period. He believed that the most important means of telling a story was the joining of shots (editing).

In the 1950s French film critics started to evaluate Hitchcock’s work. These guys were auteur critics (as opposed to genre critics). They would compare his films to his other films. He was a strong personality and was able to transcend the whole assembly line thinking. His films had a lot of recurring elements, as well as a personal style. One thing he used a lot in some of his popular films was POV editing. He was able to make the audience identify or at least sympathize with the main character. Even if the character was a killer like in the movie “Psycho”

One of his movies that used POV editing a lot is a 1954 film “Rear Window“. Its about the nature of watching. Its a “reflexive” film because as an audience we tend to make assumptions, and thus we feel involved. We project our own fears and desires onto the screen.

If you wish to watch the movie “Rear Window”, search for it on Google Video. You will find it in segments.

Hollywood Studio Era (1930-1945)

This is the time when American films and Hollywood became globally known as entertainment film producers. Around this time film making popped up all around the world as well. Its during this era that the international identity came about.

In Hollywood studio movies were made like cars, on an assembly line. It went from idea, to producer, to designer, to director, to editing department and finally distribution. Studios were made so they can have productions in quantity. 65% of the American nation was going to the movies every week at this time. Why? It was the great depression. People didn’t have jobs, and life was tough. To get away from all that, they went to the movies.

The great depression caused a lot of film studios to go out of business, but then Wall Street infused it with boat loads of cash and investments coupled with corporate structure and discipline. This new life blood resulted in the movie industry was booming.

Around this time of Hollywood boom, a group of people came out with the Production Code of Ethics. The Production Code spelled out what was and was not considered morally acceptable in the production of motion pictures for a public audience.

This was the precursor of the MPAA rating system, which came about as a means of self regulation so that others don’t regulate their films. The production code itself fell apart by the 1950s when filmmakers realized that people would see their films regardless of whether or not they followed the code.

It was also during this time that the Griffith style of filming was extended even further. Movies advanced to have sound, thus sound departments developed in the Hollywood studio. Sound such as effects, dialog, diegetic and music.

What was the function of music in films? Transitions, set mood, add suspense, imitate character movements (mickey mousing). One thing to note is the difference between background and diegetic music. Background music is the sound heard by the audience, but not by the characters, while deigetic sound is music from the character’s world.

A movie that demonstrates the type of films, the technology they were using is “His Girl Friday“.