Rear Window - Hitchcock

Although I missed this lesson, I’ve already watched this film by Alfred Hitchcock, so I decided to analysis like my peers did in the lesson I missed.



As always, Hitchcock tells his story visually, and when we are first shown of our protagonist, we understand that he is extremely hot, by the use of montage. We see a close up of his faces, with beads of sweat falling off his face, and we are then shown the thermometer which shows a very high temperature of over 90°. We are then shown that his leg is in a cast with has written on it “Here lies the broken bones of L. B. Jefferies, therefore we now know the man’s name. He is therefore unable to walk as he is in a wheelchair. We understand that he is a photographer whose, like his broken bones, camera is broken, which implies he may have been involved in an accident, when doing his job, resulting in his broken leg. We also understand that he photographs action in dangerous environment. Moreover, we see magazine, and also understand that he photographs women for a magazine. The use of Point of View shots explains to use that this is what Jefferies does all day as this film mainly uses this effect, which is called voyeurism. Therefore, Jefferies is the voyeur, a person who watches or spies on people who are engaged in something.