Alfred Hitchcock managed to turn an empty cornfield into a white-knuckled death trap. How did you do it? As one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's work has been examined and studied extensively for almost 100 years. (100 years!? I surprised myself when I wrote that just now.) However, one of the most famous aspects of his brand of filmmaking is his impeccable ability to create tension on screen in the most creatively economic way possible, and one scene that truly demonstrates that ability is the "crop duster" scene from his 1959 mystery thriller, North by Northwest. In this video essay, Tyler Knudson of CinemaTyler goes over the many different elements at play in the scene, including the sparse setting, Cary Grant's wardrobe, and the minimal use of sound, in order to explain how tension can be created in ways that don't always necessitate the use of common genre tropes. Read More...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Saturday, 31 March, 2018