Name almost any trope, shot set-up or other cinematic convention associated with the horror and thriller genres, and chances are pretty good that it can be traced to Alfred Hitchcock.
Writer and independent filmmaker Jeff Bays pays tribute (with nods to film scholars and practitioners like Francois Truffaut and Donald Spoto) to the rightly-named master of suspense in his list of camera angles, editing style, story devices (like the infamous MacGuffin) and more in Basic Film Techniques, an online guide he created for filmmakers who are "depressed because their movie is so average that nobody will watch it. Stop crying and pay attention."
But his enlightening, entertaining little checklist makes for fascinating reading even for those who prefer life in the audience.
written on Friday Aug 3, 2007
angles,
devices,
movies.
