North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock

Name; North by Northwest
Director; Alfred Hitchcock
Published; 1959
Running time: 136 minutes



North by Northwest is an exciting and typical example of a classic thriller. It is set in America and it was directed by English director and producer Alfred Hitchcock who is often nicknamed as the 'Master of suspense'. The screen play was crafted by Ernest Lehman who was an american screen writer.

An advertising man named Roger Thornhill, finds himself unexpectedly and suddenly grasped into the world of spies, after being mistaken for a man going by the name 'George Kaplan'. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his ruthless henchman Leonard tried to execute Thornhill but through a strike of luck and natural instincts he managed to survive the events. Unfortunately as he tried clearing his name the police took him to court for drink driving and if that is not enough, he is framed and convicted of murder. While he's on the run, he bumps into a cute blonde by the name of Eve Kendall, who helps him escape the law. But sadly nothing seems as what he thought and he finds out Eve isn't all she appears to be. All of this leads to an adventurous and thrilling ending on Mount Rushmore.

What makes 'North By Northhwest' a thriller?
 Resourceful hero / powerful villain
Fast paced scenes
Lots of action
Suspense



1)  Resourceful hero and powerful villain

In North by northwest Roger Thornhill is the resourceful hero, his resourcefulness is tested during several trials; for example when he had to leave the train station without getting noticed and also when he had to escape the crop duster. Also we have a powerful villain: Vandaam. Whom him and his henchmen seem to have a plan to escape all the polices investigations. This will always make the audience interested because they will be wondering what the villains next devious plan is and how the hero will escape it.

 VANDAAM THORNHILL

2) Fast Pace Scenes

There are several fast pace scenes in North By Northwest. Fast pace scenes are effective for a thriller because the audience are 'at the edge of their seats' wondering what will happen, an example of this is when Thornhill is being pursued by the crop duster.




This scene is very fast pace and makes the audience think and ask questions such as, how will he escape? will he ever escape? what will he do next? etc. it causes the audience to be engaged.



3) Suspense

To classify something as a thriller there needs to be suspense. Suspense makes the audience anxious and excited about what will happen next, it is usually at a point in the film where the hero is a serious dilemma and the villain seems to have won the war, in North By Northwest, there are several scenes which contain suspense.





One scene which probably stood out the most for suspense was at the end at Mount Rushmore, and Thornhill as about to fall off the edge but is hanging on for dear life.

4) Red Herrings

A ' red herring is an effective device, which is used to mislead or fool the audience into thinking something happened which didn't.

In this scene it is used very effectively to fool the audience into thinking that Eve Kendall had shot Roger Thornhill and that he died but little does the audience know that it was a goof.

Mise en scene

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is a french term meaning " In the scene or frame".

The elements of miss en scene are:
Settings and props; costume, hair & make-up; facial expressions and body language; lighting and colour; positioning of characters and objects.


Settings and props
- The setting is where the text of the media takes place i.e. classroom, field of crop & train station.
- Props are the object we see in the settings.
Costume, Hair & Make-Up
- The use of costume, hair and make-up in a certain way can have strong effect on how the audience views i.e. someone who is looking dirty and has ragged clothes suggests they are poor.

Facial expressions and body language
- We all communicate through facial expressions and body language
- This is particularly important in media texts with  close up and extreme close up because we can tell a lot about what is going on or what is going to happen through a characters facial expressions and body language. i.e. a characters who is smiling and laughing infers thats there is happiness in the scene.

Positioning of characters and objects within a frame 
- Where objects and characters are positioned, is very important.
- Objects and characters can be in the foreground, middle ground or background, this can emphasise the relative importance of the object or character.

Deep focus
- This where both foreground and background are in focus, which enables the audience to choose where to look.

Media Theories

Media Theories
Classic Hollywood Narratives
(Three act structure)
1) Routine life (Introduction of the problem)
2) Problem solving (The character logically works through creating a story)
3) Problem resolved (End of the problem where the life returns back to normal)

The classic Hollywood comes in between realism and formalism.

Strauss Binary Opposites

Claude Levi Straussa french man who was alive around the 1900's. His theory was that we understand a word more according to how strongly we understand its opposite meanings and things related to it, more than how much we undestand the direct meaning of the word itself, known as 'binary opposites'. e.g. how well we understand the meaning of bad, depends on  how well you understand the word good and things related to it. Many films/plots especially thrillers, use several binary opposites within the storyline.

 

Barthes 5 Narrative Codes

1) Hermenuetic
This code refers to a text that has mystery or uncertainty, clues or hints or given but still there is no obvious or clear answer.

2) Proairetic
This code is adds suspense and tension to the text, which keeps the audience interested and guessing

3) Semantic
This code refers to part of a text, through connotation of which the story suggests.

Connotation - "an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning"

4) Symbolic
Similar to the semantic code but at a broader level. "This is typically done through the use of antithesis, where new ideas arise out of opposing and conflicting ideas.

5) Cultural
This code focuses on the audience's ideology, cultural knowledge and morality.

Todorov's Theory

Todorov came up with a theory in 1969 which he believe that should and could be applied to any film text.

1) A state of equilibrium ( everything is happening as it should be)
2) A disruption in the order of events
3) Recognition that there has been a change in events
4) A plan to stop the disturbance and repair the damage
5) A return to a state of equilibrium can be applied to the thriller: Rush Hour



1) The president of China is giving a speech to other world leaders.

2) Suddenly there is an attempted assassination dead by an unknown man.

3) Inspector Lee and Detective carter are put on the case to find the hit man. They have to travel to Paris to protect a woman who has knowledge of secrets of triad leader.

4) The Chinese criminal master mind ( the assassin) turns out to be Lee's long lost brother, during a sword fight between the two, Kenji falls from the Eiffel Tower but Reynard is still alive ... luckily carter manages to shoot him.

5) Lee and Carter walk off dancing to 'War'.