Film Journal #1
1. How does Hitchcock introduce us to the two principle characters? Where do the scenes take place and how is the camera placed?
In the case of Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), her father’s prison sentence leaves her skeptical of others, yet longing for a new companion in her life. She has a reliance on alcohol to wash her troubles away. R. Devlin’s (Cary Grant) a stranger from the party, a very mystery man. The Party takes place at Miami, FL. The camera pans right across Cary Grant’s back and comes to rest behind his right shoulder. The camera is placed behind and to the right of Cary Grant who is sitting and facing away from the camera. In the immediate foreground masking out a small portion of the bottom left corner
Hitchcock also adds suspense to the film by using cross-cutting to leave the viewer eagerly helpless within the limitations of time. The major scene that uses cross-cutting to compress time and space is during the large party that Sebastian hosts at his house. Before Devlin and Alicia break into the wine cellar, a sense of urgency is immediately generated as Alicia explains to Devlin that they must complete their task before Sebastian’s server has to replenish the wine supply. This line of dialogue creates pressure and sets up the opportunity to use crosscutting to indicate urgency. Hitchcock uses cross-cutting, or “alternate shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places simultaneously’’ between Devlin and Alicia’s pursuit and the dwindling wine supply in order to make the viewer constantly aware of the overall situation. This is significant because only the viewer is allowed to see how much time Devlin and Alicia have before they get caught. By alternating between these two shots, Hitchcock also minimalizes the space between the two events. The viewer assumes that once the wine is gone, then Devlin and Alicia will be caught. The viewer is not show the space between the wine cellar and the table upstairs, but rather the immediate surroundings