Rear Window Essay

546 Words3 Pages
From the sitting position of the protagonist, L.B. Jefferies (Jeff), in Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) to Jeff’s view as he pans his neighbourhood from his rear window, these characteristics of the film reflects both physically and abstractly, upon how cinemagoers engage with the screen. The curtains roll up in the beginning of the movie signifying a show is about to start as it would with theatre shows in those times. A sweaty man is shown and then the scene is cut to a close up of the thermometer to indicate the temperature of the surrounding and this makes the audience subconsciously relate as to why the windows of the area are opened. For most of the movie, we view the neighbourhood from Long Shots i.e. from the perspective of Jeff making him, ‘us’, and after every revelation about different neighbours, quick cuts of Jeff’s reaction shots are shown which creates a single-minded relationship between the audience and Jeff’s view becomes the ‘cinema screen’ for the audience. Taking it to a physical level, the movement of the camera mimics the movements of our eyes in the way it tilts and pans around the neighbourhood. Our curiosity deepens as a movie flows and we are intrigued to discover the why, when, who, how and where of an action. Jeff reflects our feelings towards the antagonist, Thorwald. The set design of Rear Window, which the construction was supervised by Hitchcock personally, helps to create the atmosphere of a cinema. When watching a movie, we are engaged with the mise-en-scene of the film that we forget our personal realities and Jefferies too, shows this depth of interest when observing his neighbourhood. While there are various distractions in a cinema of modern day, cell phone ringing and people talking, we tend to tune them all out to focus on what is happening on screen. Lisa, Jeff’s love interest, engages with Jeff in a kissing
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