Friday 16 January 2015

Rope Review (1948)

Rope Review (1948)

Rope, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that tells the story of two young men who committed the act of murder for the perfect crime and decided to dump the body of their "inferior" friend in a old chest just before the party they are hosting, which contains people who the victim knows and ultimately ended with the criminals found out by their former teacher.

 (Fig 1: Movie poster)


The film uses its camera in a particular style by having it film long scenes and moved around so they can get the right angles. They obviously planned where the camera will go and made sure everyone and thing was in place. The use of this technique can be problematic and difficult to achieve but they succeeded as it doesn't break the illusion on the film. "In an ordinary movie, closer shots indicate more intensity, longer shots are more objective. Camera movement helps establish mood. Close-ups punch home dramatic moments. Cutaways, or “reaction shots,” make it clear who is reacting, and when." (Roger Ebert: 1984) The actors obviously took time to rehearse their lines as it's shot like a play. Notably the background changes from dusk to dark throughout the duration of the film, which creates the illusion.

(fig 2: Brandon (right) and Phillip (left) hiding the body in the old cabinet)

The main characters, Brandon and Phillip, both have different ideals and opinions after the murder of their "inferior" classmate. Brandon is the cocky, slick and arrogant type while Phillip is the reasonable, nervous and concerned type that cares deeply about his friend and the consequences of his actions, which makes him more relatable.
(Figure 3: The set with the cast)

Overall this movie shows a great deal of effort and direction, the characters are entertaining to watch and the story is done brilliantly. Alfred Hitchcock knows how to create suspense in his movies, he knows that the information is one of the key points in creating a film, if you give the audience information on characters or the plot then the audience can connect with the film and then you can focus on building the suspense. He manages to do this by showing us the murder and hiding the body before the party that way the audience can feel the tension when they are near the body.






(Figure 1: http://s13.postimg.org/6wkayaoyf/4711553402_54147ff668_b.jpg)
(Figure 2: http://criticsloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Rope-pic-1.jpg)
(Figure 3: http://69.89.31.131/~myfilmvi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/arop.jpg)

Roger Ebert: 1984 available from:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rope-1948

1 comment:

Jackie said...

Hi Jacky,

This is so much better :) You have managed to discuss some of the techniques used to give the audience the feeling that they watching the action take place in real time, and have also picked out some of the ways that Hitchcock creates tension. You have also embedded your quote this time, so that is good. In the next review, try and include a couple more from different authors - this will give you more scope of discussion and analysis. Also don't forget to put the quotes in italics. Have another look at the referencing guide, for the correct way to set out your bibliography.

http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/article/36657/Referencing-text-sources-using-the-Harvard-style

So, as an example of how your reference should look -

Ebert, R. (1984)Rope Review. At http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rope-1948 (Accessed on 16/01/15)

(The title of the document, in this case 'Rope Review' should be in italics, but unfortunately I can't do that in the comments!)

Similarly, your image list is also missing some details - see here...
http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/article/36658/Referencing-image-sources-using-the-Harvard-style

All in all, much better though! :)