Hitchock blog

Alfred Hitchcock, what an amazing director. Having never heard of him before or even any knowledge of his works and now being introduced to it, it's different from the movies I'm used to. Hitchcock's movies that were viewed in class were all different but in each movie it had some of the same aspects. Especially with how Hitchcock uses montages in all 3 movies not in the typical sense but in the way that brings out different qualities of the movie. As well as how some of his personal opinions were also portrayed in the movie. For example, in the 39 Steps, Hitchcock's fear or dislike of police and authority is easily shown by character of Hannay and how he avoids the police with everything he has. Another similarity of his films relating to something that Hitchcock tends to do in his movies is the 'wrong man' theme. The theme entitles that there's an ordinary person but an extraordinary thing happens to them or the completely innocent is then framed and so must prove their innocence. Each film exemplifies Hitchcock's quality at film making. Hitchcock using his own feelings and continuous themes throughout his movies, the way he uses editing and camera work to display different feelings as well as how they affect what the viewers think of the scenes. Not only that but Hitchcock tends to be very unique on the sound side. In all 3 of the movies that were watched in class, each movie didn't have much sound for transition or many of the scenes but he used a different tactic. What I thought about his sound usage was brilliant how he would leave scenes silent for a certain duration and out of no where the music just builds up and it generates suspense and surprise. Not only that but sometimes with his use of sound, in a way it enhances the action that is happening on scene. For example in Rear Window, near the end when Thorwald is in Jeff's apartment, you don't really hear much but the moment the two start physically conflicting, all the noises start to make the scene more energetic and intense.
Furthering with Hitchcock's style is how he magnificently uses camerawork. For example the shower scene in Psycho where the lady is stabbed to death, although we were somewhat expecting to just simply see a few stabs and her going down, we actually find out that the way Hitchcock uses camera angles it changes the actions completely. By using multiple upon multiple shots and angles, it looks much more violent and thrilling. We find this out by how Hitchcock himself tells us that he used over 70 cameras just for that single scene and how he manipulated the shots to make it look as though she was stabbed even without any actual shots with the knife puncturing the victim. Hitchcock's camerawork is very artistic and is another part of his directing style that has led him to be very revered in the world of directors.

もののけ姫 (Princess Mononoke)

Amazing is all I have to really say about this movie. For the first time seeing this movie it's actually a pretty damn good one. Princess Mononoke is about animal gods such as the deer god, boar god, a wolf god as well as some other monkeys and gorillas and so forth. A very nature based as well as influences to modern warfare that's being protrayed as iron workings. The movie's theme is the ever lasting nature vs human conflict and this movie really emphasizes it. This is shown as to how one of the main characters is running her village but are advancing and destroying the forest and how the animals in the forests fight back. I believe this movie is very consistent of Miyazaki's directing style. The characters were all well developed and the story was very easy to follow along if you actually pay attention to the movie. Each character's motives are easily seen and there's no confusion as to what their role in the movie is. Additionally this movie is consistent with Miyazaki's 'mystical' style as well. What that means is how the things that he thinks of, is something very fake or unreal in anyway except in imagination. Just like in Totoro, almost everything he put in this movie was something created and couldn't possibly exist in our world. However something was very different in this movie, it was the violence/gore that was present. This was something that was very surprising and something I had never expected. There were some pretty graphic violence that was evident. Especially during the scene when one of the main characters, Ashitaka, was coming towards the village with samurai and as he's coming in riding his elk animal thing, he was shooting arrows that would decapitate people as well as completely (and very cleanly) slice off people's arms (is that even possible? I don't think so). Very different from all of the movies that I have seen by Miyazaki. However with the change in how much violence and how graphic it was, Miyazaki still used beautiful artwork and computer animated graphics to complement with his style. This detailed level of artwork could be clearly scene throughout the movie especially in the open scenes containing beautiful scenery as well as in close surroundings when details are more easily noticed (not to mention some pretty good music throughout the movie).

Here's a video to illustrate what I'm talking about (warning, contains animated blood O.o):


This video contains music and many of the scenes that take place throughout the movie. Although it may be a youtube video (which generally entails lower quality than normal) you can still see the intricate workings of what Miyazaki perfectly brings to the table in each of his movies and using only as much as needed to display the wonderful colors and animation to its fullest extent.

Totoro!

My Neighbor Totoro is one of the most interesting films I've seen. It's about these two girls that have to move while their mother is in the hospital and coincidentally they meet Totoro. The big animal like thing that's so rounded and tall that it'd probably squish you if it fell on you. The thing about this movie is that even for me as a teen, it was quite interesting to watch an old type of animation from a very revered director. Hayao Miyazaki's technique and style remain quite astonishing even if you aren't captured by the content and story itself. Having seen a few of his works such as Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro still had many of Miyazaki's directorness in it. The playful cheery atmosphere that comes along with a hint of mystery and fantasy. The movie although is seen mainly as a child's tale still has some parts where even an adult can be drawn into. Throughout the movie, there's comedy here and there, an interesting that makes you wonder "how is that even possible" and so forth. From what I've seen Miyazaki had always been good at making people wonder. Especially to things that we normally wouldn't even imagine unless specifically told to do so. The bewilderment that he generates is great and that draws in the audience as they view.

However, My Neighbor Totoro is in a way different from his usual works. Although there are still certain bits and pieces that resemble Miyazaki's signature My neighbor Totoro had a different pace to it. It's slow, casual, leisurely, and has more of a cinematic feel to it. Totoro doesn't have the villian type character or group like Howl's Moving Castle or Laputa as well as how the main characters despite being children aren't the bratty, snotty types that go through a revelation. Instead, it's about children that have to move in with their father and where they meet a spirit named Totoro (which again, is a seriously huge thing/object/animal that looks synical but won't harm you, weird huh) whom the older of the children, Mei, befriends and their relationship builds.

Overall though, the movie was very lush and full of material detailed from start to end. There's so much detail that's given to even the slightest roles in the movie such as open space and what not but each and everything has an unimportant significance that unconsciously makes this movie more 'fun' to watch.
<------- This is the thing I'm talking about, look at it, it's HUGE.