Media thriller: North by North West
North by North West is a known and iconic world wide 1959 thriller which captures the naturalistic imagination of director Alfred Hitchcock and was written by the prestigious Ernest Lehman. The film stars known actor Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, an unassuming advertising executive who is falsely identified as a Spy of the United States of America. We follow Roger through his quest and challenges against both the police and the criminals involved within the film to resolve a hidden mystery and his complicated romance with Eve (Eva Marie saint). Alfred Hitchcock does an incredible job of sustaining tension and suspense throughout the film with a wide variety of editing techniques to enthral and capture the minds of audiences all the way up to this present day.
Trailer
Trailer
The trailer of North by Northwest is extremely appealing to the audience for a variety of different reasons. Hitchcock does extremely well to enthral the audience through his trailer as he captures specific sequences from the film which portray the suspense and graphical nature of the film which audiences will automatically be intrigued and thrilled. The trailer will therefore have a lasting effect on the audience. His use of Kinetic Typography in the trailer provides greater information of the film for audiences to follow; the effect of the narrative and the motion picture together allows the audience to get a firmer grip on the suspense and happening of the film. This alone gives them a greater interest of the film and makes them eager to go and watch it at the cinema.
Hitchcock
Many people described Hitchcock as the master of Suspense. He was a very organised man when it came shooting his scenes. He made sure that before the scene was shot, the visual distinctions of the scene were planned and ready. This would often save time as reconfiguration of scenes could be a long process and cost money. Hitchcock also commonly knew the dialogue of a scene before the scene had been shot in order to be as prepared as he could possibly be so if he did not like specific elements of the scene relating to dialogue, he would have the power to change it very quickly and efficiently. Hitchcock would not look at the camera when he was filming a sequence of a film, he preferred to imagine a cinema screen in front of him to thoroughly relate to the action. This helped him get a sense for what the film would be like at the cinemas.
Archetypal thriller?
Fast Pacing, frequent action
This is a highly significant aspect of the film. There are many different occasions throughout the film where there is strong and intense action on scene. When Roger drives to free himself from the criminals that abducted him, he is found in a car chase driving a car under the influence of alcohol by cliff edges and into on coming traffic. This is very intense for the audiences as they do not know if the car will drop off the cliff edge, crash into opposing traffic, get caught by the criminals or the police officers and this builds tension and anxiety for the audience. Furthermore, the crop duster scene provides fast pacing action where Roger attempts to avoid the oncoming crop duster attacks from the villain to survive and keeps audiences enthralled and involved in the film. When Roger and Eve are trying to flee from the criminals and the gate is locked this builds tension as the audience would be agitated to see if they can escape them or not.
Resourceful heroes and powerful Villains
Roger is presented as a resourceful hero throughout the film, there are criminals and police constantly in pursuit of him and he must find ways of avoiding and deceiving them. An example of this in the film is when Roger uses the disguise of an official at the train station to avoid him being caught for a murder that he did not commit. By him, using the uniform he was capable of fleeing the police. In addition, during the auction scene, Roger is obstructed by a criminal when he attempts to leave the room, therefore, he provokes a reaction from the police so they can escort him from the room and he can escape the capture of Villain Vandamm. These are prime examples of Roger being resourceful to damage the plans of the villains of the film.
Suspense, Cliff-hangers and Red Herrings
There are many instances throughout the film where these devices are utilised very well. Suspense is built when Roger is stood between an oncoming truck and an oncoming crop duster and the point of view editing technique is used extremely well by Hitchcock in the way that the audience is made to feel like they are about to be hit by the truck based on it coming straight for the camera and Thornhill's reaction. Suspense and a cliff-hanger is used at the end of the film, Roger and Eve are hanging onto the edge of Mt Rushmore and the villain places his foot on his hand, and the audience are consumed by the idea of the two main characters in the film being in this position and it makes them feel tense and uneasy. A red herring is used in the film when Roger is framed by the death of a man of whom he did not kill, this makes him a target of the police and he is not only then running away from the criminals but he has the police on his back as well. During the auction scene, a red herring is the fact that Roger decides he is going to provoke a reaction from the police so that he can escape the obstruction of the criminals containing him in the auction room this scene also demonstrates suspense when Roger gets a reaction out of Eve when he exposes her deceitfulness.
Crop Duster
The Crop Duster scene is a very iconic scene in the film for many different reasons. We can see that Roger is exposed to the crop duster based on the crane shot at the start of the scene showing the open space of the crop field. The subjective viewpoint utilised exceedingly well by Hitchcock of the plane slowly drawing closer and Roger slowly becoming more anxious builds a solid amount of suspense and tension for the audience to thrive off of. When the plane comes zooming straight past the camera with a close up, the audience are put in the place of Roger and are shocked by the visual image of the plane and it creates the effect that the plane has gone past them as well. They are allowed to break for a slight moment when the plane turns round and relax, however, when the crop duster comes heading straight back for Roger, suspense again builds up in the audience.
This process continues until the audience are able to breath a sigh of relief when they see an oncoming truck; however when they see the truck is not willing to stop and help, tension builds again as the truck draws closer as well as the plane. Roger luckily falls to the ground to prevent being hit by the truck and the audience can catch their breath. Their mind is then blown by the great visual image of the collision between the truck and the crop duster and are anxious to whether it will explode further. These chronological events make an iconic and visually outstanding scene where Hitchcock's directing may appeal to a variety of audiences despite language or race based on the high quality of visual representation.
Obstacles set for the hero to overcome
In North by Northwest, there are obstacles for Roger to overcome as the hero. The villain of the movie Vandamm is very capable in the way that he challenges Roger with the obstacles set. Some of these are more severe than others. An example of Roger overcoming an obstacle is him escaping the capture of Vandamm's men early in the film after they kidnap him. Furthermore, Roger is faced with the obstacle of escaping the police when he is framed for murder by one of the criminals in the film and becomes a target of the police as well as the villains. In addition, the villains present the obstacle of Eve who deceitfully seduces Roger and consequently takes his eye off the prise of making sense of the case as she is working to drive the direction of the villainous plot. However, her feelings develop for Roger and the plot is altered in the direction of Roger's pursuit to "save" Eve.
Hitchcock's Mcguffin
A McGuffin is something that drives the plot of a film especially a thriller such as north by northwest; this based on the fact that it is something that the villains in the film care much about but it may not be of any significance to the viewer. It is a key factor in many of Alfred Hitchcock's productions so that the film can run smoothly. The idea surrounding Eve is a McGuffin based on the fact that Vandamm and the other villains in the film want Eve purely to lure him into their trap, but the audience just want to see their romance blossom and hope the two can get together by the end of the film. Another McGuffin in North by northwest is the microfilm which holds the governments' top secret information which Vandamm and his henchmen attempt to escape with. This is a prime example of how the villains care about the object to a great extent but the audience do not as they are focused on Roger being able to stop the villains getting away with Eve but not the actual microfilm.
Archetypal thriller?
Fast Pacing, frequent action
This is a highly significant aspect of the film. There are many different occasions throughout the film where there is strong and intense action on scene. When Roger drives to free himself from the criminals that abducted him, he is found in a car chase driving a car under the influence of alcohol by cliff edges and into on coming traffic. This is very intense for the audiences as they do not know if the car will drop off the cliff edge, crash into opposing traffic, get caught by the criminals or the police officers and this builds tension and anxiety for the audience. Furthermore, the crop duster scene provides fast pacing action where Roger attempts to avoid the oncoming crop duster attacks from the villain to survive and keeps audiences enthralled and involved in the film. When Roger and Eve are trying to flee from the criminals and the gate is locked this builds tension as the audience would be agitated to see if they can escape them or not.
Resourceful heroes and powerful Villains
Roger is presented as a resourceful hero throughout the film, there are criminals and police constantly in pursuit of him and he must find ways of avoiding and deceiving them. An example of this in the film is when Roger uses the disguise of an official at the train station to avoid him being caught for a murder that he did not commit. By him, using the uniform he was capable of fleeing the police. In addition, during the auction scene, Roger is obstructed by a criminal when he attempts to leave the room, therefore, he provokes a reaction from the police so they can escort him from the room and he can escape the capture of Villain Vandamm. These are prime examples of Roger being resourceful to damage the plans of the villains of the film.
Suspense, Cliff-hangers and Red Herrings
There are many instances throughout the film where these devices are utilised very well. Suspense is built when Roger is stood between an oncoming truck and an oncoming crop duster and the point of view editing technique is used extremely well by Hitchcock in the way that the audience is made to feel like they are about to be hit by the truck based on it coming straight for the camera and Thornhill's reaction. Suspense and a cliff-hanger is used at the end of the film, Roger and Eve are hanging onto the edge of Mt Rushmore and the villain places his foot on his hand, and the audience are consumed by the idea of the two main characters in the film being in this position and it makes them feel tense and uneasy. A red herring is used in the film when Roger is framed by the death of a man of whom he did not kill, this makes him a target of the police and he is not only then running away from the criminals but he has the police on his back as well. During the auction scene, a red herring is the fact that Roger decides he is going to provoke a reaction from the police so that he can escape the obstruction of the criminals containing him in the auction room this scene also demonstrates suspense when Roger gets a reaction out of Eve when he exposes her deceitfulness.
Crop Duster
The Crop Duster scene is a very iconic scene in the film for many different reasons. We can see that Roger is exposed to the crop duster based on the crane shot at the start of the scene showing the open space of the crop field. The subjective viewpoint utilised exceedingly well by Hitchcock of the plane slowly drawing closer and Roger slowly becoming more anxious builds a solid amount of suspense and tension for the audience to thrive off of. When the plane comes zooming straight past the camera with a close up, the audience are put in the place of Roger and are shocked by the visual image of the plane and it creates the effect that the plane has gone past them as well. They are allowed to break for a slight moment when the plane turns round and relax, however, when the crop duster comes heading straight back for Roger, suspense again builds up in the audience.
This process continues until the audience are able to breath a sigh of relief when they see an oncoming truck; however when they see the truck is not willing to stop and help, tension builds again as the truck draws closer as well as the plane. Roger luckily falls to the ground to prevent being hit by the truck and the audience can catch their breath. Their mind is then blown by the great visual image of the collision between the truck and the crop duster and are anxious to whether it will explode further. These chronological events make an iconic and visually outstanding scene where Hitchcock's directing may appeal to a variety of audiences despite language or race based on the high quality of visual representation.
Obstacles set for the hero to overcome
In North by Northwest, there are obstacles for Roger to overcome as the hero. The villain of the movie Vandamm is very capable in the way that he challenges Roger with the obstacles set. Some of these are more severe than others. An example of Roger overcoming an obstacle is him escaping the capture of Vandamm's men early in the film after they kidnap him. Furthermore, Roger is faced with the obstacle of escaping the police when he is framed for murder by one of the criminals in the film and becomes a target of the police as well as the villains. In addition, the villains present the obstacle of Eve who deceitfully seduces Roger and consequently takes his eye off the prise of making sense of the case as she is working to drive the direction of the villainous plot. However, her feelings develop for Roger and the plot is altered in the direction of Roger's pursuit to "save" Eve.
Hitchcock's Mcguffin
A McGuffin is something that drives the plot of a film especially a thriller such as north by northwest; this based on the fact that it is something that the villains in the film care much about but it may not be of any significance to the viewer. It is a key factor in many of Alfred Hitchcock's productions so that the film can run smoothly. The idea surrounding Eve is a McGuffin based on the fact that Vandamm and the other villains in the film want Eve purely to lure him into their trap, but the audience just want to see their romance blossom and hope the two can get together by the end of the film. Another McGuffin in North by northwest is the microfilm which holds the governments' top secret information which Vandamm and his henchmen attempt to escape with. This is a prime example of how the villains care about the object to a great extent but the audience do not as they are focused on Roger being able to stop the villains getting away with Eve but not the actual microfilm.
