Favorite Hitchcock Shot?

[David Mullen ASC]

I'm a huge Ingrid Bergman fan, though it's hard to top "Casablanca" for dreamy close-ups of her. David Selznick, who loaned her out to Warner Bros. for that movie, sent a thank you letter to DP Arthur Edeson because he felt that Edeson's lighting of Bergman had raised her marquee value.

Interesting thing is that, like the other famous Swede to arrive in Hollywood, Greta Garbo, when Bergman first started in movies, she was rather blandly pretty. It wasn't until they hit their mid 20's that they started to look distinctively beautiful, plus it wasn't until then that the stylists figured out what to do with them, allow their own unique features to come through. I see that a lot in actresses, they can be somewhat generic in their beauty at 18 or 20, and then they get really interesting as they approach 30.

[chuck colburn]

It's hard to top Grace Kelly in "Rear Window" or "To Catch a Thief"...

That sequence where she first appears in "Rear Window" in that step-printed kiss, then goes around the room and turns on each lamp, is one of the best character intros in a movie.

Of course, there's Ingrid Bergman...

And I've always liked Margaret Lockwood in "The Lady Vanishes".

Oh yeah! That shot in Rear Window. Always wondered if it was step or skip printing. Thanks for the answer. And HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

[Tom Lowe]

She's got one of the most classic profiles ever. In fact, I'd almost venture to say that she has THE classic profile. I definitely take your point about the stylists learning how to showcase her, but I wonder if it was that her beauty increased with age, or that they really learned how to light her and angle her? Yeah, Casablanca is probably is the apex of photography of her.

One thing I notice about her is that great directors loved to frame her in long two-shots with her in profile.

Bergman at age 14:



Well lit:



Profile two-shots:

[Sanjin Jukic]

Hitchcock blondes:

"During his interviews with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock explained his preference for a certain kind of actress whose sex appeal is "indirect":

[Hitchcock:] "You know why I favor sophisticated blondes in my films? We're after the drawing-room type, the real ladies, who become whores once they're in the bedroom."

[Triffaut:] "What intrigues you is the paradox between the inner fire and the cool surface."

[Hitchcock:] "Definitely. . . . Do you know why? Because sex should not be advertised. . . . Because without the element of surprise the scenes become meaningless. There's no possibility to discover sex."

QUOTE: Hitchcock blondes >>> LINK



Birds - The blonde -Tippi Hedren



Birds - The blonde has a fun (with the birds).



Birds - The blonde is in danger (from the birds).



Birds - After all those fights with the birds now the blonde is safe and leaving a dangerous

Bodega Bay>>LINK in the car with her man and the kids.

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

[Triffaut:] "What intrigues you is the paradox between the inner fire and the cool surface."

[Hitchcock:] "Definitely. . . . Do you know why? Because sex should not be advertised. . . . Because without the element of surprise the scenes become meaningless. There's no possibility to discover sex."

Boy, was he smart?

Hitchcock is the man.

And the same goes with horror. The sexiest and the most horrible things in movies are the ones you actually don't see - Duel, Jaws by Spielberg; Predator.

Remember the Kevin Spacey character in Se7en?

After all the gruesome violence in the story [which happens off-screen most of the time ;)], you expect Godzilla to be responsible for all these murders.

No - a humble, mild looking man.

You'd never guess he's the killer if you didn't actually know.

Harmless looking on the exterior, but what about his soul?

This is packed with conflict.

Great stuff.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Boy, was he smart?

Hitchcock is the man.

And the same goes with horror. The sexiest and the most horrible things in movies are the ones you actually don't see - Duel, Jaws by Spielberg; Predator.

Remember the Kevin Spacey character in Se7en?

After all the gruesome violence in the story [which happens off-screen most of the time ;)], you expect Godzilla to be responsible for all these murders.

No - a humble, mild looking man.

You'd never guess he's the killer if you didn't actually know.

Harmless looking on the exterior, but what about his soul?

This is packed with conflict.

Great stuff.

Hi Krapetkov,

Great.

I see you've got the point very well.

Have a nice holidays.

[Seung Han]

Brigitte Bardot in Contempt, a goddess...

Also, I would give away one of my REDs to shoot something with Monica Bellucci.

Nah :)

[Petr Dvorak]

vertigo
http://www.imagebam.com/image/6b5b9e1417495
http://www.imagebam.com/image/9236181417492
http://www.imagebam.com/image/f3aa3d1417493

and sweet Ingrid
http://img117.imageshack.us/my.php?image=c15xm5.png
http://img109.imageshack.us/my.php?image=c14tq5.png
http://img109.imageshack.us/my.php?image=c13xd3.png

[Tom Lowe]

Nice ones, Hawaj.



Is this from an HD-DVD?

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

Hi Krapetkov,

Great.

I see you've got the point very well.

Have a nice holidays.

Yes, the book with the Hitchcock-Truffaut interviews is a great filmmaking toturial.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!