Factfile: Alfred Hitchcock & Spike Lee

Factfiles: Alfred Hitchcock & Spike Lee

- Spike lee up to do the right thing
- Alfred hitchcock up to vertigo
- Auteurs
- Themes in films

YouTube videos on making of Do The Right Thing and Vertigo: (make notes on at a later date)
Do The Right Thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I5vV4WKc-o
Do The Right Thing - 20 yrs later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6kVN1coXDw
Vertigo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDpzLA8qPSQ

Alfred Hitchcock - FactFile pre Vertigo:
- Born in England in 1899 and lived in a large, extended family
- He was a quiet and well-behaved boy due to his father's discipline; when Hitchcock was 5 his father locked him in a cell for 5/10 minutes at police station which caused Hitchcock to have a lifelong fear of policemen. Hitchcock told this story and regularly and whether or not its true, the story illustrates Hitchcock's feelings towards his father.
- Hitchcock developed his fear at the Jesuit grammar school as the boys sat through lessons anticipating the punishment of being hit with the cane at the end of the day.
- Raised as a strict Catholic and attended schools ran by Jesuits
- Hitchcock had a regular upbringing
- Hitchcock initially wanted to be an engineer and he took night-classes studying engineering & navigation
- Hitchcock enlisted to join the war in 1917 but failed the medical so he instead joined a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers. His military stint was limited.
- His first job (not including family businesses) was in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph & Cable Company -> his interest in movies began around this time as he started to read US trade journals & frequently visited the cinema; he was particularly interested in American cinema such as Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton. After the war Hitchcock became interested in creative writing and in June 1919, he became a founding editor/business manager of 'The Henley Telegraph' where he submitted several short stories.
- Joined the film industry around 1920. Initially started by drawing the sets.
- Whilst at Henley's, he read in a trade paper that Famous Players-Lasky (production arm of Paramount) was planning on building a studio in London so Hitchcock drew some title cards and sent his work to the studio and was hired. When they pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock was hired by a new firm (Gainsborough Pictures) and he worked as an assistant to the director Graham Cutts.
- Hitchcock started directing films in the summer of 1925, he was also inspired by director F.W. Murnau and would later use many of his techniques for set design in his own productions. Many of Hitchcock's earlier works were influenced by the Expressionist techniques he'd witnessed in Germany.

- Hitchcock directed 'Blackmail' in 1929 which is cited as one of the early talkie films. This film began Hitchcock's tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences.

- In 1933, Hitchcock was once again working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont British. His 2nd film (The 39 Steps) made Hitchcock a star in the US and established the quintessential English 'Hitchcock blonde' as the template for his succession of ice cold, elegant leading ladies. The film was one of the first to introduce the 'MacGuffin' plot device (an item/goal the protagonist is pursuing, one that otherwise has no narrative value, for example in the 39 Steps it is a stolen set of design plans).

- In the late 30's he made a number of films in Britian (e.g. The Lady Vanishes & Jamaica Inn) which also gained him fame in America. TLV saw Hitchcock receive the '1939 New York Film Critics Circle Award' for Best Director, the only ever time he won an award for his directing. By this time Hitchcock was lauded in the UK/US. A New York Times film critic & Life magazine wrote in 1938 that Hitchcock is 'the greatest director of screen melodramas in the world'.
- First visited Hollywood in the late 30's but was turned down by virtually all major motion picture studios as they thought he couldn't make a Hollywood-style picture.
- Moved to Hollywood in 1940 after David O. Selznick signed him to a 7 year contract. Hitchcock was unhappy about Selznick's creative control over his films. However Hitchcock was quickly impressed by the superior resources of the American studios compared to the financial limits he faced in Britain.
- Directed an adaptation of Rebecca and his fame as a director grew after 'Saboteur' was released in 1942. Rebecca was H's 1st American film and won Best Picture at the Oscars & scored H the first oh his 5 nominations for Best Director. His 2nd American film was 'Foreign Correspondent' (also nominated for Best Picture). H felt uneasy living/working in Hollywood whilst Britain was at war so his concern resulted in a film that overtly supported the British war effort.
- Suspicion marked H's 1st film as a producer & director. This is the 1st of 4 collaborations between H & Cary Grant. Saboteur is the 1st of two films H made for Universal during the 40's.
- Hitchcock never failed to reconcile aesthetics with the demands of the box office.
- When H returned to the UK for an extended visit in late '43/early '44, e made two short propaganda films as he felt he needed to make a contribution to the war effort.
- H's prescient use of uranium as a plot device in 'Notorious' led to H being under FBI surveillance as H was interested in the development of the atomic bomb.

- Transatlantic Pictures: an independent production company formed by H & Sidney Bernstein. H made 2 films with Transatlantic, one of them being his first colour film. 'Rope' was the first of 4 films between H & James Stewart. Transatlantic Pictures became inactive after these two unsuccessful films.

- After 'Under Capricorn', H returned to black-and-white films for several years.

- 'I Confess' was followed by three colour films staring Grace Kelly (Dial M for Murder, Real Window & To Catch A Thief). H experimented with 3D cinematography for Dial M for Murder & moved to Paramount Pictures to film Rear Window.

- Hitchcock was the host of TV series 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' from 1955 to 1965 which made H a celebrity himself.

- At the height of his success in 1956, he was asked to introduce a set of short-story collections with his name attached. His name was also licensed for a digest-sized monthly 'Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'. 

- Hitchcock became a US citizen in 1955.

- 'The Wrong Man' (1957): Hitchcock was attracted to the subject of the film due to his lifelong fear of police.

- Vertigo explores more frankly & at greater length, H's interests in the relation between sex/death more than any other work in his filmography.

- Vertigo contains a camera technique ('dolly zoom') developed by Irmin Roberts that has been copied many times by filmmakers.

- Despite attracting some negative reviews + poor box-office at the time, Vertigo was voted by critics as the best film ever made in the 2012 Sight & Sound Poll.

- Hitchcock followed Vertigo with three films recognised amongst his best: North By Northwest, Psycho & The Birds.

- He would work closely with screenwriters, giving them a series of scenes that he wanted in the films, thus closely controlling what he considered the most important aspect of the filmmaking process. Although the screenwriter would write the actual dialogue and blocking, many of the scripts for his films were rigidly based on his ideas.
- Hitchcock favoured one word titles for his films as he felt they were uncluttered and easily remembered by audiences.

Themes in Hitchcock films:
- Cameos: Often has a quick cameo in his films.
- Frequent close-up shots of hair.
- Uses bathrooms as a plot device -> either as a hiding place or a place where lovemaking is prepared for.
- Uses the wrong man/mistaken identity theme in his movies. Recurrent motif of lost or assumed identity.
- In order to create suspense, Hitchcock alternated between different shots to extend cinematic time (e.g. Psycho shower scene). Driving sequences also shot in this way; typically alternates between character's point of view whilst driving & close-up shot of those inside car from opposite direction as this technique kept the viewer 'inside' the car and made the danger encountered stand out more.
- Creates more shadows on the walls to create suspense and tension.
- Inspired the adjective 'Hitchcockian' for suspense thrillers -> emphasises his impact on film
- 'MacGuffins' (objects/devices driving the plot + of great interest to the characters but the audience were inconsequential to and could be forgotten once they served their purpose).
- Hated shooting on location, preferred shooting at the studio where he'd have full control of lighting/other factors.
- Distinctively slow way of speaking, dark humour & dry wit (especially regarding murder).
- Liked to use major stars in his films that the audience was familiar with so he could dispense with character development + focus more on plot.
- Unusual and subjective point of view shots.
- Often makes the audience empathise with the villain's plight, usually in a sequence where the villain is in danger of being caught. Villain's are usually likeable criminals or charming sociopaths.
- Images of birds throughout many of his films.
- London is a typical setting of Hitchcock films.
- Preferred using suspense over surprise in his films
- Placing an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances is a common feature of Hitchcock films, enables the audience to relate to the action in the movie.
- Uses 'the double' as a way to draw parallels between two characters; e.g. two characters share the same desire but only one is ruthless enough to take action.
- Many key scenes occur on staircases: influenced by German Expressionism which featured heavily stylised and menacing staircases.
- Food & death are interrelated in Hitchcock films.
- Trains often feature and many extended sequences on trains occur in Hitchcock films.
- Transference of Guilt: Hitchcock often sets up a villain/antagonist who has a dark secret. In the course of the film, Hitchcock, through the screenplay and the filming, makes it clear that the hero/protagonist somehow shares in this secret or guilt.
- Mothers frequently depicted as intrusive, domineering or batty.
- Hitchcock includes the consumption of brandy in many of his films.
- Uses blonde actresses as they are 'a symbol of a heroine'.
- Strongly preferred to convey narrative with images rather than dialogue. Hitchcock viewed film as a visual medium in which the director's images must convey the narrative. 
- Some Hitchcock films use the 'number 13', a commonly unlucky number.
- Tennis is often mentioned in Hitchcock films.
- Many characters fall from a height in his films.
- 'The Perfect Murder' is a core concept of many Hitchcock films.


Spike Lee - FactFile pre Do The Right Thing:
- Born in 1957 in Atlanta and moved to Brooklyn when he was a child.
- Lee came from an artistic and education-grounded background.
- 'The Deer Hunter' inspired Lee to become a film director.
- Lee enrolled in Morehouse College (an historically black all-male institution) where he made his first student film (Last Hustle in Brooklyn).
- He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University & graduated with a B.A. in mass communication from Morehouse.
- He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in film and television. Lee personally experienced racism at the NYC university which meant that in Lee's films, NYC is the central location for a film with a racial theme.
- In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film 'She's Gotta Have It'. He was inspired by viewing Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' in film school. This film launched his career and allowed him to found his own production company ('40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks'). The name of his company comes from the unfulfilled promise that many politicians made to freed slaves after the Civil War.
- Through his production company, Lee continues to create & direct both independent films and projects for major studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach + support.
- His next movie was 'School Daze', set at a historically black school and focused on the conflict between the school and Fraternities, the latter of which he was a critic as he presented them as materialistic, uncaring and irresponsible.
- With the profits earned from School Daze, Lee made his landmark film 'Do The Right Thing' which garnered Oscar nominations for Original Screenplay/Supporting Actor and sparked a debate on racial tensions.
- Often casts real-life family members in his films (e.g. in Do The Right Thing, a real-life husband and wife, real-life siblings and real-life father and son are all portrayed by people who share those relationships in real life).

Themes in Lee films:
- Frequently casts himself in his films and his films are often called 'A Spike Lee Joint'.
- Lee's films frequently involve African American and African-American themes.
- Frequently has characters directly addressing the camera and places actors on dollies to achieve a gliding/rotating effect against the background of the shot; known as the 'double dolly' technique.
- His films often use the phrase 'wake up!' as in an urging to the awakening of social conscience and maturity.
- Every one of his narrative feature films makes references to baseball teams and players.
- He repeatedly uses the same group of actors (such as Denzel Washington, Samuel L Jackson and Ruby Dee) to keep his message pure. He also casts actors/actresses that weren't famous in order to give them an opportunity to showcase their talents.
- Conflict is a key theme throughout many Spike Lee films.
- Virtually all of Lee's films reflect on his family, upbringing, the creative professions, New York City and being a wicked smart African-American artist in a whitewashed world.
- The themes of autobiography and race quickly become useful in order to understand Lee's work.
- Lee uses music to reflect the mood and attitude of his films. He uses soulful artists to strengthen the overall messages of his films.
- He includes actual events and historical backgrounds that provide context for his films.