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North by Northwest is an American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was to be the 'Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures and was released in 1959.Once again Alfred Hitchcock created another thriller film that became very successful and one of is most recognizable films. This is a film about Roger Thornhill played by Cary Grant, mistaken as being a international spy named 'George Kaplan', that becomes wanted by the police after mistakenly assassinating a man. Roger then runs from the police and FBI to uncover the true about his identity. North by Northwest is a very suspenseful film that offers thrills and suspense in many scenes. Hitchcock uses many different techniques in this film to add this feeling of suspense. He uses intense music to intensify the scenes and make them more thrilling to the audience.
Hitchcock uses many different shot types in the film North by Northwest, and shot that Hitchcock utilizes many times is an establishing shot. Establishing shots can be used to show new locations between scenes but can also be used to show all the people in the conversation. Hitchcock uses establishing shots a lot in this film as he does in many of his films. An example of this is where Roger and Eve Kendall are at the top of Mt. Rushmore, Hitchcock uses a big establishing shot to show the audience the new location of the action. Establishing shots are important in thrillers because in action scenes the location can change quickly with the face paced scenes. By using an establishing shot it reveals to the audience the new location so they are aware of where the scene is taking place. This is used to keep the viewer of the film in time with the story.
Another feature Hitchcock uses the add suspense to scenes is by using close up or extreme close up shots. This is used to show the facial expressions of a person in a scene. An example of when this is used is when the plane is trying to kill George and he is running from it. This is one of the most thrilling and suspenseful parts of the film. Hitchcock utilizes the close up shots to show the reaction of George as the planes flying towards him. This shows the audience George's reactions and emotions.
Although Hitchcock uses many camera and filming techniques when filming, there are also many effects that are added after the filming process. One of these is the fade effect. This effect is where the picture will fade to black then back into the next scene. This effect is used to create a smooth transition between different scenes without cut between them. Hitchcock used this effect a lot in his films between scenes which made the film flow from scene to scene. This stops interruption between different scenes.
In conclusion Hitchcock created a film that is most scenes there is a suspenseful scene that thrills the audience. This is why this film became very successful and became one of the most prestigious thrillers by Alfred Hitchcock. I personally found this film very thrilling, with face pace action scenes and pursuits. I many different scenes over the film the viewer finds out different pieces of information that progresses the film. This is what makes the film suspenseful and thrilling to the viewer, this is why the film became so successful.
