Re-Write ET17: Hitchcock Crop Duster

   Hitchcock was famous for using suspense in his movies, but what brings out suspense? Hitchcock planned out every scene before he shoots it. And for today, we will be referring to his famous Crop Duster scene.

   He starts of this scene with a beautiful establishing shot using an almost aerial like. The mis-en-scené in this particular scene is the gives the viewer the feel that he or she is in a land that is not escape-able. It may be an open space, but is it really? Agoraphobia, is the fear of being in open spaces, we may not realize it, but this fear is in most of us. The idea that we will be deserted from civilization could sometimes be far worse than being trapped in a locked up cell. Anyway, back to the mis-en-scené of the sequence, Hitchcock planed out using the fields of maize because it gives the viewer of "never-ending-ness" point of view. The maize crops also gives an entertaining feel to the audience. Imagine watching a this sequence in a barren desert, it would be impossible to escape a plane, the crops would have also been a clue to the audience that it would be a place that is possible to hide in a situation.

 
   The next shot I am going to elaborate on, is the long distant shots of the two sides of the road. These two sides of the road seems never ending, as we lose sight of vehicles passing by eventually. Sound also played an important part in this shot, because the sound of the cars passing by and going, will let the viewer know the distance the car can travel away from Thornhill. I somehow love the way Hitchcock used sound in this scene, this is because the sound of only the car, makes me feel I myself am alone. Silence may be the best tool for mis-en-scené because it allows the viewer to experience the film with their ears and not only their eyes. Take modern day 4D movies for example. A viewer does not only experience a film with his or her eyes, but also their sense of smell and touch. With silence, the viewers sense of sound becomes a clean empty canvas for the director.


   The following scene, is the use of the plane. The plane constantly hovers around the field for no apparent reason. We only find out that the plane was in-fact Mr.Thornhill's assailant. Hitchcock puts into account the angles he uses to get that "We're doomed" feeling while looking at the plane. He takes a shot of the plane coming towards the screen while Carey Grant drops and faces us. This gives us the experience that the plane flew over us. He does this multiple times with Carey Grant facing different directions and with different elements around him. One of which, was the scene where bullets were shot from the plane and shot towards Mr.Thornhill but missed. It may have missed, but it hit the dirt and gravel on the floor which bounced up. This gives viewers the feel that they themselves are on the floor. The sound in this particular sequence of shots, if extremely important. It is also so well made, that people are able to experience this movie without the need for sight. We could close our eyes, and still hear the plane come and go, the distance the plane is from us, the bullets fired by the plane, everything.


   The next shot I will be elaborating, could be the shot that sets the bar to both sound and sight. The shot that I am talking about, is when Carey Grant goes into the field of crops. He hides withing the crops which are already dead and withering. The mis-en-scené used in this shot was the use of dead crops, dirt, and dust. The
dirt is darker than the gravel he is previously on, this shows that he is in a plowed field. The crops were important, because it shows viewers the barrenness of the land. The state of the land is so dry, that the crops are withered and rattle when a plane flies over them. The dust gives the appearance that Mr.Thornhill is lost withing the presence of smoke and is unsure of his sight. The dust also removes our sight of Mr.Thornhill and probably vice versa.


   The combination of these shots and audio put together gives the viewer a constant stream of entertainment. The sound is almost never cut off, and the shots match with the sound of ambiance of the film. It was a very wise choice for Hitchcock to align his shots in sequence of  Establishing shot, POV, Establishing, and POV and so on. This gives us a feel of being both Mr.Thornhill and God(in lack of a better term).


   In the editing in this sequence, Hitchcock uses a lot of Cutaways with the alternating views. But also the occasional use of Cross-cutting. He uses alot of cutaways at the beginning before the plane tries to assassinate him, and he uses alot of cross-cutting while the plane chases after him.





PS: I know I won't get a good grade on this, cause I am not fully satisfied, but I'm just not to sure what I'm missing. Something makes me feel that this is incomplete. But since I lack the time for a re-write, this will have to do for now. Cheers :). Thanks for taking time to read this Rey.