We were discussing surprise and suspense in films and the differences between the two - surprise in film is the unexpected twist that is the highlight of the story and About A Girl certainly featured a surprise. You can watch it online here, the brief summary of it is:
As a girl related stories about her ordinary teenage life, there is an uncomfortable sense of sadness underlying her easygoing tales.
Directed by Brian Percival, it's the monologue of a 13 year-old girl. Speaking directly to the camera as she walks through the backstreets of an English town, she starts out talking about trivial things in her life, her unrealistic dreams of becoming a famous singer and random anecdotes. This is inter-cut with footage from her life from an objective point of view, so we gain insight into her life with her parents and her friends. She draws the audience in through her personality, we laugh at the things she says in her strong accent and pass off her seemingly naïve comments as things all young people say.
Hand-held camera is used which keeps the visual rhythm constant and flowing with the dialogue and her movement. For shots of significance and emotional impact a steady cam is used and her monologue stops, which is jarring and completely changes the pace of the film. It gives these scenes more impact, not only because of the narrative aspect, but also because stylistically they completely contrast with the flow of the rest of the film.
Hand-held camera is used which keeps the visual rhythm constant and flowing with the dialogue and her movement. For shots of significance and emotional impact a steady cam is used and her monologue stops, which is jarring and completely changes the pace of the film. It gives these scenes more impact, not only because of the narrative aspect, but also because stylistically they completely contrast with the flow of the rest of the film.
There is a mounting sense of disquieting sadness leading up to the surprise moment which was completely and utterly unexpected, confronting and forces you to re-think the whole film. Re-watching it with the ending in mind we became aware of the clues leading up to the twist, everything the girl said had a much deeper meaning and we no longer passed small comments off as unimportant. This made her story all the more tragic and made me understand and appreciate the excellent filmmaking that went in to it.
Maybe I’m an unobservant audience member if I miss out on some hints while watching a film. However I prefer to think that re-watching films adds depth to them because you’re no longer watching them just to see where the narrative goes – you’re watching to see how it gets there. Hindsight basically.
And now back to Vertigo…
The first thing I thought whilst watching it last night was how little James Stewart had changed in 18 years since The Shop Around the Corner (1940) which we watched only a couple of weeks ago. I’m not unfamiliar with his work but I don’t think I’ve watched anything with him in such quick succession before, which really made this obvious to me.
Vertigo gets better with each viewing and you’re able to focus on the characters and the themes of the film such as obsession, love and manipulation and begin to appreciate what a unique masterpiece it is. We don’t entirely miss these things the first time, it’s just that our main focus is following the intricate narrative. I found it a more disturbing story this time with Elster completely using Scotty in the elaborate murder of his wife, Scotty becoming obsessed with Madeleine and after her death imagining that he sees her everywhere. He then forces Judy to undergo a makeover so that she becomes Madeleine. Judy also first agreed to pretend to be Madeleine for Elster and then did the same for Scotty in the hope that it would make him love her.
I also noticed stylistic elements that were used to help convey the narrative, such as the use of light – especially the scene in which Scotty and Midge visit Pop Leibel, where it suddenly becomes very dark as he tells them of Carlotta Valdes and only lightens again when they leave the shop. The setting plays a big part in the film and San Francisco is more of a character itself than just a backdrop to the story.
The use of camera is another element that Hitchcock always uses to brilliant effect, it is obvious that each angle and frame is so well thought out to serve a specific purpose to the film and each shot is composed so effectively.
Reading about Vertigo afterwards, I found this interesting piece of trivia on IMDb:
Uncredited second-unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous "zoom out and track in" shot (now sometimes called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot") to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience.
This is a really interesting technique and one that has been used many times since. I can still remember when I figured out how to re-create that technique (playing with a digital camera while in the car). One thing I love about watching classic films, is that you’re seeing techniques the first time that they’ve ever been done, things we might think of as neat camera tricks but don’t give second thought to were invented by second-unit cameramen over 50 years ago!
- Film Screening Lecture 21/3/2011
- IMDb, Vertigo (1958) – Trivia, 2011, 26/3/2011 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/trivia
- BBC Film Network, BBC - Film Network - Films - About A Girl, 2011, 26/3/2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p0055x2k
- Also an interesting read is Martin Scorsese’s forward to 'Vertigo': The Making of a Hitchcock Classic, which can be read on the FAQ page on IMDb:
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