Discuss the narrative techniques used by Hitchcock to set the scene for the audience in ‘Rear Window’.
...tart in the background. This is also why there are blinds rolling upwards throughout the duration of the credit sequence. This also shows that it is the start of the story. The window fills the whole frame of the shot. This is a good way of setting the scene for the viewers. Old-style joyous jazz music is played at the start – a good way of portraying happy times. The opening scene in Rear Window has no dialogue, leaving even more of the viewers in a pool of anticipation. The scene highlights the fact that every single thing in the film will be seen through that particular window. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a great example of first-rate camerawork. The camera is used as the narrator and probably plays the biggest role within the film. At the start of the film, the camera is used to pan around every single apartment within the inner city New York apartment block to introduce the characters. Although the characters do not speak, they still play a major role in the film. Alfred Hitchcock puts the viewers in the position of L.B Jeffries, making us all voyeurs. The camera is used to tell the story, as there is very little dialogue in the film. Throughout nearly all of the film, only one shot is used to tell the story, there are very few cuts. By doing it this way, Hitchcock is showing us exactly what the character is seeing. The cast of Rear Window includes Jimmy Stewart, the lovely Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. As the story unfolds, the character’s identities are revealed. Jimmy Stewart plays a wheelchair-confined photographer, LB Jeffries, who is trapped inside his apartment day after day with nothing to do but watch his neighbours attentively through the rear window of his apartment. Stella, Thelma Ritter plays Jeffries’ insolent nurse. Together they talk about the life of Mr. Jeffries and his gorgeous girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont, played by Grace Kelly, whom he does not want to marry. While in the care of Stella, she notices that Jeffries has taken a liking to watching the neighbours with great captivation. As the days pass he is more and more intrigued by the actions taken on by his neighbours –the nagging couple, the newlyweds, “Ms. Torso,” “Ms. Lonelyheart,” and the strange artist. Both Lisa and Stella believe Mr. Jeffries to be a Peeping Tom and that he should pass the time in his apartment another way. In time, Mr. Jeffries notices peculiar actions happening between the nagging couple. The wife suddenly disappears and Jeffries is lead to make the assumption that her husband, Mr. Thorbird, has killed her and quickly phones his detective friend. The detective finds nothing that would lead to the death or killing of Mrs. Thorbird. But as the plot unfolds, there appears to be more to the story than the detective suggests. Things turn for the worse and Lisa, Stella, and Jeffries do their own detective work on the case of the nagging couple. Lisa and Stella show bravery in taking action on trying to solve the mystery of Mrs. Thorbird’s disappearance. The theory of Mr. Thorbird killing his wife is to be proved in good time. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a great display of suspense and drama. The movie has its viewers constantly on edge. Hitchcock also never fails to expose the confined Jeffries in his wheelchair a...