Alfred Hitchcock and his Significant Impact on the Evolution of Mass Communication

Posted: January 4th, 2023

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Alfred Hitchcock and his Significant Impact on the Evolution of Mass Communication

Introduction

Mass communication is a process through which an individual or an organized group of people delivers a message to a large group of anonymous and heterogeneous people and organizations through a selected medium. Communication mediums include broadcast television, radio, social, and print media. Some common types of mass communication are advertising, journalism, photography, film, and television, among others. This research provides a reflection of the significant impacts of Alfred Hitchcock, an iconic name in the history of film and television, on the evolution of mass communication.

            Alfred Hitchcock was connected to the film and television industry almost since its beginning when it was making initial steps to utilize its significant potential in entertainment provision. Since his exodus, he went ahead and left an important impact on the movie industry; he performed more than other directors to shape the modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His energy was for story, merciless retention vital data and connecting with the audience’s feelings (Freeman). Hitchcock was famous for exploiting the combination of love and murder, and his work gallery contains more than fifty films, all sharing his signature style of production.

Biography of Alfred Hitchcock

According to Freeman, Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, in England to a family of William and Emma who did poultry farming and sold groceries. The Hitchcock family was Catholic, placing them outside of the majority of England’s Protestant religion. Alfred had two siblings and was the youngest in the family.

            At the age of eleven, his parents sent him to Salesian College and the Jesuit Classic School St. Ignatius College in London. The years he spent in school was important in the formation and shaping of his personality. After finishing his studies from the school at the age of fifteen, Hitchcock began to work at Henley Telegraph Company, where he was employed as a draftsman and advertising designer (Leitch and Leland). At the same time, he was taking art courses at the University of London. Hitchcock was already interested in film, and he spent most of his time reading movie journals.

            During his time at Henley, Hitchcock expressed his creativity by regularly submitting short articles for in-house publications that had been established in the company. Soon he became a prolific contributor to the film-related articles, and this led to the rise of his name in the region. Through his work, Hitchcock got a job as the head of the title department in the London branch of paramount’s Famous Players Lasky after World War I, currently the Paramount Pictures (Leitch and Leland). This work brought him close to the film making as the industry was advancing to become a mainstream media and during times when it had to recover after devastating effects of war which crippled its output.

            At Paramount Pictures, Hitchcock met several established American writers, and he began to be involved in scriptwriting. Shortly after, he became an assistant and art director at Islington Studios. Working in Islington studio enhanced his life and career, where he met his wife and collaborator in filming work Alma Reville. His initial filming projects had many production challenges, but he kept on pushing harder for better reception with the help of his wife (Leitch and Leland). In 1929, he produced Blackmail, his first feature film with sound, and consequently, in 1948, Rape was his first color film production.

            Hitchcock immediately picked up reputation as a director who conveyed anticipation, suspense, and critical information topics. His character and humor were implanted in the mainstream society through meetings, film trailers, and appearances in his own movies. People in all regions were familiar with his style of film presentation (Freeman). His TV collection, that aired from 1955 to 1965 and made him a commonly recognized figure. In the preceding decades he would solidify his legacy by coordinating and creating his best works in filming and presentation.

            He pioneered more than fifty movies in his vocation that not only observed the improvement of his particular directional style, but also acquired a milestone in the development of cinema. Hitchcock himself has been credited with spearheading numerous camera and altering methods for peers and hopeful directors to imitate (Freeman). All through his vocation, he gathered numerous expert honors, including two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards, and five-lifetime accomplishment grants. In 1940, his film Rebecca won the Oscar for the Best Picture. Alfred Hitchcock passed away on April 29, 1980, and his legacy in the filming still remains.

Hitchcock’s Significant Impact on the Evolution of Film and Television

The importance of Hitchcock as a director is measured by the nature of his influence through the quality of his accomplishments. Though there exist several critics to his work, it remains indubitable that his work has had a continuous influence on the evolution of cinema (Perry). Integral to the gathering of his accepted spot in the development of the general thought of the movie executive as a craftsman, Hitchcock’s auteurism thought reflects the unsure directorial personality of producers. The purpose of this section is to explain how Hitchcock’s nature and character in his works impact on other filming works during and after his age.

Aspects of consolidating pioneer’s reluctance with famous narrating is raised in a significant number of Hitchcock’s works. He merged an authorial and elaborate communication in the perfection true to life portrayal shunning discourse, which he considered unadulterated and had an intrigue as an alluring structure that identifies with gaming and the shadow universe of unacceptable desires. (Leitch and Leland). He embraced these aspects in the production of most of his American films. Many film directors have emulated his style in directing their films and it has brought success to the reception of their work and the evolution of the filming industry.

            Hitchcock embraced the use of idioms of popular romantic melodrama in scripting and directing his films. He was profoundly dedicated to upgrading present day narrating procedures in film, putting a premium on character organization in his creations. In his films, the idioms of classical suspense are depicted. He combined the convectional moral framework of romantic suspense with an orchestration, through form and style, of the allure of human perversity (Freeman). This styles have been embraced and the evolution of film direction has to a greater extent involved suspense as a major style to attract the audience.

            The character of sentimental incongruity accords a specific status to the figure of the producer energetically presents his content. Hitchcock’s presence as the corpulent persona who walked into his own films and introduced his television show provided the audience with the urge to focus on the content of the film. He introduced the idea of the author in the age of mass communication as one who fashions his own image for the audience through creative appropriation and transformation (Leitch and Leland). This aspect has seen the evolution of film and television as many producers embraced his ideas of introducing their shows by themselves. He influenced other film directors to manifest a highly intertextual and appropriative approach to film authorship.

            Another creation style utilized by Hitchcock was possessing the conventions of narrative economy managed by the traditional American film which thoroughly subjected the parts of shooting style to effectiveness and transparency. Hitchcock focused on the inclusion of emerging issues in the society in scripting and directing the production of his films (Freeman). His expressionism achieves its realizations in his works like Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Paradise Case. Film scripting and production during and after Alfred Hitchcock is greatly centered at reaching the audience through addressing the common issues in the community.

            Many films embraced the use of visual effects from Hitchcock’s filming works. In all of his films, lighting is used deliberately to many effects. He enjoyed the incredibility of having command over the lights in his works with the capacity to control the gentility, obscurity, and even hues that enlighten and set the state of mind of a scene. Hitchcock’s ability to manipulate the use of light has been adopted by many film authors and directors in the evolution of the industry (Leitch and Leland). For instance, in Strangers on a Train, there are many scenes of strong usage of lighting to convey different purposes. Currently, many products use light manipulation as a key technique in setting the mood, and technological advancements have seen this feature to be used in many modern film productions to convey different messages among the audience.

            Hitchcock often used the dolly zoom technique in many of his works. The strategy includes drawing the camera nearer or further from the object of center during the shooting of a scripted scene while at the same time changing in accordance with keep the item a similar size. In this technique, the object under focus appears static while the background-size changes (Freeman). The technique is evidently in the film Vertigo, where Hitchcock uses the dolly zoom technique to visualize the tower shaft and emphasize its height. Consequently, the technique has been positively received by other film directors and being used in modern filming to express different feelings during scenes in movies and shows.

            The illusion is another common method championed by Hitchcock in the filming industry. The production of Rope as the first film to be made with the illusion of having been filmed over a long continuous period has seen the technique being employed by other film directors (Perry). Modern film productions have subsequently used illusion to a point where the technology is deployed in real life. Modern movies such as Birdman, Russian Ark, and Victoria are the common examples that have adopted the use of illusion from Hitchcock productions.

During the initial stages of 3D film production, Hitchcock played an important role in pioneering the technique by experimenting on 3D production with his films. His mystery thriller film, Dial M for Murder, was among the productions used to experiment 3D production. 3D film production has developed to the modern-day high definition film productions that are of quality audio and video effects. Also, he was among the first directors to recognize the significance of television in filming (Perry). His show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, was an early case of television programs that as of now dominate in the field. Significant film producers followed his way in showcasing their film items to the public.

Conclusion

Alfred Hitchcock was connected to the film and television industry almost since its beginning when it was making initial steps to utilize its significant potential in entertainment provision. Since his venture in the filming and production industry, he worked tirelessly towards the shaping of the modern cinema and filming production. This paper evidently provides a reflection of the significant impacts of Alfred Hitchcock’s works on the evolution of mass communication. Until his death, Hitchcock was a role model who inspired other film directors and brought positive energy in the industry.

His significance as a director is measured by the nature of his influence through the quality of his accomplishments. Integral to the gathering of his accepted spot in the development of the general thought of the movie executive as a craftsman, Hitchcock’s auteurism thought reflects the unsure directorial personality of producers. Modern film productions have emulated the styles depicted in Hitchcock’s film and television work through the adoption of his filming techniques and content presentation to the audience. Among the common techniques adopted from his work include the use of dolly zoom, illusion, visual effects of presentation, the use of idioms, and inclusion of suspense in his presentations. Additionally, film scripting and production during and after Alfred Hitchcock is greatly centered on reaching the audience through addressing the common issues in society.

Works Cited

Leitch, Thomas M., and Leland A. Poague. A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Perry, George. The Films of Alfred Hitchcock. Studio Vista, 2005.

Freeman, Jonathan. The Cambridge Companion to Alfred Hitchcock. New York Cambridge University Press, 2015.