A01 North By Northwest Notes

North by Northwest

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI


This trailer begins with lines forming into a grid like formation, this gives a perspective to the top right of the screen. These lines are a device to represent a jail, prison or some form of entrapment. The names of the companies involved and actors come from different directions, this makes the sequence a lot more interesting and unpredictable. The white lines going up and down along with the names of the actors, remind me of lifts, as one goes up and one goes down. The arrows on the typeface of the title suggest that there will be an odd sense of direction, and some confusion as one is pointing north and the other west. At the bottom of the titles, there is all the legal requirements of who produced the film. The beginning animation dissolves into a long shot of a building's windows which have a mirrored effect. The building seems to be in New York as in the reflection we can see yellow taxi's, which are stereotypical of New York, this then dissolves into the next shot. The next shot is what seems to be the bottom of the building, here creative geography has been used to make the shot look like it is the bottom of the building we have just seen. The shot after this is of a subway and lots of people rushing to it. It gives a sign that people are trying to run away from something, maybe foreshadowing events to come later in the film. The people in the subway are formally dressed, maybe in sprint or autumn clothes, although trying to pinpoint the season is difficult as they are wearing office clothing. The music in this opening sequence is old fashioned as it is very dramatic, rushed and chaotic. I would say that flutes, trumpets and other brass instruments seem to have been used in making the beginning of the track. The orchestral sounds give an atmosphere to the opening sequence.