WEBISODE 3 - THE PELHAM COMPENDIUM
Feb 5, 2015 - Through the cinematic interrelationship between actor and audience, Hitchcock builds anxiety in his rare attempt at science-fiction. A look at the film techniques used in "The Case of Mr. Pelham" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Guest commentary by:
William C. Martell
John P. Hess
Forris Day, Jr.
Sponsored by:
NOTES:
In this webisode filmmakers can learn various ways of creating a gradually rising anxiety in the audience.
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Palette of Worry - A director has multiple elements available to create a feeling of worry in the audience.
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Casting Against Type - Putting a comic actor in a serious role provides an added empathy for a rather mundane character. Using pantomime and exaggerated reactions allow the audience to have fun, rather than feel sad about a weighty subject.
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Character Allegiance - The audience is given subtle cues with camera in order to signal which characters to trust.
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Reality Barometer - A psychologist character is added merely to help the audience determine whether the hero is hallucinating.
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Mental Locations - The hero is never shown outdoors, creating a sense of confinement. The hero's mental state also appears in the set design -- he fears his double identity and there are pairs of objects in the background.
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Hands, Feet, Objects - Focusing on objects in a psychological story can provide physical evidence for the audience to track and guage what is real or imagined.
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Visual Storytelling - Editing between a face and an object in someone's hand paints the character's thought process.
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Science fiction allows us to trivialize the cause of events and instead focus on the character's reaction to events.
The full episode of "The Case of Mr. Pelham" (1955) can be found on DVD, as well as Hulu.
TRIVIA QUESTION:
Hitchcock received an Emmy nomination for this episode as Best Director. For which other episode was he later nominated?
ANSWER: Lamb to the Slaughter
