WEBISODE 4 - UNPACK BACK FOR CHRISTMAS
Feb 27, 2015 - Suspense for Hitchcock is more than just delaying the inevitable; it's a flirtatious dance of comedy, secrets, and thwarted plans. We examine "Back for Christmas" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents with a new model of suspense.
Guest commentary by:
John P. Hess
Forris Day, Jr.
Benjamin Stirek
William C. Martell
Sponsored by:
NOTES:
In this webisode filmmakers learn how to create suspense by comically teasing the audience with shared secrets. Hitchcock's infinite wisdom was his ablity to create suspense -- not suspese on the screen or within the characters, but suspense in the audience.
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Sharing Secrets - Hitchcock shared with us a piece of knowledge from one character that mustn't get out. The closer the other characters get to finding out the more suspense we feel.
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Root for the bad guy - Hitchcock was often clever at manipulating the audience to side with the bad guy.
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Herbert Suspense Model - 1. Show the audience a secret plan, 2. The hero waits nervously, 3. Delay with comic interruptions, 4. He almost gets caught.
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Visual sentence - By showing the logical thought process of a character visually in a sequence of looks and reactions, we don't need dialogue to understand what the plan is. Cinema is the universal language because it doesn't need to be translated.
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Keep Us Waiting - Once we know what's going to happen, the hero waits nervously around people that don't know. This slowly coaxes the audience to want the protagonist to succeed.
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Comic Delays - A nervous anticipation is created by making the audience want something that they know they shouldn't want. Humor and comic interruptions make us teater on the edge of laughter and anxiety.
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Fear of Getting Caught - Because the suspense is so strong, he was able to use one shot to let the suspense play out as the secret almost gets out. Editing would reduce tension.
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Suprise Twist - The plot twist is something that is always there, but the audience never realizes it until the last minute. The twist is essential in relieving the audience from suspense because the expected outcome would be a dissapointment.
The full episode of "Back For Christmas" (1956) can be found on DVD, as well as Hulu.
TRIVIA QUESTION:
'Back For Christmas' was originally a short story by John Collier, published in which 1939 magazine?
ANSWER: The New Yorker
