Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Casting a Shadow Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film by Will Schmenner “Yes, it’s a crop duster. We can plant some crops nearby” The Cinematographer’s camera angles for the crop dusting sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest . All 61 bullet points (above) represent a specific camera angle, a specific shot, as detailed at The Big Picture. The iconic sequence was a combination of location footage and studio-based rear projection. The book, Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film , by Will Schmenner and Corinne Granof is a Cinephile’s delight, filled with all manner of delightful insider info to how Hitchcock actually made movies. One day, Hitch said to me, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a scene in the middle of nowhere—where there’s absolutely nothing. You’re out in the open, and there’s nothing all around you. The camera can turn around 360 degrees, and there’s nothing there but this one man standing all alone— because the villains, who are out to kill him, have lured him out to this lonely spot.’ Then Hitch continued, ‘Suddenly, a tornado comes along and…’ ‘But Hitch,’ I interrupted, ‘how do the villains create a tornado?’ and he had no idea. So I wondered, ‘What if a plane comes out of the sky?’ And he liked it immediately, and he said, ‘Yes, it’s a crop duster. We can plant some crops nearby.’ So we planted a fake cornfield in Bakersfield and did the scene that way. And, like you said, it became a very famous sequence. As a matter of fact, that’s how I knew that Cary Grant had died. Every channel on TV was showing that shot of Cary running away from the plane. It’s strange, isn’t it, that such a distinguished career should be remembered mostly for that one shot? —An Interview with Ernest Lehman. In this 1965 interview, Hitchcock discusses—partly in French— La Mort aux Trousses (French title for North by Northwest ), and in particular the famous “that’s funny—he’s dusting crops where there ain’t no crops” scene. Even though it was early October, the climate was like a sweltering desert. This was one of the only times Hitch wore short sleeves on the set. For three days, poor Cary ran with a stunt plane swooping down at him or so it would seem. As nobody would think of putting Cary Grant in the position of getting decapitated by a plane some trick photography was used. I feel like a traitor telling you this but first the crew shot a swooping plane from a ditch and then, later, Cary was shot on a sound stage jumping into a fake ditch with the plane footage on a process screen behind him. —Eva Marie Saint. A monumentally important screenplay. Dear every screenwriter, read Ernest Lehman’s screenplay for North by Northwest [PDF]. (NOTE: For educational and research purposes only ). The DVD/Blu-ray of the film is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Casting a Shadow: Creating the Hitchcock Film (2007) by Will Schmenner. Alfred Hitchcock is often held up as the prime example of the one-man filmmaker, conceiving and controlling all aspects of his films’ development- -the archetype of genius over collaboration. An exhibition at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, however, put the lie to Hitchcock-as-auteur, presenting more than seventy-five sketches, designs, watercolors, paintings, and storyboards that, together, examine Hitchcock’s very collaborative filmmaking process. The four essays in this collection were written to accompany the exhibition and delve further into Hitchcock’s contributions to the collaborative process of art in film. Scott Curtis considers the four functions of Hitchcock’s sketches and storyboards and how they undermine the impression of Hitchcock as a lone artist. Tom Gunning examines the visual vocabulary and cultural weight of Hitchcock’s movies. Bill Krohn focuses sharply on the film I Confess, tracking its making over a very cooperative path. Finally, Jan Olsson draws on the television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to show the ways that collaboration contributes to the formation of his well known public persona. Anchored by editor Will Schmenner's introduction, this book represents an important contribution to Hitchcock scholarship and a provocative glimpse at his unsung strength as a collaborative artist. ‘North by Northwest’: Quite Possibly the Most Entertaining Hitchcock Ever. “I want to do a Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures,” allegedly announced screenwriter Ernest Lehman, after his friend, composer Bernard Herrmann recommended him to Alfred Hitchcock. This inspired idea was born at the time when Lehman and the famed filmmaker were experiencing a sort of a writer’s block—they were supposed to be making The Wreck of the Mary Deare for MGM, but when Lehman honestly stated he felt there was nothing he could do about advancing with the script, Hitchcock simply suggested they did something original. Directly out of this writer’s block came North by Northwest , one of the most entertaining movies of the period and, perhaps, one of the most stylish chase thrillers of all time. That Lehman wasn’t misguided when he announced his ambition mentioned at the start of this paragraph is clearly seen even upon a superficial glance on this project: we have an innocent man cornered into a grave, life-threatening situation thanks to the mistaken identity plot device, we have the typical Hitchcock blonde, played marvelously by Eva Marie Saint, we have the master’s signature cameo appearance, and then there’s the technical mastery distinctive for Hitchcock’s works, as well as his consummate skill at manipulating the audience’s emotions. North by Northwest encompasses all the best elements of Hitchcock’s opus, transforming an intriguing, nail-biting but surprisingly humorous script into quite possibly the most enjoyable Hitchcock ever. The film went through several title changes during development, being known as The Man in Lincoln’s Nose , Breathless , In a Northwesterly Direction … The final title was hardly Hitchcock and Lehman’s first choice, but they simply failed to come up with an entry that satisfied them completely. The lead role, that of an advertising executive whose comfortable life is turned upside down when he is mistaken for a secret agent, went to the ever-charming Cary Grant, even though Hitchcock’s old friend and collaborator James Stewart allegedly eagerly wanted the part. As huge Stewart fans, we believe he would have been great as the troubled, charismatic “ordinary man in an extraordinary situation,” but who can possibly say Hitchcock dropped the ball with sticking with Grant? Even though MGM tried to force Cyd Charisse down Hitch’s throat, and despite the fact he briefly mused over casting Grace Kelly or Elizabeth Taylor, he chose Saint for the lead female role. Bernard Herrmann’s contribution to the film was not restricted to the fateful recommendation that put Hitchcock in touch with Lehman: he composed a superb score that matches the adventures and turmoil featured on the screen perfectly. The acclaimed graphic designer Saul Bass provided an exceptional and highly memorable opening title sequence, Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief director of photography Robert Burke operated the camera, while George Tomasini, the first-rate editor who previously worked on The Birds , Psycho , Rear Window and Vertigo , pieced everything together flawlessly. The way Hitchcock skillfully plays with the viewer’s emotions has been aptly demonstrated in the famous crop duster scene, where Grant’s character is hunted down by a menacing airplane in the middle of a field, in bright sunlight, with nowhere to hide. This might be rightfully considered the trademark image of North by Northwest , but one should not forget this film abounds in numerous other unforgettable scenes: just consider the Mount Rushmore sequence at the climax, or the humorous final shot of a train entering a tunnel as we presume the two lead characters within the train start getting all hot and sweaty. North by Northwest is painlessly easy to find pleasure in. A monumentally important screenplay. Screenwriter must-read: Ernest Lehman’s screenplay for North by Northwest [PDF]. (NOTE: For educational and research purposes only ). The DVD/Blu-ray of the film is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Absolutely our highest recommendation. ERNEST LEHMAN. Though Ernest Lehman is best known today for his work in films (he has won more Best Screenplay Awards from the Writer’s Guild than anyone in the Guild’s history), his collection, which consists of over 2500 items from his personal and professional files, covers an entire career that spans over forty years in New York and Hollywood, not only as a screenwriter but also as a novelist, short story writer, journalist, motion picture producer and director. Lehman met Hitchcock through their mutual friend, composer Bernard Herrmann. North by Northwest was Ernest Lehman’s only original screenplay. Hitchcock had an idea of a chase across the face of Mount Rushmore. The idea of a man being mistaken for a nonexistent secret agent was suggested to Hitchcock by journalist Otis L. Guernsey Jr. That was the starting point for Lehman’s screenplay: the chase on Mount Rushmore, mistaken identity, and the United Nations building. — The Ernest Lehman Collection; Ernest Lehman’s notes. Here, he is interviewed by Tony Curtis in 1997. How Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman managed to take a vague mistaken-identity concept and a Hitchcockian set piece and turn it into the iconic adventure we have come to know. This video essay was written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen. One temporary title for North by Northwest was Breathless! , which was later used for the famous 1960 French film. Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “One day, Hitch said to me, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a scene in the middle of nowhere—where there’s absolutely nothing. You’re out in the open, and there’s nothing all around you. The camera can turn around 360 degrees, and there’s nothing there but this one man standing all alone— because the villains, who are out to kill him, have lured him out to this lonely spot.’ Then Hitch continued, ‘Suddenly, a tornado comes along and…’ ‘But Hitch,’ I interrupted, ‘how do the villains create a tornado?’ and he had no idea. So I wondered, ‘What if a plane comes out of the sky?’ And he liked it immediately, and he said, ‘Yes, it’s a crop duster. We can plant some crops nearby.’ So we planted a fake cornfield in Bakersfield and did the scene that way. And, like you said, it became a very famous sequence. As a matter of fact, that’s how I knew that Cary Grant had died. Every channel on TV was showing that shot of Cary running away from the plane. It’s strange, isn’t it, that such a distinguished career should be remembered mostly for that one shot?” — An Interview with Ernest Lehman. The cinematographer’s camera angles for the crop dusting sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest . All 61 bullet points represent a specific camera angle, a specific shot, as detailed below. The iconic sequence was a combination of location footage and studio-based rear projection. The book, Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film , by Will Schmenner and Corinne Granof is a Cinephile’s delight, filled with all manner of delightful insider info to how Hitchcock actually made movies. Courtesy of The Big Picture . As seen here, seamless rear projection was used to create the illusion of Cary Grant being pursued by a crop duster in North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “ North by Northwest ’s crop-duster scene—in which Cary Grant’s victim of mistaken identity finds himself in a fallow Indiana field, hunted by a low-flying biplane—is one of the most iconically thrilling moments in Alfred Hitchcock’s fiendishly clever body of work. But, according to Robert F. Boyle, who served as production designer on this as well as four other Hitchcock films, the genius of the sequence isn’t in the pursuit itself—it’s all in the buildup. In this new piece by Daniel Raim, who interviewed the late Boyle at his home in 1999, the Hollywood veteran points to the patient setup of Hitch’s immortal flyby—with Grant nervously approaching a solitary man across a dusty highway, and a lonely bus trundling through on the road to nowhere—as a textbook example of the power of the ‘penultimate moment,’ or the anticipatory time before something happens. And teasing out a subterranean connection between two of the twentieth century’s most influential artists, Boyle also finds such subtle hints of suspense throughout Edward Hopper’s portraits of American city life. To cut to the chase, there’s only one way to break the tension: check out the whole video above, then head over to the 10 Minutes or Less section on the Criterion Channel for Raim’s piece, also featuring Boyle, about the backdrops in North by Northwest ’s cliff-hanging Mount Rushmore climax.” — Hitchcock, Hopper, and the Penultimate Moment. In this 1965 interview, Hitchcock discusses—partly in French— La Mort aux Trousses (French title for North by Northwest ), and in particular the famous “that’s funny—he’s dusting crops where there ain’t no crops” scene. Production designer Robert F. Boyle created these sketches of James Mason’s modern hideout, the Vandamm house, which Cary Grant scales in North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A huge presidential nose offers a sense of scale for the Mount Rushmore sets created for the climax of North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This contact sheet shows the optical trickery used to show Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint descending Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. English actor James Mason became one of Hitchcock’s most memorable villains as Vandamm in North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. STORYBOARDS FOR ‘NORTH BY NORTHWEST’ “Storyboarding is really an illustrator’s work for the director. A motion picture illustrator puts pictures on paper and puts them on boards. In storyboarding a script for a Hitchcock film, the illustrator is told what pictures to put on the boards by the script, which has benefited from my conferences with the director. Of course, I participate in what is going to appear on that storyboard, because even without the storyboard the script describes exactly what is going to be on the screen. Hitch would have it no other way. The script even describes the size of the shot, whether it’s a medium or a tight close-up, whether the camera pulls back and pans to the right as the character walks toward the door, whether it tilts slightly down and shoots through the open doorway getting the helicopter as the lights go on outside. That’s why Hitch says it’s a bore for him to get the picture on the screen, because it has all been done already in his office.” — Dialogue on Film: Ernest Lehman. Storyboard sequence by Robert F. Boyle for the re-edited ending of North by Northwest . THE MAKING OF ‘NORTH BY NORTHWEST’ “Even though it was early October, the climate was like a sweltering desert. This was one of the only times Hitch wore short sleeves on the set. For three days, poor Cary ran with a stunt plane swooping down at him or so it would seem. As nobody would think of putting Cary Grant in the position of getting decapitated by a plane some trick photography was used. I feel like a traitor telling you this but first the crew shot a swooping plane from a ditch and then, later, Cary was shot on a sound stage jumping into a fake ditch with the plane footage on a process screen behind him.” — Eva Marie Saint. HITCHCOCK’S CAMEO. During the opening title sequence, which shows New Yorkers rushing home from work, Hitchcock just misses catching his bus. The cameo was filmed near to 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. Courtesy of The Hitchcock Zone. An excerpt from The Man on Lincoln’s Nose , the Academy Award-nominated Documentary Short Subject about pioneer art director Robert F. Boyle ( North by Northwest , The Birds , Fiddler on the Roof ). This 6-minute excerpt features Bob Boyle and director Norman Jewison on location scouting and the design process for Fiddler on the Roof . THE MUSIC OF BERNARD HERRMANN. This kaleidoscopic compilation of soundtracks by Bernard Herrmann scored for film, television and radio presents a feature-length overview of this incredibly unique composer’s wide-ranging and distinctive style. Working with directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, during a career that spanned over forty years, Herrmann created scores of such innovative and emotional magnitude that notions of sound and music in cinema have never been the same. The breadth and scope of Herrmann’s ingenious composing, arranging and orchestrating talent is on full display here, from the use of the theremin in The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), to the all-string ‘black & white’ sound for Psycho (1960), and the whistled main title of The Twisted Nerve (1968). Stream the mix below or download it here. Total running time: 80 minutes. Courtesy of MUBI’s on-going series, Notebook Soundtrack Mixes. CARY GRANT: A CLASS APART. Elegant. Witty. Stylish. A totally original talent. ‘Everyone wants to be Cary Grant… even I want to be Cary Grant,’ he was fond of saying. Born 100 years ago into dismal circumstances in Bristol, England, Archibald Leach got his start touring in vaudeville and eventually arrived in New York in 1920. He walked on stilts at Coney Island and sold neckties on midtown street corners before landing small parts, in route to Hollywood. He hit it big in 1933 as Mae West’s leading man in She Done Him Wrong , followed by Sylvia Scarlett and the emergence of his classy on-screen persona—and the invention of that persona off-screen as well. He worked with such directors as George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks in such films as Bringing Up Baby , The Philadelphia Story , His Girl Friday , North by Northwest , Notorious , and I Was a Male War Bride and opposite every top Hollywood female star, including Grace Kelly, Katherine Hepburn, Kim Novak, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn. He remains one of the most adored actors in film history—whose greatest role was probably himself. — American Masters: Cary Grant: A Class Apart. Above: you don’t usually associate the words “mussed” and “drunk” with Cary Grant, but here they are during the production of North by Northwest . Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Have you planned your vacation yet? You’ve a choice between sand and sunburn or mountain-climbing and the Charlie-horse. I find it all very elevating, but we should all have some kind of holiday. So my suggestion is a quiet little tour, say, about 2000 miles. I have just made a motion picture, North By Northwest, to show you some of these delights. And the ideal place to start our holiday fun trip is New York, where Cary Grant can go places and do things. You don’t find a tasteful little murder on every guided tour, now do you? But this means we must leave Manhattan.” — A guided tour with Alfred Hitchcock. THE SOUND OF HITCHCOCK. Join Academy Award-winning sound designers as they reveal how Alfred Hitchcock employed sound to make audience members leap from their seats in fright or crawl under them from excruciating suspense. PURE CINEMA: THROUGH THE EYES OF HITCHCOCK. Director Martin Scorsese is our guide into the power and mastery of Hitchcock’s visual style, breaking down landmark sequences from Vertigo , The Birds and Psycho . IN THE MASTER’S SHADOW: HITCHCOCK’S LEGACY. Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, William Friedkin and many others celebrate the enduring legacy of the man many consider the greatest filmmaker the medium has yet produced. Discover why Alfred Hitchcock’s movies thrill audiences and inspire filmmakers, who continue to employ his cinematic techniques to this day. SAUL BASS: TITLE CHAMP. Directors Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro and others pay tribute to Saul Bass, who revolutionized the art of movie titles. BERNARD HERRMANN: HITCHCOCK’S MAESTRO. Bernard Herrmann was perhaps the preeminent film composer of the 20th century. Holding a significant fan base throughout the years, he is one of the most talked about film composers, the subject of many discussions and scholarly papers. He worked with legendary filmmakers such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Ray Harryhausen, and composed historic films such as Citizen Kane , Vertigo and Psycho . His unique music certainly commanded attention, whether or not you are a serious fan of the music. It certainly was interesting and imaginative music that held substantial dramatic impact. — The Nature of Bernard Herrmann’s Music. An illuminating portrait of one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most important collaborators, film composer Bernard Herrmann. Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest . Photographed by Kenny Bell © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Courtesy of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Intended for editorial use only. All material for educational and noncommercial purposes only. Casting a Shadow – Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film. Alfred Hitchcock always presented himself as the sole author of his films and audiences may gain the impression that every formal detail, regardless how small, originated from his visionary creativity. In fact, Hitchcock was a deeply collaborative filmmaker, who worked intensively with actors, producers, camera teams, scriptwriters, costume designers, production designers and composers, in order to do justice to an audience’s expectations for an “Alfred Hitchcock film.” He described the creation of his films as a slow process, which came about “from discussion, arguments, random suggestions, casual, desultory talk and furious intellectual quarrels.” Born outside of London on August 13, 1899 – just a few years after the invention of film – Alfred Hitchcock directed 53 movies over the course of six decades. He seamlessly made the transition from directing silent films to making sound films. Throughout his career, his movies embraced the possibilities of the medium. By always taking on new technical and artistic risks, he remained innovative up to an advanced age and became a seminal influence for generations of filmmakers. Hitchcock’s films were an expression of his personal vision, but this vision was a collective one, which the director and his collaborators jointly developed. An individual, artistic, signature style – the “Hitchcock Style” – arose from this working process. Following an excursus about Hitchcock’s relationship to Berlin, the exhibition devotes itself to the various fields of work involved in film production. The most diverse documents are used to illustrate the individual developmental stages in a film’s realization – ranging from those related to content and the aesthetic conception to a film’s concrete scenic conversion. Key aspects. Hitchcock and Berlin. Alfred Hitchcock visited the Ufa film studios in Babelsberg as early as 1925 – the most modern in the world at that time – where he was given a first-hand opportunity of experiencing Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau during the filming of Der letzte Mann . He had come to Berlin to participate in the German-British co-production The Blackguard / Die Prinzessin und der Geiger (1925). Hitchcock, then in his mid-twenties, took over the tasks of scriptwriter, outfitter and assistant director for this production. As a result, the production company Emelka in Munich offered him the chance to realize his first film as a director. His stay in Germany made lastingly impressions on Hitchcock and the influence of directors like Murnau and Fritz Lang can be clearly recognized in his work. In Germany, he also met his future wife Alma Reville, who was already established as a film editor and would later play a part in several of his films as a scriptwriter, among other responsibilities. Hitchcock shot the espionage film Torn Curtain (1966) in a divided Berlin more than forty years later. Alongside Paul Newmann and Julie Andrews, numerous German actors participated, including Wolfgang Kieling, Günter Strack and Hansjörg Felmy. Documents attest to the film team’s research in Berlin at the time, although, for the most part, the filming took place in a studio in Los Angeles. Screenwriting. Beginning in the 1940s, Hitchcock worked with some of the best-known American writers of his time, among them John Steinbeck, Dorothy Parker, Ben Hecht, Thornton Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Hitchcock’s projects appealed to established writers for several reasons. His reputation was such that marquee names wanted to work with him. Furthermore, Hitchcock never asked writers to share the writing credit with him, even though his movies were developed and written in partnership. At the start of a project Hitchcock and the appointed writer discussed the story, the themes, the characters and the plot. Later, Hitchcock typically brought in other writers to polish the dialogue or rework scenes. When Hitchcock actually wrote, his contributions were illustrative, describing shots and scenes. The crafting of dialogue was never Hitchcock’s strong point. Instead it was left to the talented writers he employed. Since the film script meetings were frequently recorded, audio tapes and transcripts have been preserved that document the discussions between Hitchcock, the authors and other employees. Cinematography. Contrary to some of his claims, Hitchcock did not start working on a film with the final cut already envisioned in his mind. However, through the close exchange with his assistants, his ability to visualize a movie during its planning stages was highly developed. Generally, Hitchcock and his cinematographers turned their attention to composing the individual shots after Hitchcock and his team had worked out most of the more basic questions concerning the story, the locations and the characters in the script. Cinematographers control placement and movement of the camera, as well as lighting, depth of field, film speed and film stock, among other things. This versatility created a nearly endless number of possibilities to visually create a scene. Therefore, different alternatives were frequently tried out. Camera angle diagrams, continuity memos, storyboards and sketches were the tools for planning shots. Some camera angle diagrams were drawn by Hitchcock and others were drawn by the cinematographers Thomas J. Wright and Robert Burks. Hitchcock had an especially close working relationship with the latter cinematographer. Except for Psycho (1960), which Hitchcock shot with the crew from his television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Burks worked as Director of Photography on all of Hitchcock’s films from Strangers on a Train (1951) to Marnie (1964). Costume Design. Fashion was not Hitchcock’s strength or abiding interest. From Hitchcock’s papers and notes, it seems that more often than not he delegated this aspect to the costume design department. Hitchcock would merely share with them the central idea of the planned film and then left to them to work out the nature of the costumes in detail. Thus, the costume design department often operated with more independence than most other departments. Edith Head, one of the most renowned costume designers in her field, who received several Academy Awards, was responsible for the costumes on eleven of Hitchcock’s films, including Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958) and The Birds (1963). Through her elegant costumes for Grace Kelly and Kim Novak, she characterized the style of the “cool Hitchcock blonde” in particular. She also designed Tippi Hedren’s private wardrobe at the director’s request. When Alfred Hitchcock filmed Stage Fright with Marlene Dietrich in 1950, he left the choice of the designer up to her. Dietrich decided in favor of Christian Dior and traveled to Paris where she ordered numerous expensive outfits. Afterwards, the production company tried to use the name Dior for advertising purposes. Production Design. Hitchcock himself had been an art director in the early 1920s. Accordingly, he felt particularly connected to the art department. In Great Britain, Hitchcock repeatedly collaborated with the set designer Alfred Junge; in Hollywood, the production designers Henry Bumstead and Robert F. Boyle significantly influenced the look of his films. In each case, rough sketches and outline drawings were made at the beginning of a project, to which detailed sequences of images would normally follow as a rule. Hitchcock particularly appreciated working with a storyboard. Situated between an artistic design and a technical drawing, it consists of a sequence of images that is reminiscent of a comic strip. With the help of a storyboard it is possible to visually record camera settings and motion sequences before filming and to test various settings during later editing. Illustrators mostly create a storyboard using the specifications from the director, the cinematographer and the production designer. The later conversions into motion pictures can be very specifically recognized in John DeCuir’s production designs for Saboteur (1942), as well as in Harold Michelson’s drawings for The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964). Moreover, detailed production designs convey much of the later atmosphere of the interiors. Since Hitchcock preferred to work in the studio, large-scale, so-called “Matte Paintings” were frequently produced as display backgrounds used to replace the real, original locations. Studio Production. From the beginning of Hitchcock’s career, producers had a hand in shaping the “Alfred Hitchcock film.” Michael Balcon, a producer at Islington Studios in London, gave Hitchcock his first opportunity to direct in 1925. David O. Selznick brought Hitchcock to Hollywood in 1939, giving his career its decisive impulse. However, the director was generally at odds with Selznick and struggled against interference on the part of the producer. At the same time Hitchcock was dependent on this complex infrastructure for the realization of his films, because it provided him with a large studio and its various departments. At the end of the 1940s, Hitchcock ultimately decided to take on the role of producing his films himself. The casting of actors also falls into the field of studio production. Hitchcock often varied the type of the “cool blonde,” the “aggressive brunette” or the “unerotic ‘four-eyes’”; however, he preferred to collaborate with certain actors, such as Cary Grant and James Stewart, and actresses, such as Ingrid Bergman or Grace Kelly. The casting of Tippi Hedren for The Birds (1963) is legendary. Hedren, who at that time was still a photo model without any acting experience, had to audition or re-enact scenes from three different Hitchcock films in costumes especially tailor-made for this purpose before she was given the role. Sound Design. Sound design and film music take on a special importance in Alfred Hitchcock’s films, because they make a substantial contribution to generating tension – and creating the renowned suspense. The film composer Bernard Herrmann wrote the scores for eight Hitchcock films, including classics such as Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959) and Marnie (1964). His soundtrack for Psycho (1960) became the best known, in which he abstained from using a large orchestra and worked exclusively with strings. In the famous shower scene, the violins sound like knives scratching over tiles. For The Birds , Herrmann only took on the function of a consultant. The electronically distorted sounds for the bird cries were created in a studio in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Oskar Sala produced them together with Remi Gassmann on his “Mixtur-Trautonium,” a type of early synthesizer. Hitchcock had a falling out with Herrmann during the work on Torn Curtain (1966) and two different soundtracks were composed for the shocking killing scene with Wolfgang Kieling, who plays the Stasi man Gromek. However, in the end, Hitchcock decided against using music in this scene and subsequently for a particularly insistent soundtrack, in which only fighting noises can be heard. Publicity. Throughout his career Hitchcock worked closely with numerous publicists to market his image. A master self-promoter, he created the recognizable silhouette line drawing of himself – a type of visual signature – in 1927. Due to the unpredictability of press reactions to his films, he felt particularly challenged to continually develop new marketing strategies, which led to the fact that journalists occasionally wrote more about Hitchcock’s love for food and drink than his films. Always a good sport, Hitchcock shrewdly played along, hiring writers to help him fashion self- deprecating jokes about his weight and girth. His cameo appearances (where he can be seen as an extra in the background of a scene), as well as in movie trailers and his own television series (where he appeared as an introductory host), turned him into the biggest star of his productions. Even the myth that Alfred Hitchcock was behind all of the creative details of his films was used for marketing purposes. Consequently, in the case of North By Northwest (1959), scenic designs attributed to the director were later produced for the advertising campaign and were intended to substantiate his brilliant visual imagination. Gallery. The exhibition Photo/©: Marian Stefanowski. The exhibition Photo/©: Marian Stefanowski. The exhibition Photo/©: Marian Stefanowski. Design sketch Topaz (USA 1969, directed by Alfred Hitchcock) Design sketch for The 39 Steps (UK 1935, directed by Alfred Hitchcock) Alfred Hitchcock Geek. I missed it when it was in Evanston, Illinois at my girlfriend's alma mater. I let the opportunity get away when it subsequently moved to Los Angeles. Now I have a third opportunity to catch the museum exhibition, "Casting a Shadow. Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film". But I'd have to travel to Berlin, Germany to see it. Probably won't happen. That's too bad, because this show will be augmented with material that illuminates one of Hitchcock's most interesting periods -- the time he spent in Germany, steeping in its Teutonic expressionism and gaining insider access to such greats as Fritz Lang (dubbed the German Hitchcock) and F.W. Murnau. Here's what the Deutsche Kinemathek Musuem promises: Alfred Hitchcock presented himself as the sole author of his films – as if they were the direct expression of his creative genius. In reality, however, Hitchcock was a deeply collaborative artist, working intensely with actors, producers, cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, and production and sound designers to create what the public knew as "an Alfred Hitchcock film." Through drawings, paintings, storyboards and documents, the exhibition explores this film making process. "Casting a Shadow" was first presented in 2007 at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University in Evanston/Illinois. Afterwards it was shown at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. Many of the exhibits are from their archives. The Museum für Film und Fernsehen will bring this Alfred Hitchcock exhibition to Berlin - it's only stop in Europe. The show will be augmented by exhibits from the Museum’s own archives, in particular those illuminating Hitchcock’s relationship to Germany and Berlin. I've got the show's companion book, edited by Will Schmenner and Corrinne Granof. It's indispensable reading for Hitchcock geeks. But it would sure be nice to catch the exhibit. Oh well, such are my personal obligations and budget that the opportunity will have to pass on by. If you happen to be in Berlin before May 5, try to see the show. And let me know what you think.