Artist's Toolkit: Drawing 1

From Script to Screen OGR 22/01/2014 - Will Huntley

From Script to Screen OGR

Rope (1948) Film Review Alfred Hitchcock

Rope (1948) Film Review Alfred Hitchcock

Figure 1 

Rope is a crime film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1948 but is considered as one of Hitchcock's less well known films. The story follows two murderers who are desperately trying to keep their dinner guests from discovering the dead body hidden in a chest in the apartment.
One of the most intriguing factors about Rope is that the whole film is one continuous uninterrupted act. When each part of a film reel ran out, the camera simply zoomed into the back of an actor or passed by the back of a chair to make the reel change seamless. Hitchcock thought very hard into achieving this effect, "He built elaborate sets with movable walls on wheels. He choreographed his actors so that they and the camera could perform intricate ballets without interrupting the action." (Ebert, 1984) (Figure 2). This method made the whole feel like real time and gave the audience the role of the fly on the wall. The audience had seen all the events that had occurred such as the murder that the other guests did not know about. 

Figure 2 

Hitchcock was very famous for his use of tension and suspense in his films and achieves this in Rope. Although there is very little soundtrack to this film, when there is it certainly plays a big part. One example of this is when Rupert is interrogating Phillip as he plays the piano (Figure 3). As the two characters are talking, Rupert starts a metronome going, this constant ticking puts Philip and the audience on edge with agonizing tension. The tempo of the metronome is then increased which only heightens the now unbearable tension. Hitchcock also uses lighting only at the end of his film, "neon lights that blink a garish red and green as the film reaches its climax." (Hutchinson, 2012). The lights in the climax makes the reveal of the murderers so much more intense. 

Figure 3 

Tension and suspense is also achieved in Rope through camera work. Hitchcock was described that "He also joyed in being termed the filmic 'master of suspense'" (Schneider, 2006). One of the most well known pieces of suspense in this film is a scene in which a maid is clearing the chest which contains the dead body. The shot only contains the chest and the maid pottering around the set completely oblivious. As the audience knows that the body is in the chest, the longer the maid delays opening the lid, the more the suspense builds. When watching the scene the other characters are having a full conversation in the background; however this seems completely unnoticeable to audience due the main attention being focused on the the possible reveal of the dead body.
Another shot in the film which seemed to be quite experimental is when Brandon goes to hide the rope murder weapon in a drawer in the kitchen (Figure 4). We only catch Brandon dropping the rope in a snippet as the kitchen door swings shut. This gives the effect that the audience has seem something they shouldn't have and should almost be kept a secret. 

Figure 4 

Bibliography

Ebert, R (1984) Rope Film Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rope-1948 (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Hutchinson, P (2012) Rope (1948) My Favorite Hitchcock: Rope, In: The Guardian [online] http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/27/my-favourite-hitchcock-rope (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Schneider, D (2006) Rope Film Review http://www.hackwriters.com/rope.htm (Accessed on 15/01/14)


Illustrations 

Figure 1, Rope (1948) Alfred Hitchcock [Film Poster] USA, Warner Bros, http://s3.amazonaws.com/suite101.com.prod/article_images/orig/6ccf5c59-a347-4208-a3a7-6be186c5f86b.jpg (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Figure 2, Rope (1948) Alfred Hitchcock [Film Still] USA, Warner Bros, http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/wow/0aadaropopo7.jpg (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Figure 3, Rope (1948) Alfred Hitchcock [Film Still] USA, Warner Bros, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjky5umnDUKHb2qnzeOMyeatDK9eCCO8B9mQVsaiWOPwHl9fVhVvlr_Z2Ma3MrHTphGz-uHC5vIA32TeNki36TyPXS_kmvV5TSAZ6Oy-jPA34PYXhvhACO_bGXyQKxMdV_O13B99RLEMLw/s1600/Rope1948.jpg (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Figure 4, Rope (1948) Alfred Hitchcock [Film Still] USA, Warner Bros, http://images.undergroundfilmjournal.com/wp-images/rope_hitchcock.jpg (Accessed on 15/01/14)

Pre-Viz Pitch Shot

Like-for-like Storyboard: Watchmen - Dr. Manhattan on Mars

From Script to Screen - Three Words

The three topics that I revealed from the mysterious blue box were:

Character - Inventor
Environment - Desert Island
Prop - Skipping Rope

My first ideas are still pretty generic such as the Inventor is involved in a plane crash, ends up on a desert island, has to invent a means of transport to escape, finds skipping rope in washed up luggage, crucial prop to make the transportation function. I'm hoping that more 'outside the box' ideas will spring to mind very soon. 

Soundcape - Giacomo Balla, Velocita d'automobile

 

The painting that I selected from the blue box was 'Velocita d'automobile' by Giacomo Balla.

My first ideas that came to mind when looking at this image revolved around elemental scenes, such as wind and rain. The swirls of paint seen in the image reminded me of sea waves and whirlpools. This matched with my thoughts that the angular shapes could represent wood panels led me to the idea of a small wooden boat caught in the middle of an enormous storm in the middle of the ocean. From this I could include sounds of crashing waves, claps of thunder and pelting rain.

When I researched further into the painting and artist I found out that the piece translated is called 'Speed of Car', and that Balla was a Futurist artist. From this I found that whirls and lines represent motion and energy. I also discovered that Balla was also a musician. This led me to look very closely at the piece and started to make out the shapes of musical notes and stave's.