'Shadow of a Doubt'

'Shadow Of A Doubt', another one of Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant films, was created in 1943. It was one of Hitchcock's favourite out of his own collection of films. We watched this film together in class and analyzed the mise-en-scene as follows;

Settings and props

One of the main props is the Cigar, this suggests that 'uncle Charlie' has a high taste and a lot of money to spend. The large sum of money scattered over the bedside table and floor reinforces the first prop and also suggests that Charlie has more than enough money as he is careless of it, its of little importance to him. The place uncle Charlie comes from seems rundown, poor and almost eerie, with it's broken and burnt cars and bad atmosphere. This contrasts with Santa Rosa where his neice lives which looks a much nicer place; almost perfect with its white picket fences, flowers and smiling faces.

Positioning of characters and objects withing the frame
When uncle Charlie seems to be escaping the two men, he seems very csual and resourceful when avoiding them. Also Uncle Charlie is positioned in the centre of the screen, with the two men who are after him in the foreground, whilst Charlie is in the background. Also the fact they are either side of him, suggests a sense of entrapment on Charlie's behalf. Also uncle Charlie seems to come to life in the dark, this could be suggesting that there is a sinister, dark side to him. It also suggests that uncle Charlie is the antagonist. Uncle charlie and his neice, Charlie seem to both be positioned in the same way on both of their seperate beds, showing the contrast between the two.

Below is a montage of uncle Charlie and charlie which i created using http://www.onetruemedia.com/ 

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Costume, hair and make up

The costumes in which everyone is wearing seem very smart, casual and old fashioned. Uncle Charlie's suit in particular looks as though it is emaculate, he is very particulate about looking smart. Also his hair seems to be slicked back, these both reinforce the fact that Charlie is in someway wealthy and looks as though he takes pride in what he looks like.

Facial expressions and body language

Both Charlie and uncle Charlie are both seen to be lying on the bed in the same relaxed and uninterested matter. Both of the characters display an emotion of boredum and tiredness and seem as though they are lifeless.

Lighting and Colour

At the begging there is light entering the room from the window in which, untill what suggested as his landlord comes into his room and pulls the blind down. Charlie now enters darkness, at which point he moves from his relaxed, lazy position on the bed to a more tense, on edge position and moves around. This reinforces that he tends to 'come alive' in the darkness, further suggesting that he is the antagonist of this film. The opening seems to have a lot of shadows, and uses low key lighting, givimg the film a more eerie feel to it. Uncle Charlie has an ominous look when he is on the phone shortly after, due to the shadow that is created over his eyes, by the hat he is wearing, perhaps suggesting he is sinister.