Week 5 Blog Post: North By Northwest

Yet we see another innocent protagonist that becomes involved into a dangerous situation in “North by Northwest” which is prominent in many of Hitchcock’s film. Roger Thornhill is mistaken as a United States spy known as George Kaplan and must outmaneuver both the police and criminals in attempt to prove his innocence by finding the real George Kaplan, who does not actually exist. When Roger Thornhill goes to meeting place Eve stated that he could meet could George Kaplan, several cinematography techniques are used by Alfred Hitchcock to build suspense. Right when he is getting off the bus, there is an extreme long shot of the sky, landscape and him (Time Frame- 64:17). Thornhill looks small, helpless and prone to danger when he is surrounded by the vast landscape with no building or person. It creates a feeling of suspense because he looks so vulnerable out in the open with nowhere to hide and we as the audience already know that George Kaplan does not exist. Later in the scene Hitchcock displays an extreme long shot of the crop duster that appears distant from Thornhill (Time Frame- 68:46). However, as we see the plane begin to turn and come towards the camera with the engine sound becoming louder and louder, we know that Thornhill is in danger. The plane begins to attack him. As he hides inside a corn field, he sees a truck approaching so he dashes towards it to escape. Hitchcock uses the camera from a point-of-view by Thornhill of the truck coming closer and closer until it cuts to an extreme close up shot of the grill of the truck (Time Frame- 71:46).  These camera positioning, angles and shots Hitchcock uses to create the scene made it successful in building suspense and inducing thrill to the audience.