Hitchcock Historical and Institutional Influences

Hitchcock Historical and Institutional Influences

1. What are the institutional factors that may be important?
a. as a production of a specific producer (i.e. Walt Disney), institution (Disney Studios), specific economic factors (Studio Film), or a political background? (U.S. politics 1959)
2. What is the film’s historical significance?
a. as a document of its time?
b. as a part of history of film?
c. as a representation or reaction to the studio system?

Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock, is a very interesting film that is famous for being one of the best slasher horror films to ever be made. This film has influenced countless people and entertained a wide variety more. During the making or preproduction of the film, many studios would choose to not fund the film Hitchcock had great visions of. But Hitchcock was known to be a great filmmaker, “Indeed, he was flawless as an editor. In the distinctive rhythm of his cuts, alternately tightening and slackening, and quickening to a climax, we become intimately aware of his physical presence” (464). They thought that including the techniques he proposed for the film, including all of the slasher aspects of the bloodshed and murders, were immoral and extremely gruesome. They believed that audiences would not enjoy the film because it had many aspects to it that were considered controversial. “Even though the villain's body count is only two, the film's "whodunit" plot structure, knife-wielding and mentally disturbed killer, twist ending and 'stalking' camera technique proved influential on films to come” (461) This quote shows how big a role this film played and the technique within it. After going to many big studios and proposing his ideas for his film, he was given a chance. But this deal was only for the screening and distribution of the film and not the actual making or production of the film. The studio was called Paramount Studios Inc. and they assisted Hitchcock in these affairs. The profits were distributed so that the studio gains sixty percent of the revenue made from the profits. Hitchcock finally had a chance and he was a very influential figure in the industry, “They honed their craft by close study of his work, consulting the Truffaut interviews as a kind of bible of filmmaking.” (464)  Politics in the United States were becoming very difficult at this age when talking about film. Censorship laws and bans etc. forced out some genres and films that would have otherwise been huge successes in the industry. The government wanted to filter anything that might cause controversy including nudity, sexual appeal, violence, bloodshed, or incorrect ideologies portrayed within the film. This film has truly left its mark on the future for filmmaking. Slasher films such as Scream or Halloween series all have elements from this era of film and the techniques used then are still used in films that we know very well today.