Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious

IMDb best summarizes the plot of Hitchcock’s Notorious by saying:

“Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is the daughter of a German-American who has been imprisoned for turning traitor to the U.S. during World War II. Despondent, she becomes an alcoholic and flits from man to man, until one day a mysterious government agent named Devlin (Cary Grant) comes to her and asks for her help. Some old Nazi acquaintances of her father's has taken up residence in Rio de Janeiro; he needs her help to spy on them. Somewhat reluctantly, Alicia agrees.

 Once in Rio, it takes some time for the couple to be assigned their mission. The trip takes on the character of a honeymoon, and Alicia and Devlin start falling in love. Then their orders do arrive, and Alicia is assigned to infiltrate the house and the bedroom of the Nazi leader, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains).”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/

For my scene analysis, I have chosen the quite suspenseful "Key Retrieval" scene. Devlin knows that somewhere within the home lies proof that the group of Nazis is a part of a huge conspiracy. Alicia is given a set of keys, and she tries to search the house for some sort of evidence. She soon realizes that the wine cellar is the only room she does not have access too, and that Sebastian is the only one with the key. Devlin devises the plan that Alicia must get Sebastian to host a party celebrating their new marriage. This will serve as a distraction so he can check the cellar. The only catch is that Alicia must get the key from Sebastian before the party begins without him noticing.

To watch the "Key Retrieval" scene, watch 2:35- 4:00.

When it comes to lighting the film, this scene is entirely made up of "Low-key" lighting. Very common in Film Noir, low key lighting creates a strong contrast between light and dark, resulting in harsh shadows and outlines. This helps establish an unsettling tone, and the feel that something is not quite right.

The 1st Establishing Shot is an Extreme Long Shot (XLS) of Sebastian's house revealing night fall.

The 2nd Establishing Shot is a Long Shot (LS) of the clock in Sebastian's bed room, indicating the party has not started yet, but the time for Alicia to get the key is running out.

A Long shot (LS) of Alicia walking into the room until it becomes a medium close up (MCU) in one continuous shot. The shot is in deep focus (a great depth of field), meaning that everything in the shot is in critical focus. The viewer can se everything clearly.

It cuts to a wide angle LS revealing Sebastian's shadow on the door. Hitchcock uses the shadow as a way to build up suspense. Once again, this shot is in deep focus. This helps show the shadow and everything around it clearly.

A CU of Alicia shows her looking at door, then at the table. Now, we see that the depth of field has gotten smaller, so the background is blurry directing the viewer's eyes to Alicia.

This shot starts from the POV of Alicia the dollies all the way up to the keys ending in an XCU. Not only is this helping to set up for the action that is to follow, but really emphasis the importance of the keys.

A wide angle LS shows Alicia still staring at keys, then approaching the table.

Now, a Medium LS of door: Not only is the shadow closer than the previous time due to Alicia moving closer, but also to create a rise in suspense. At any moment, Sebastian can walk out from the other room and catch her in the act.

It then cuts a MLS of Alicia finally grabbing the keys.

Then it quickly cuts to a CU of Alicia’s face showing her eye-line is still towards the door. The CU emphasis the intensity of the situation, revealing her focus and the importance of making sure he isn't coming out. The shot returns once again to a shallow depth of field, stressing the importance for the viewer's eyes to focus on Alicia.

The next shot is an XCU of the keys while Alicia is flipping through them till she finds the UNICA key, then removes it from the key-ring. The brand of the key is important when finding the lock that it goes to later in the story. So, Hitchcock uses the XCU to present that important bit of information to the audience. Once again, the extreme shallow depth of field helps emphasis the importance of the key itself.

Another CU of Alicia checking the door.

Now we see a CU of the shadow. This is the closest we have been to the door, revealing that there is not much time for Alicia to get away and creating a sense of urgency to the viewer.

A MLS reveals Alicia has key and is walking into next room. Cutting from the CU shot to the MLS helps relieve some of the tension for a brief moment.

Now it cuts back to a MLS of Sebastian coming out of door and is coming toward her.

The tension returns as the camera pans and the MLS of Sebastian becomes a CU of his hands grabbing her clinched fists.

To get Alicia's reaction, it cuts to a CU OTS, revealing she is remaining calm and listening to Sebastian.

A MS 2 Shot shows him holding her hands. The audience at this point realizes that the key is in one of Alicia's hands, but they do not know which one.

The camera quickly zooms into an XCU of her right hand to reveal that there is nothing in it. For a moment the tension relieved. We see how the lighting on her hands practically highlight its importance.

A MS 2-shot shows Sebastian kissing her hand. At this moment, the audience realizes that he is about to kiss the other hand that the key is in.

Zooming in again to an XCU of Alicia's other hand, the tension rises as her hand begins to open.

Then a tension cutting MS 2-Shot of the couple reveals her flinging her arms around him in order to distract him.

The camera pans down Sebastian’s back as a XCU reveals Alicia switching the key to her other hand.

The scene ends with an XCU of the floor where key is dropped and Alicia safely kicks it out of sight.

I know it must seem strange that a girl of my age would be so into old films such as this one. Trust me, if you would have told me I would be so into film a year ago, I would have thought you were crazyBut the truth it, studying film on my own and being able to study it in school has been so wonderful and fascinating to me. I have probably watched 100 classic films and learned all the behind the scenes stuff about each of them. I read about the directors, the cinematographers, the stars, and the Hollywood moguls who made film possible. I now can look at Hitchcock and really analysis why he is so good at what he does. Throughout Notorious, Hitchcock shows why he is truly considered the master of suspense and romance. He uses the camera not as a tool, but almost as another character. The camera angles and movements help to involve the audience and make it much more personal, unlike those stiff shots normally seen in films during this time. I also love how Hitchcock never had his characters go on a simple journey, but a personally journey where they find things out about themselves they did not know, like goodness, bravery, and strength. If you haven't watched any of his films, I most definitely recommend this one and also his remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

So until next time,

God Bless and Roll Tide =)