Max Hall
Inspiring Directors
Alfred Hitchcock (1899 - 1980)
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on the 13th of August, 1899 to a strict Catholic family. He described his childhood as "lonely and sheltered", and mentioned how his father once sent him to the local police station to be locked up for 10 minutes as a punishment. Many of Hitchcock's films include elements of his childhood, such as being wrongfully accused (seen in North by Northwest).
Hitchcock first entered the film industry in 1920, and directed his first film in 1925. In 1939 he left the UK for Hollywood, where he would go on to produce his biggest films, such as Psycho, Vertigo and Rear Window. It was there that Hitchcock earned his nickname 'The Master of Suspense'. In a career lasting more than 60 years, Hitchcock directed over 50 films, achieving many awards in the process, including the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1979. Hitchcock died on the 29th of April, 1980.
Hitchcock was known for his use of suspense in his films. This was usually achieved by showing the audience something that the characters in the film do not yet know. This would make the audience feel tense as they want to know what will happen to the characters after they discover these things. This could be used in our production to help make our thriller more exciting for the audience.
Another device used by Hitchcock is what was known as the 'ordinary person', this being a ordinary person who has been put in an extraordinary position. This makes the character in the film more relatable to the audience, and gets the audience to imagine themselves in their situation.
As discussed earlier, Hitchcock also used the idea of a person being wrongly accused of something, which had been inspired by his childhood. The audience obviously don't wish for anything bad to happen to this character, which would keep the audience feeling tense.
David Fincher (1962- )
David Andrew Leo Fincher was born on the 28th August, 1962 in Denver, Colorado. His mother, Claire, was a mental health nurse who worked with those with drug addiction problems, something which may have played a role in his choice of topic in films, whilst his father, Howard, was an author and reporter for the LIFE magazine.
His film career started off when he worked for George Lucas' effects company ILM. In 1984 he left ILM to pursue his own career, where he begun to produce music videos and tv commercials. In 1987, Fincher founded the production company Propaganda Films with Dominic Sena. Fincher made one of the most expensive directoral debut in 1992 with the film Alien³, although he and his critics agreed that this film was a disaster, largely due to the number of script changes resulting in rushing various scenes. Just 3 years later however, Fincher went on to produce what is considered by many to be his best film to date, Se7en. Other films directed by Fincher include The Game, Fight Club, and more recently, Gone Girl.
Fincher has developed many trade mark techniques in his films. One of these is his use of lighting, something which plays a key role in his films. He generally uses low key lighting in thrillers to give them a dark atmosphere, a technique often used in thrillers, but he also uses blue or green tints, giving the films a more 'cold temperature'. This is most notably used in the films Fight Club and Se7en.
Another aspect that Fincher makes use of in films is the use of silhouettes. This is used in some of his films to hide the identity of a character in a film, usually a murderer. This builds suspense in the film, as the audience want to know who the silhouette is.
One theme that Fincher has been known to use in his films is that of attempted or successful suicide, usually at the end of the film. This is usually unexpected in the storyline, and helps Fincher end the film on a dark and disturbing tone.
Darren Aronofsky (1969- )
Darren Aronofsky was born on February 12th, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York to Charlotte and Abraham Aronofsky, who are conservative Jews. He commented on this saying that "I was raised culturally Jewish, although there was very little attendance to temple". He originally trained as a field biologist, studying in Kenya in 1985 and Alaska in 1986. Getting a taste for the outdoors, Aronofsky decided to backpack around Europe and the Middle East. He was accepted for Harvard University in 1987, majoring in Social Anthropology as well as studying filmmaking.
Aronofsky produced his first film, Pi, in 1997, 6 years prior to graduating from Harvard. The film was funded from donations from his friends and family, totalling at $60,000. The film was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where Aronofsky won the "Best Director" award. The film institution Artisan Entertainment bought distribution rights for $1,000,000, and the film was released to the public a year later, and was a success. 3 years later Aronofsky went on to produce an even more successful film, Requiem for a Dream. To date, Aronofsky has released 7 feature films, the most recent being Noah.
Darren Aronofsky, despite having spent less than 20 years in the film industry, has used and developed several techniques in his films. Probably the most well known is his use of the 'hip-hop montage', this being a montage of fast-paced shots with fast and frequent cuts. Most notably used during the drug taking scene in Requiem for a Dream, this achieves the effect of putting the audience in the position of the character in the film, making them feel in danger. We should keep this in mind when making our production.
Another, seemingly insignificant technique that Aronofsky uses is a fade to white. This is used at the end or break in the story, or sometimes just for emphasis. It gives the audience time to reflect on the story, and is different to the more conventional fade to black that other directors use.
Aronofsky also uses sounds from objects which cannot be seen on screen, such as drinking or a train horn. This shows that something is being hidden from the audience, creating an atmosphere of suspense.