"North by Northwest"

North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is about an ordinary businessman who is mistaken for someone else by a group of foreign spies and is chased across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

"North by Northwest"

In the crop duster scene there are different aspects that we can analyse and they are camera work, editing and sound. These different features contribute towards the genre of the film. Alfred Hitchcock said; "thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action". This is true because the different types of shots used in the sequence, the type of editing and the sounds used give this effect.

For example in the crop duster sequence the camera work varies. The scene starts of with an establishing that establishes the country and shows how vulnerable Mr Thornhill is and has nowhere for shelter or anywhere to escape. Straight after there are point of view shots and medium shots. They keep switching and this gives us the idea that Mr Thornhill is confused and how isolated he is. There is also a tracking shot for when Mr Thornhill tries to get cover. 

The editing used in the short sequence is basic but has a big effect. The scenes are constanty changing and it starts off with long takes with staright cuts. These then develop into short takes and the speed of the switching changes and becomes faster as Mr Thornhill gets into trouble, however whne he finds cover and the tension decreases the switching of the scenes slow down and become longer teakes as he is safe. The frequent scene switching could be used to portray Mr Thornhill's heartbeat in the tricky situation that he finds himself in. 

The crop duster sequence has diegetic sounds because all the sound that is being made has a source that the characters can hear and see and the audience can see too. There is paralell music played at the end of the sequence where the tank of a lorry blows up and this adds to the effect of Mr Thronhill's scary and weird situation because the music has a fast pace to it and this is a good opportunity for Mr Thronhill to make his escape. 



Crop Duster scene: Mr Thornhill being
chased by a plane.

Alfred Hitchcock said that he wanted to transfer the menace that appeared on screen into the minds of the audience. What he meant by this was that he wanted the audience to feel the distress that Mr Thornhill was going through as he was trying to survive whilst being pursued by a group of foreign spies.