Film Geek Genome

My daughter, DC, and I are a lot alike. We have the same sense of humor, we both love to write, act and have a passion for movies. And nothing makes me happier.

This is best exemplified in the following examples. I'm a Hitchcock nut so my daughter and I watch his films together then review certain scenes to find out how they were shot and why they were effective. We once watched THE BIRDS and after it was over, DC immediately and excitedly said "Okay, explain a really cool shot to me!"

So we re-examined the scene where the crows fly behind Tippi Hedren and land on the jungle gym at the school. What is so great about that scene is, shot by shot, Hitchcock knows exactly what the audience wants and either gives it to them or denies them, depending on what is more suspenseful.

For example, when, unbeknownst to Hedren, the first few birds land behind her, Hitch then shoots only Hedren smoking and doesn't show you the jungle gym anymore. And, as the audience, as you're watching Hedren, you're wondering about the crows on the gym, but he won't show it to you to heighten the suspense. Then he teases you back and forth, showing the gym with more birds, then Hedren for a long period of time, then the gym with a few more birds, then Hedren, giving you a idea how quickly the birds are arriving behind her.

Then, it all ends with Hedren finally spotting a single crow, worried, following it with her eyes. This is slightly humorous because Hedren is so tense about a single crow, not realizing what we know as the audience, that there are a bunch more behind her. And we then follow this single crow to the playground only to find EVERYTHING is covered by crows, the gym, the building, the fence, everything.

Hitch sets an expectation on how quickly the birds are arriving only to climax the scene by throwing that out and bringing it way over the top.

When the single crow is in the air, the audience thinks they know information that Hedren does not (how many crows are behind her) and that makes us feel good, empowered. But, Hitch throws us a curve and when we discover the entire landscape is covered with crows, we and Hedren are saying "oh sh*t" to ourselves. We are thrust back into Hedren's shoes, being as disarmed and helpless as she is.

Great stuff.

So, last week I was explaining how symbolism can be used in films. I used the example in CITIZEN KANE where young Kane is outside playing in the snow. His parents, recently finding gold on their land, discuss the child's future in the house while we see young Kane through the window. The window is open when the scene begins, then when the parents decide to remove his voice from the discussion, they close the window, locking him in this box framed by the window, now closed, keeping his voice silent.

When they discuss that the child, upon his 21st birthday, will be entitled to money and decision making, they reopen the window, thereby giving the young Kane a voice in his life again. DC was enthralled by this.

She asked me to rent Citizen Kane on Netflix. When I told her it had arrived she jumped up and said "Yesss! Can I watch it tomorrow after school!?!?!"

I never would have imagined that my daughter would be so excited about watching a black and white film classic because she wants to study symbolism... and she's 12.

Amazing.

It just goes to show you that not only height, skin complexion and eye color can be passed down from parent to child. In the case of me and my daughter, the part of our DNA that holds our love of film has been inherited as well.