Suspense with a Camera: A Filmmaker's Guide to Hitchcock's Techniques

by Jeffrey Michael Bays

Overview

Suspense with a Camera brings the secrets of suspense out of the shadows. Written for screenwriters and directors by a leading expert on Hitchcock techniques, you’ll have fresh insights on crafting suspense. These ideas have never been published before and share revelations that go far beyond the cliché knives, corpses, and blondes that many associate with Hitchcock. Suspense is such a basic part of storytelling it can even be used in romantic comedy! How did Hitchcock manipulate his audience into a state of frenzy? Hitchcock scholar Jeffrey Michael Bays has made this question his life’s mission, and is here to share his top tips for escalating suspense and leaving your audience begging for more. Ideal for filmmakers of all kinds, these tips will enhance everyone’s creative works — shorts, web series, TV episodes, and features.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615932733
Publisher:	Wiese, Michael Productions
Publication date:	09/15/2017
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Michael Bays is author of Between the Scenes: What Every Director, Writer, and Editor Should Know about Scene Transitions, and was producer of the award-winning Not from Space on XM Satellite Radio. He holds a Master of Arts in Cinema from La Trobe University. Jeffrey’s productions have earned the prestigious Mark Time Award, the Communicator Award of Excellence, and have been listed in Time Out magazine. Jeffrey is a frequent speaker and panelist at film festivals, and contributor to MovieMaker Magazine, No Film School, and Peter D. Marshall’s Director’s Chair. He is producer of the docuseries Hitch20, a four-hour examination of Hitchcock’s twenty works of television, and author of the experimental eBook How to Turn Your Boring Movie into a Hitchcock Thriller, written in the voice of Hitchcock himself. Jeffrey also directed the Australian film Offing David, a Hitchcock homage.

Table of Contents

Introduction Section 1: Digging Up the Suspense Suspense / The Triad of Secrets / Suspense Models Section 2: Learning the Visual Language Writing a Visual Sentence / Syntax of Eyes, Hands and Feet / Camera as a Musical Instrument Section 3: Poke the Director Awakening the Storyteller / Personality of Camera / Creating a Hitchcockian Opening Section 4: The Sound of Suspense Role of Sound and Music in Suspense / Stream of Consciousness Voice-Over Section 5: Sharpen the Clarity The Tightrope of Tension / Carving a Clear Path of Audience Belief / MacGuffin: The Side Effect of Suspense Section 6: Humor Humor and the Roller Coaster / Hitchcock’s Punchline Endings / The Underplayed Chase Section 7: Playing with Space Locations That Push Story / Building the Danger Off-Screen / High Shots / Characters That Catch Us Looking Section 8: Q&A with Suspense Practitioners Guest Interviews TBA