The Birds

Fig.1

The Birds movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This horror film won a Golden Globe Henrietta Award for World Film Favourites and a Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille for the best new star of the year.
The movie starts off with Melanie Daniels (played by Tippi Hedren) who meets Mitch Brenner (played by Rod Taylor). She brings a gift of two lovebirds to him where the romance is portrayed. The romance in this movie gets interrupted by blackbirds who starts attacking people and stars causing a havoc in the village.

Fig.2 Playfull Melanie

The characters in the film were very easy to understand and read, however as the story goes on every character in the story changes. Hitchcock “innocently begins, with a haughty San Francisco girl having a testy encounter in a bird shop with a man on whom she plays a practical joke. Then, mischievously, he leads her to the fellow's family home in a fishing village north of San Francisco to deliver an impudent present of two love-birds.” (Crowther, 1963) Following what Crowther said ‘Melanie’ was presented as being a playful and joyful character, she was also seen as a strong woman as she did what she wanted and no one had control over her. However, all that changes drastically as the story moves to the end. She is portrayed as a weak woman and a ‘damsel in distress.’ ‘Mitch’ became the hero at the end, and his mother was seen as a strong woman instead of being the weak woman she was in the begging of the film.

Fig.3 Costume

The dressing code in this film was intriguing as Hitchcock used the colours purposely to present the character role in the film. “What woman wouldn't feel threatened if Melanie arrived in town? In her chic green suit, her peroxide hair swept into an immaculate chignon, and her soft lips moulded into a succession of minxish pouts, Hedren makes Melanie the very height of 1960s sophistication.” (Sooke, 2015) This going with the statement said about her ‘green’ clothing expresses the emotion ‘envy.’ This is because everywhere she went she seemed to make people jealous of her. For example, Mitch’s ex-girlfriend or mother who thought Melanie was stealing her son away from her. She also had red nails, a connotation to love which goes with the romance genre in the film. In conclusion, Hitchcock uses colours to express the character’s characteristics and how they affect others.

Fig.4 Bird Chase

  “Deliberately, Hitchcock prolongs his prelude to horror for more than half the film, playing with audience suspense with comedy and romance while he sets his stage. The horror, when it comes, is a hair-raiser.” (Staff, 2017) This proves how successful Hitchcock was in creating suspense to the audience. Prolonging the scenes made the audience feel tense as we hear the sounds of birds attacking non-stop. Just as you think everything is over Hitchcock brings the birds back making everyone uncomfortable.
In conclusion, Hitchcock was successful in making the viewers uncomfortable and terrified. He also uses colours to express the characters making it easier for the audience to read. 

Bibliography;

Crowther, Bosley (1963) – Screen: 'The Birds’: Hitchcock’s Feathered Fiends Are Chilling: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D05E7D9143CEF3BBC4953DFB2668388679EDE [Accessed: 06/03/2018]

Sooke, Alastair (2015) – The Birds, review: 'disturbing': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11334674/The-Birds-review-disturbing.html [Accessed: 06/03/2018]

Staff, THR (2017) – 'The Birds': THR's 1963 Review : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/birds-review-1963-movie-989290 [Accessed: 06/03/2018]


Illustration;
Figure 1. The bird’s Movie (1963) [Poster] at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002448_birds? [Accessed 06/03/2018]

Figure 2. Playfull Melanie (2000)[Still Film] at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-birds [Accessed 06/03/2018]

Figure 3. Costume (2000) [Still Film] at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-birds [Accessed 06/03/2018]

Figure 4. Bird Chase (1963) [Still Film] at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Birds-film-1963  [Accessed 06/03/2018]