Topic AnalysisAlfred Hitchcock is one of those directors so good that he has his own style and to be an element in an Alfred Hitchcock film, one would have to be: a platinum blonde bombshell, a gripping plot twist or an innocent man accused of a crime. While these are superficial attributes of Hitchcock's style, they constitute many of his most famous works from the 1940s to 1965. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In films like Vertigo, Rope, and Psycho, Hitchcock was able to establish the foundations of what would later become his iconic, Hitchcockian style. Hitchcock acquired his distinctive style and aesthetic through his understanding of German Expressionism, translated through visual and narrative elements, added with a suspense created through editing. The effects of World War I on the global film industry were profound and intoxicating. The war not only had political consequences, but also a psychological influence on emerging filmmakers of the time. Many European film industries were corrupted by the war, but German filmmakers embarked on a stranger, darker attempt to disorientate their audiences. Place the audience in the mindset of the main characters; it became an aspect of the psychological depth of the German Expressionism era. These films have become more narrative with complex stories rooted in the specific experiences their characters have had. This common trope is used by Hitchcock in his 1958 film Vertigo, which tells the story of retired detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart). Scottie takes a case to help an old friend with this possibly crazy wife. Hitchcock manipulates the audience's idea of ​​the events to come by using the protagonist's perception of the world in a visually striking way, exposing the facade of the story world. Continuing with Hitchcock's distinct narratives and perspective, the textbook A Short History of the Movies by Gerald Mast and Bruce Kawin explores his unique blend of the two. Mast and Kawin write "Hitchcock takes time to focus on a subtle physical or ironic detail. Plots revolve around the wildest possibilities... every Hitchcock film is the structure of the chase, the accelerated race towards a climatic resolution" . Although Vertigo may seem like a love story in Scottie's eyes, in true Hitchcockian style, nothing is as it seems. The perceptions formed by the audience see this world represented subjectively through the echoes of the characters' eyes. Watching the male protagonist, the audience experiences emotions of love, obsession and madness in Vertigo. The character's perspective was not the only aspect of German Expressionism that Hitchcock used. In his most acclaimed work, Psycho (1960), Hitchcock exercises light, shadow, and unusual imagery to convey an unsettling tone to the film and create moods for his characters. These visual facets are evident when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) talk in his office. The conversation turns dark when they start talking about Bates' mother. The audience gets a sense of darkness in Bates not from his dialogue but through the set design and lighting. This film noir atmosphere creates an anticipation of the premeditation that is alive in the Hitchcockian style. Rope equally utilizes this visual detail by being shot entirely in one location, time flows naturally and the characters interact naturally, giving a glimpse into the nature of the characters' motivations. From the website Alfred Hitchcock: A Visual Analysis, they discuss.