‘Rear Window’ (1954) is a classic Hollywood thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and narrates the life of a photographer who has recently became wheel chair ridden. Confined to just the space of his own apartment and to the view of his own neighbours, photographer L.B ‘Jeff’ Jefferies’ boredom leads him to becoming obsessed with solving a supposed murder that he has witnessed whilst observing his courtyard. The mise-en-scene of the opening scene, which this essay will be focused on analysing, helps to create a solid foundation for the plot of the film to continue and be successful throughout. The mise-en-scene present in the opening credits and within the opening scene both aid the spectator’s likeliness to establish space, atmosphere, character and setting throughout the duration of the film.
The opening credits, which begin immediately at the film’s starting point, are layered over a still shot of three blind covered windows. These windows pose as three individual sub frames within the larger frame of the still shot as a whole. As the credits continue, each blind is slowly raised in Hitchcock’s attempt to create some sort of instantaneous tension. Notably, this does have effect as when each singular blind is raised, the spectator gains a much greater perspective of the same scene they were observing before. The transparency of the windows leads to what could be described as some basic clarity for the spectator of where they are situated and how their view relates to the film as a whole. In this opening credit sequence, Hitchcock manages to control very closely how the viewer of Rear Window interacts with what is on screen. Hitchcock selectively reveals what is behind each blind and eventually what is behind each open window of the apartments in Jeffrie’s complex. By doing this, Hitchcock is able to maintain power and influence over how each spectator views and interprets the information given to them via his clever use of mise-en-scene.
The credit sequence as a part of the mise-en-scene is also particularly effective in setting the scene for spectators. The credits are notably important as the font used is stylistic and rather unique as can be seen in Figure B. There is a slight colour injection of red into the font chosen and the credits are layered over a rather low-key lighted still shot. This contrast of the deep, bolder red colour and the dullness and dimness of the background instantly creates a sense of friction on screen which is inevitably captivating for viewers of the film. The red colouring which is present in the text also automatically suggests that trouble or some sort of conflict may occur in the duration of the film as red is typically symbolic of danger or warning according to…
However, the opening of Rear Window has been criticised for being purposely ambiguous [source] and misleading the spectator to believe that they are entering a different genre of film. In particular, it has been recognised that the opening credits and opening scene are stereotypically characteristic of a romantic comedy. It is conceivable that Hitchcock purposely misleads his viewers in order to create a feeling of uncertainty which he prolongs the spectator to feel throughout the remainder of the film. Again, through his misleading of the audience, it can be reinforced that Hitchcock, through various devices of mise-en-scene, can control how his viewers interpret the film they are watching.
The overture the spectator is faced with in the film’s credit and opening scene is a piece of arranged Jazz music and is played in the major key. The pleasant tune is, however, discreetly interrupted by [music producer’s] command for syncopation of the instruments. This syncopation establishes a true sense of disturbance and hence, results in an extremely staccato, unpredictable piece of music. This staccato feeling carried through the overture in the opening credit sequence translates into the film’s narrative and thus perhaps signifies the uncertainty that Hitchcock wants his viewers to feel. Ultimately, the score of music is used to hint to spectators that there will be tension as well as conflict within the film.
After all three blinds are lifted, the spectator can now clearly see out of each open window in the frame and this momentarily satisfies the eye of the viewer as they feel as though Hitchcock has allowed them to see all that is in front of them. The camera truly mimics human movement as it travels from its still position, tilts and then begins to pan the courtyard. The camera imitates the actions of man standing up and overseeing the court yard and so it is viable to argue that this is Hitchcock’s attempt at creating a POV shot from the eyes of his spectators. The attempted point of view shot puts great emphasis on the idea that the spectators have a responsibility of being an observer alongside Jeffries in ‘Rear Window’.
Following the credit sequence, the spectator is bombarded with a lot of useful information in a short space of time and in just a couple of shots. The dolly shot which places the camera out with the apartment allows for the camera to firstly track the small cat and therefore after pan the entirety of the setting in ‘Rear Window’. The small black cat, previously mentioned, can be seen parading the concrete of the courtyard in the opening sequence. The black cat acts as a guide to the camera and the spectator as it creates a logical pathway around each frame for the spectator’s eyes to follow. Quite clearly, the camera is now resting from imitating human physical behaviour and now travels by panning around the setting of the courtyard. The path which the camera takes in these shot gifts the spectator with the ability to establish a sense of space in the scene.
The viewer of Rear Window receives great information about setting and character from Hitchcock’s placement of mise-en-scene in the opening scene of ‘Rear Window’. Due to the long duration panning shot of the courtyard, viewers are able to observe that all of the windows of the apartments are deliberately left wide open. Historically, in this time period in New York City, this would have actually been an accurate depiction of homes as according to [source], it was extremely rare to find that working class people had air conditioning and so in order to stay cool in Summer, people would leave their windows wide open. This aids the storyline of Rear window greatly as it allows for the observing of both Jeff and the spectator to easily happen. This idea of lack of privacy and no secrecy is continued as the viewer witnesses the couple sleeping outside on their balcony. As well as this, Hitchcock also allows spectators to view the apartment of the musician whose ‘fourth wall’ is constructed of entirely non-tinted glass window. Hitchcock purposefully arranges the mise-en-scene of the opening scene to be unusually public, unrestricted and accessible in order to make it easy for observance and ‘spying’ to occur for both the viewer and Jeff.
The camera pans around the space of Jeff’s apartment and seems to completely occupy and dictate it by revealing a lot of details of characteristic about Jeffries. Hitchcock uses two very effective extreme close up shots in this section of the opening scene: one of Jeff and his forehead and a second of the thermometer placed on his apartment wall. It is viable to argue that Hitchcock has used such extreme close ups here so that he can emphasise and also contextualise what the viewer has just observed in the last couple of minutes of the scene. The extreme close up of Jeff’s forehead lets the viewer know that he is extremely warm as beads of sweat can be seen rolling down his brow and this links with what the spectator has witnessed in the previous shots: his neighbours being far too warm. The placement of the thermometer allows for the viewer to learn that it is over 90 degrees in the city and this therefore connects all of the information that has been fed to the audience previously: they know why the windows are open, they know why there is a couple sleeping outside and they know why Jeff is sweating. Therefore, there becomes a sense of logic behind the absurd lack of privacy in Jeffries’ apartment complex and so makes the whole opening scene more realistic to the viewer.
Mise-en-scene in the opening scene also influences how the viewer interoperates the protagonist. In the opening scene of Rear Window, Hitchcock very cleverly and subtly reveals a lot of information about LB Jeff Jeffries in a very short space of time. The camera enters the protagonist’s home and we get a panning shot of the cast that is plastered on Jeffrie’s leg. On this cast, the words: ‘Here lie the bones of…’ are scribbled. By making this visible to the viewer, Hitchcock does not only reveal the name of the protagonist but he also gives hints as to what kind of character traits he has. At first, the mise-en-scene presented forces the viewer to form an opinion of Jeffries that he is perhaps pretentious due to his neatly combed hair, that he is serious because of his solemn expression and that he could be rather snobbish due to the condition of his ironed, collared pyjamas. However, the humour displayed on his cast juxtaposes this formed opinion and Hitchcock reveals that it is very possible that Jeffries has a sense of humour and is not as serious-minded as first thought by the viewer.
Mise-en-scene helps the audience to establish setting and atmosphere due to the lengths it goes to in order to depict a realistic urban setting. There are various diegetic sounds throughout the opening panning sequence such as traffic, dogs barking and the faint mumbles of conversations on the courtyard and on the street happening. Subtle, yet noticeable, these diegetic noises create atmosphere and contribute to the busy, cluttered nature of the setting that Hitchcock portrays.