Humans thrive on emotion: joy, pain, laughter, or anguish. It makes no difference. The best movies tap into these emotions and exploit them to an extent. Alfred Hitchcock is a director who pioneered this technique in the realm of suspense, blurring the line between the characters acting in the movie and those who came to watch it.

One of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Hitchcock made legendary movies, and his techniques are still widely used in the industry today. As time passes, his name seems to be mentioned less frequently. Many fail to realize the impact he has had on the movie-making industry. Even his simplest tricks are what continue to help magic happen for moviegoers.

Hitchcock developed point-of-view shooting , a technique used most notably in Rear Window. This movie is a suspense thriller about a murder viewed by the main character, L.B Jefferies, through his window, but the viewers are given a fresh perspective because they view it from the main character’s eyes. This method draws the audience in and helps them feel a personal connection to the movie. They see the events as they are happening, and they are experiencing emotions and actions with the main character.

The shower scene from Psycho is infamous and spooked enough viewers, myself included, to be unable to comfortably take showers for weeks. In this scene, the main character, Marion Crane, is brutally murdered and despite the fact that the violence is not actually shown, the fear and the surprise of the scene are intensely inflicted on the viewer. Hitchcock uses the combination of quick snap shots and uneasy background sound to put the viewer on edge. It flashes from a hand on the shower curtain, to a close up of a knife, to the main character all in rapid succession.

Another major filming technique used by Hitchcock was the personification of the camera. Instead of having the camera play the role of a device documenting what was going on, he had it take on its own identity. Instead of following every character and showing only what they say, Hitchcock frequently had the camera scan the area around it, allowing the audience to see and hear things other characters may not be privy to. This allows viewers to feel like they are on the inside; it helps pull them into the story and makes it more real.

One of the simplest ideas enforced by Hitchcock was the idea that the story should be kept simple. His movies never had complex storylines because he feared boring the audience by making them think too much.

Cinematic skills aside, Hitchcock also brought his own personality to his work. He made an appearance in nearly all of his movies, which is arguably his quirkiest asset. It got to the point where he had to put it in the beginning of the movie because viewers were looking for him instead of focusing on the storyline. It is an oddity such as this that makes the director more interesting and thus more prominent in the eyes of the public. It is much like Quentin Tarantino’s tendency to show close-up shots of women’s feet in his films or Steven Spielberg who frequently casts the same major actors for his films.

Certainly a master of suspense, Hitchcock directed movies from other genres as well such as the original Mr. and Mrs. Smith. His talent in any area is undeniable and his legacy will live on in his cinematic endeavors. He revolutionized the movie world and should be continually recognized for his impact.