Alfred Hitchcock was the master of horror thrillers- a genre that he single-
handedly created and developed. Hitchcock's films were meant to evoke a
blood-curling response from the viewers and the two films that managed to
achieve that completely were Psycho and The Birds. The Birds was released
in 1963 and while it was a total fantasy with no hint of realism, the
director used exceptional camera tricks and photography techniques to
convince the viewers that it could actually happen to them.
"The Birds was fantasy in purest form. Hitchcock deserted his former
dependence on classical unity in plot construction and occupied himself
instead with a strictly thematic approach, which, henceforth, became his
principal mode of operation. In the wild, savage behavior of the birds he
wanted to show the menace which surrounds us everywhere, although we are
The film was loosely based on Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds.
But Hitchcock personally chose to make a number of additions and
subtractions to enhance the impact of the movie. So it was not solely
Maurier's story but it has certainly been a source of inspiration for the
film. Hitchcock's camera work and his cinematic genius is a good example of
limitation giving birth to immense creativity. With limited technology,
Hitchcock managed to create exceptional special effects. For example there
were "more than 370 trick shots in this picture and a mixture of fake birds
and trained birds, including trained seagullsâ€" and special attention was
paid to location. Only some outside scenes were shots at real locations,
most other scenes were specifically shot within the studio by recreating
the interiors of original buildings. It is quite interesting to learn that
most of the aerial shorts were over-blown images of painted mattes that
helped achieve an amplified image of the town.
Hitchcock used his exceptional camera ski...