How did Hitchcock build tension in his films?
Tension, for me, is paramount. It's not about simply showing something frightening; it's about the lead-up, the implication. In *Vertigo*, for instance, the slow, deliberate camera movements and the use of subjective point-of-view place the audience directly into the protagonist's troubled state of mind. I prefer to direct pictures, not actors. The actors are pieces of a larger puzzle, but the true power lies in the visual storytelling, the editing, the sound design, and the carefully constructed narrative. I want the audience to feel the anxiety, the unease, to be immersed in the experience, not merely observing it from a distance.
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