The Birds

The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock (1963)

The opening sequence of The Birds starts with a mid-shot of crows silhouettes frantically flying across the screen. This type of shot establishes the birds importance to the film and emphosises the manic feeling of their fast movements reinforcing an uncomfortable feeling towards the audience. The shot doesn't reveal the reason for the furiously flapping birds behaviour, creating the sence of mystery to the audience so they already feel uneasy. The harsh black silhoiettes of the crows symbolising darkness, death and fear are the binary opposition to the purity and innocence of the white sky declaring the factor of evil over good which is iconic to the thriller genre. the icy blue titles contrast upon the flustering scene behind capturing the coldness on the dark mood being created. Within this sequence the non diagetic paralell squaking is high pitched and sinister making the audience feel tense because the sound of frantic flapping wings creates a sence of realism and panic.

The sequence is then edited to fade into the city scene, establishing the farmiliarity of an everyday setting the audience can reconise, the now turned diagetic screaching of birds can still be heard in the background carrying on iconic feeling of uneasyness. The busy streets are revealed as a van wipes across the screen to reveal a central long shot of a blonde woman. The camera slowly tracks her every movement with no cuts so the connection of familiarisation is created between this main character and the audience as she walks towards the camera into a mid-shot establishing her importance. Her vunerability is clear in comparison to the large buildings around her which is emphosised when she looks anxiously into the sky, showing something aboce her is supirior creating tension and re-establishing the uncomfortable feeling for the audience.