The+Birds

In one scene of the //The Birds//, the director makes several decisions that make the sequence work. The scene is near the end, when the birds attack the house.

1.It starts off slow, with pure silence, as the characters sit around the living room absolutely quite. 2.We get several medium to close up shots of their facial expressions, to show their attentiveness and how they are on alert. 3.After some time passes sound begins to build up, the birds are coming. Sound is a key role during this scene, as the characters do not talk during this, all you can hear is the birds crowing and cawing louder, and louder. The scene builds tension, showing several close ups of the characters faces as they are terrified. 4.The light is also a key aspect, as the birds shut off all the lights, and all we really see are the important parts that the director is trying to show us. What is interesting about this scene, is that the birds actually don't enter the house, as Mitch defends everybody by keeping the birds out.

The sound builds up louder and louder, seeming that the birds will enter the house and kill them all.

5. The director chooses to do a wide shot of the door with a single light on it, to show the birds are breaking their way in. What is interesting, as it seems like this may "be the end" the sound slowly fades away, and we get more close ups of the character faces as they seem relieved. 6. We get several birds eye view shots of the characters, to show how they are little and the birds may attack. 7.However, what is really intriguing is that there are also several worms eye view shots, usually these types of shots are used to show power. What I think the director was trying to achieve with this though, what that the birds might swoop from above and get them, that the birds are always flying above. The combination of the light, sound, angle of shots, and expression of characters all combining together to build a very dramatic and tense scene.