Shadow of a Doubt screen analysis
SHADOW OF A DOUBT
1.Story and Plot
A narrative film is made up of a series of events of cause and effect relationships occurring in time and space. It begins with one situation and after a chain of events and obstacles a new situation arises to end the narrative. A narrative film’s plot is everything audibly and visibly presented onscreen, and what the viewer interprets, used to tell and to present information about a story. The main plot for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ can be described a young lady discovering the secret about her serial killer Uncle she was once so fond of, whereas the films story can be described as a serial killer on the run, and after visiting his sisters family, his secret is discovered by his Niece who has trouble dealing between her uncle and the Police.
The film’s plot is in chronological order, but not all events in the story are shown. The film begins with 2 men, presumably detectives, who are searching for a man. At this point, the viewer is unaware of who this man is and why he is being chased. This motivates a mystery within the plot inviting the audience to speculate the characters story.
The viewer later discovers the man is the Uncle (Charlie Oakley) of the protagonist (Charlie). The audience learns of Oakley’s past as the ‘Merry Widow Murderer’ when the Detective tells her. This is confirmed with the scene at the library, where Charlie discovers the missing article from the newspaper is about the ‘Merry Widow Murderer’ and the ring given to her by her uncle is from one of his victims. This scene is one of the most important scenes in revealing story information to the viewer pre-dating the plot. The viewer can now mentally arrange the events of the story chronologically -
- Uncle Charlie murders 3 woman
- Uncle Charlie has been on the run from detectives
- Decides to hide with his sister’s family
- Charlie is suspicious of her Uncle’s strange behavior
- Charlie discovers secret about her uncle
-
1.Story and Plot
A narrative film is made up of a series of events of cause and effect relationships occurring in time and space. It begins with one situation and after a chain of events and obstacles a new situation arises to end the narrative. A narrative film’s plot is everything audibly and visibly presented onscreen, and what the viewer interprets, used to tell and to present information about a story. The main plot for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ can be described a young lady discovering the secret about her serial killer Uncle she was once so fond of, whereas the films story can be described as a serial killer on the run, and after visiting his sisters family, his secret is discovered by his Niece who has trouble dealing between her uncle and the Police.
The film’s plot is in chronological order, but not all events in the story are shown. The film begins with 2 men, presumably detectives, who are searching for a man. At this point, the viewer is unaware of who this man is and why he is being chased. This motivates a mystery within the plot inviting the audience to speculate the characters story.
The viewer later discovers the man is the Uncle (Charlie Oakley) of the protagonist (Charlie). The audience learns of Oakley’s past as the ‘Merry Widow Murderer’ when the Detective tells her. This is confirmed with the scene at the library, where Charlie discovers the missing article from the newspaper is about the ‘Merry Widow Murderer’ and the ring given to her by her uncle is from one of his victims. This scene is one of the most important scenes in revealing story information to the viewer pre-dating the plot. The viewer can now mentally arrange the events of the story chronologically -
- Uncle Charlie murders 3 woman
- Uncle Charlie has been on the run from detectives
- Decides to hide with his sister’s family
- Charlie is suspicious of her Uncle’s strange behavior
- Charlie discovers secret about her uncle
-