Kirshner 1996

Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Research Author(s): Jonathan Kirshner Source: PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sep., 1996), pp. 511-513 Published by: American Political Science Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/420833 . Accessed: 08/04/2014 12:56 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Political Science Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to PS: Political Science and Politics.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 200.89.140.130 on Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:56:41 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Teacher AlfredHitchcockand the Artof Research JonathanKirshner,Cornell University

At leasttwicea year,I am con-

fronted by groupsof studentsaskingfundamental questionsabout howto conductresearchin internationalrelations.Once is whenI takemyturnas a "showand tell" in thegovernment presenter departmentseminarforseniorswriting honorstheses.The secondtimeis whenI explainthepaperrequirementto first-year graduatestudents in myseminaron international politicaleconomy. I invariably respondto such a numberof questionsby reviewing standardmethodological issuesand problems, providing examplesfrom well-known papersand discussing as well.Withthis myownefforts businessoutoftheway,I leanforwardand tellthemwhattheyreally needto hear:thateverything they needto knowaboutgood research theycan learnfromAlfredHitchcock. in Thisbringslooksof surprise, partbecause Hitchcock'slastfilm cameoutwhenFordwas president, so someofthestudentshave never heardofhim.1The othersare surprisedto hearthatthereare crucial parallelsbetweena greatHitchcock filmand a successfulpaper.In fact, however,thesecretto good researchis to fulfill foursimplerules thatcan be calledtheHitchcock criteria. Whatmakesa good film?Four elementsin particular. First,a good

theysimplylackedthe together thematic unityofhisotherfilms: "theheroin handcuffs leapingfrom thebridge;thesceneoftheelderly blindmanin thehouse;theghost townwiththedesertedworkyards S. . the long shot of Boulder Dam.

I thinkwe coveredtoo much 1984,150-51). ground"(Truffaut It shouldbe notedthatHitchcock alwayspresented hisone conceptin a limitedcontext-never a singlefilmto be thelast intending wordon a givensubject.He ruminatedon dualism,forexample,in otherfilmssuch as Strangerson a Trainand Shadow of a Doubt. Northby Northwestexplored

themessimilarto thosefoundin

The Thirty-Nine Steps. Hitchcock

evenremadea film,TheMan Who Knew Too Much, filmingone ver-

Rear Windowis aboutwatching.

sionin 1934and anotherin 1956, leadingto endlessdebatesbetween thosewhopreferred his Britishor Americanperiods. How does thistranslate to writinga researchpaperor thesis?It meansthatthestudyshouldhave one clearquestion.The author shouldbe able to writedownthis index questionon a three-by-five card,thentapeit above hisor her desk. By glancingup fromtimeto time,one can assurethatcurrent and readingactuallydo thoughts relateto theresearchproject.A projectwithone specificquestion, placedin a limitedcontext,is well on itswayto success. The secondoftheHitchcockcri-

is aboutdualism(really).That's reallyall there'sroomfor.In exwith pressinghisdissatisfaction Saboteur,Hitchcockstated:"I felt thatit was cluttered withtoo many ideas." Therewas nothing wrong

thesingleconcept.Whatis meant by "clear"?Clearmeansthatyou couldexplainyourworkto Hitchcock. Thiswouldnotbe an easy task,sinceSir Alfredknewlittleof politicalscience,althoughhe liked

filmis about one limitedconcept.

Vertigois about obsession. Psycho

withany particularelement,but

teria is the clear communicationof

to make up storiesabout scandal-

ous consequencesfromhis use of uranium as a plotdevicein Notorious. Thus,to communicate to Hitchcock,one mustcommunicate to thenonspecialist. Thismayat timesbe a considerable challenge, butit is thesamerequirement to whichHitchcockheldhimself. Hitchcockwas admiredby his critics.But peersand professional his deathresultedin a bannerheadline in the Los Angeles Times be-

cause he was able to reachan enormousnumberofpeople-to communicate to a massaudience outsidehiselitepeergroupwithout hisprofessionalism compromising or artisticgenius.2 As FranqoisTruffaut stated, "Hitchcockis universally acknowlto be the world's foremost edged evenhis detractors willtechnician; inglyconcedehimthistitle"(Truffaut1984,16-17).Othercritics agree,statingthat"Hitchcockis one ofthegreatestinventorsof formin theentirecinema"(Rohmer and Charbol1988,152).Filmscholars have beenevenless restrained, that"hisfilmsremaincenasserting tralto questionsof cinematic practiceand criticaltheory"(Dutelbaumand Poague 1986,1). Another referred to Rear Windowas "funalmostinhumanly ny,touching, almostcombrilliant, profound, drapletelyworkedoutformally, and philosophically, wormatically, thyofthemostattentive scrutiny" (Rothman1982,248). Yet, despitethis,Hitchcockwas verysensitiveto thebroadpublic reactionto his product.He usually sharedthepublic'sassessmentof his commercial failures.While Hitchcockwas a virtuoso,an innovator,withtechnicalprowessthat hispeers,his cinemawas delighted not simplyfilmart forotherart-

September1996

511

This content downloaded from 200.89.140.130 on Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:56:41 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Teacher

ists-he insistedthattechnique servethestory."I am againstvirtuosityforitsown sake. Technique shouldenrichtheaction"(Truffaut innovations 1984,103).His favorite weretheones leastlikelyto be noticed-theextrastepsat theend of Notorious,thelightin theglass of milkin Suspicion,theplanecrash in Foreign Correspondent,the dar-

withconingexperimentation stricted in Lifeboatand settings

Rear Window.His more obvious

ceilstunts,suchas thetransparent in The and the entire ing Lodger movieRope, he considered, in retrospect,to be mistakes.As Keith Richardssaid morebluntly, "As far as I am concerned,Artis shortfor Arthur."1 forHitchcock,hisfaSimilarly voritefilmswereones likePsycho, fromwhichhe derivedhis "main thefactthat"thefilm satisfaction": had an effect on audiences."Psycho grossedover 15 timesitsproductioncosts.At thesametime, "I take HitchcocktoldTruffaut, pridein thefactthatPsycho,more thananyofmyotherpictures,is a filmthatbelongsto film-makers, to 1984,282). youand me" (Truffaut The criterion ofclearcommunicationyieldsspecificlessonsfor research:topicsthatcan onlybe explainedto specialistsare potenare probatiallydangerous-there blygood reasonswhyno one else caresaboutthem.Don't lettechnical sophistication dominatethe in message---even thosecases wherecomplexmethodsare rethatevenin his quired.Remember mostsophisticated work,filmsthat havekeptacademicsflooding journalswithcomplexanalysesand filmstudentsstudying printsframe Hitchcockis able to byframe,3 communicate to politicalscientists. Successful researchin our discipline returnsthe favor,and is explicable to outsiders. Third,in a good film,everyshot counts. The basic elementof a film is not the scene, but the shot, one continuousexposure of film.A typical movie has hundredsof shots. The shower scene in Psycho, for example, was 45 seconds of film but involved 70 camera set-ups (Robello 1990, 105, 108, 111). The finalmurderin Sabotage4 is simi-

larlycomplex.TheBirds,on the otherhand,heldseveralshotsfor extendedperiodsoftime.The crucial thingis notthelengthofthe shot,butmakingsurethatevery shotin thefilmis absolutelynecessary."Sequencesmustneverpeter out,"Hitchcockonce wrote,"but mustcarrytheactionforward, muchas thecar ofa ratchetrailwayis carriedforward, cog by cog" (Hitchcock1965,212). If a sequenceisn'tnecessary-ifit does notprovidevitalinformation-it shouldbe cut.

. . . I lean forwardand

tell themwhat theyreally need to hear: that theyneed everything to knowabout good research theycan learn fromAlfredHitchcock.

puzzlingtheaudienceis theessenceof suspense."In Rope, for example,"The audienceknowseverythingfromthe start.

. .

thereis

nota singledetailto puzzletheaudience"(Hitchcock1948,114). "Surprises"lastonlya fewseconds,butsuspensecan be sustainedindefinitely. Hitchcock'sfavoritewayofexplaining thiswas to describemenplayinga cardgame whensuddenlya bombin theroom explodes.The audienceis shocked foraboutfiveseconds.But showa bombunderthetablewithfiveminutesuntildetonation, and nowthe about players'boringconversation baseballbecomesan urgentmatter. Sequencesin filmslikeDial Mfor Murderand Frenzyare compelling

onlybecausetheaudienceknows whothekilleris. Or, as Hitchcock putsit,"The essentialfactis, to get realsuspense,youmustlet theaudiencehave information" (Hitchcock 1973). Thiscarriesoverdirectly to researchdesign.It is important to avoidthetemptation (whichI alwriter. waysface)to be a mystery Betterto tellthereaderwhatto expect.If necessary,phraseslike Again,one mustknowwhatthe projectis about-whatone is trying "I willshow"and "I have shown" can providebookends.If thereader to achieve-in orderto assurethat is doesn'tknowwheretheargument onlythenecessaryinformation is going,he or she is likelyto be introduced. Thiswas no problem irritated ratherthanintrigued, and forHitchcock,wholikedto boast thatby thetimehe actuallystarted won'tunderstand whyeach paraa film,"I knoweveryshot graphis necessaryin theunfolding shooting and everyangleby heart"(Hitchstory.The suspense-andthesucin writing, cess-comes in theeffective execucock 1973).5Similarly tionofa promising researchagenda. mustcount:the everyparagraph Hitchcockwas an astutecriticof authormustbe able tojustifywhy hisownwork.He couldtracehis is neededand how each paragraph successesto filmswherehe preitflowsnaturally fromone to the sentedone specificconcept,comshouldbe next,or theparagraph it clearly,madeevery municated reevaluated. shotcount,and sustainedsuspense. Assuringthateveryshot,or evcounts,tellsyoualeryparagraph Paperswithsimilarqualitieswill abouthowlongthe almost certainlybe well received. mostnothing projectwillbe. It is as longas the sumofthenecessaryelements.No shorter and no longer.It shouldbe Notes noted,however,thatHitchcock neverproducedan epic. 1. AlfredHitchcock, born in Britainin Finally,a goodfilmhas sus1899,directed53 featurefilms,two short

pense, not surprise.Hitchcock

avoidedthesimplemystery films, wherethemainpointofthemovie is to findout whothekilleris. (Murderis a notableexceptionto thisrule.)"I do notbelievethat

filmsforthe French resistance(just now available on videotape), and a numberof televisionseepisodes forhis long-running ries, "AlfredHitchcock Presents." His career can be divided into fourperiods: his silentfilms,the Britishsound period, the Americanstudio period, and his years as an

PS: PoliticalScience& Politics

512

This content downloaded from 200.89.140.130 on Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:56:41 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TeachingWomenin the News: Exposingthe "Invisible Majority" The workfromany producer. independent one oftheseperiodsalonewouldhaveesin filmhistablished himas a majorfigure themostcomprehentory.Unfortunately, sivecurrent ofthisfascinating biography character (Spoto 1983)is marredbyan unpleasant(andunfulfilled) agenda. 2. "Alfred HitchcockDies," Los Angeles Times,April29, 1980,p. 1. The second headline,in typehalfthesize,is "Carter PicksMuskieto Be Secretary ofState." 3. The mostcasualcomputer searchwill yieldscoresofrecentpapersandbookson Hitchcock'sfilms. 4. Hitchcock's1936classicSabotage, adaptedfromJosephConrad'sTheSecret Agent,shouldnotbe confusedwithtwo otherHitchcock films,The Secret Agent, or 1942's Saboteur.

5. Hitchcock'stechnique also madeit difto reedithisworkby ficult forproducers usingextrafootageandmastershotsroutinelycalledforin thestudiosystem(Leff 1987,215).

References Marshall,and LelandPoague, Dutelbaum, eds. 1986. A HitchcockReader. Ames:

Press. Iowa StateUniversity Alfred.1948."Let 'Em Play Hitchcock,

God." HollywoodReporter100:47 (11

in SidneyGottlieb, October).Reprinted

ed. 1995. Hitchcockon Hitchcock: Selected Writingsand Interviews.Berkeley:

ofCalifornia Press. University Alfred.1965."MotionPictures," Hitchcock,

Rohmer,Eric,andClaudeCharbol1988.

Hitchcock: the First FortyFour Films.

(Trans.StanleyHochman)New York: Continuum Publishing. William.1982.Hitchcock:The Rothman, Murderous Harvard Gaze. Cambridge: Press. University Spoto, Donald. 1983. Dark Side of Genius: The Life of AlfredHitchcock. Boston:

Little,Brown. Truffaut, Franqois.1984.Hitchcock.New York:Simonand Schuster.

Encyclopedia Britannica,Vol. 15. Re-

inGottlieb1995. printed Alfred.1973."TheAmerican Hitchcock, anddocumenInterview Cinematheque." tary. Leff,LeonardJ. 1987.Hitchcockand Selznick: the Rich and Strange Collaboration of AlfredHitchcock and David O. Selznick in Hollywood. New York: Wei-

denfield andNicholson. Hitchcock Robello,Stephen.1990.Alfred and the Making of Psycho. New York:

DembnerBooks.

About the Author is assistantprofessor Kirshner of Jonathan at CornellUniversity andaugovernment

thorof Currencyand Coercion: The Political Economy of InternationalMonetary

Power(Princeton Press,1995). University His researchfocuseson therelationship betweenpoliticaleconomyand nationalsecurelations. rity,and international monetary

Teaching Women in the News: Exposing the "InvisibleMajority" PennyM. Miller, Universityof Kentucky Suppose yourlocal newspaper,or

names,notpronouns),byline,or photoofa womanand, usingthe feotherhighlighter, to do thesame daily,becamean exclusively maledomain-thateveryexpert formen.Thentheywereaskedto tabulatemaleand femaletotalsfor source,byline,photograph, quotathedifferent tion,and evaluationwerefemale. categories.Each stuMostreadersmightwonderwhy dentpresentedhisor herfindings womendeserve100%ofthecoverorally,and theresultswereenu52% ofthe meratedon theblackboard. age whentheyrepresent an all-male the New YorkTimes,and the colOverall,femalebylineson the population.By contrast, front as page mightnotregister daily lege significantly underrepre- newspaperpagesaveraged25% of thetotals.Womenamounted, on unusual,forit is a regular sentcoverageofwomenand are anything occurrencein manypublications oftenunflattering in thecoverage average,to 20% ofthoseshownin But themostextreme (Aprile1993,H8). theydo provide. photographs. In October1994,I conductedthis resulthad to do withtextualreferexercisein a class on womenand encesto females.On average,femaleswerethesubjectofonly10% politics.Armedwiththesectional A DramaticLesson frontpages of the LexingtonHeroffront-page references. The following handson exercise Some studentshad frontpages ald-Leader, the Louisville Courierthatcontainedno femalebylines, has beenconductedseveraltimes Journal,the New YorkTimes, and at theUniversity of Kentuckyin theUniversity or references to of KentuckyKernel, photographs, courseson Americangovernment, I distributed 90 newspapersranwomen.Even storieson topicsof to politicalscience, introduction domlyto 45 students.I also distrib- unusualconcernto women,suchas utedtwodifferent-colored politicalbehavior,campaignsand marking abortion,oftencontainedmorerefthemedia,womenand politics,and erencesto men,and fewor no refpensto each class member. stateand local politics.It takesat wereinstructed to erencesto women. First,students least40-45minutesto complete, in one coloreverytextual highlight Secondly,to gainfurther insight and it is particularly successfulin to persons(notingproper intotheproblemof the"invisible reference

the New YorkTimes, or the college

discussionsectionsoflargelecture courses. In each ofthesecourses,theexercisehas had thesameimpacton whoare consistently students, stunnedby theresults.The conclusionin everyclass has beenclear: whenit comesto front-page reporting,Kentucky'smajornewspapers,

September1996

513

This content downloaded from 200.89.140.130 on Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:56:41 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions