North by Nortwest/Star Wars mash-up

Women in Film - Directors Part 2

Sofia Copolla The 3rd woman ever to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar Sofia Coppolla is the daughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppolla. Though she didn't win Best Director she did collect a Best Screenwriting Oscar for Lost in Translation.
Selected Filmgoraphy:  The Bling Ring (2013) Lost in Translation (2003) The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Current/Future Projects: She recently directed A Very Murray Christmas for Netflix and her next film The Beguiled is due for release in 2017.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Page

Anne Fletcher Dancer turned choreographer Anne Fletcher has worked on everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The 40 year old Virgin. She has directed 5 feature films, her highest grossing being The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock which made $317.4 million on a budget of $40 million.
Selected Filmgoraphy: The Proposal (2009) 27 Dresses (2008) Step Up (2006)
Current/Future Projects: Disenchanted (TBA)
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Page

Nancy Meyers Starting off as a writer and producer Nancy worked on a number of films, including Private Benjamin and Father of the Bride 1 & 2, before directing her first film The Parent Trap in 1998. Her films consistently bring in around $200 million each with What Women Want Starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt $374, 111, 707 on a budget of $70 million.
Selected Filmgoraphy:  The Intern (2015) It's Complicated (2009) Somethings Gotta Give (2003)
Current/Future Projects: In 2015 she announced her next project would see her working with Steve Martin who starred in The Father of the Bride movies and It's Complicated.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Page

Marjane Satrapi Iranian born Marjane became well-known for her graphic novels before directing the animated feature Persepolis in 2007. Persepolis won the Jury Prizes at Cannes that year and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. After Persepolis she went onto direct 3 live action feature films, her most recent
Selected Filmgoraphy: Gang of the Jotas (2012) Chicken with Plums (2011) Persepolis (2007)
Current/Future Projects: Her most recent film The Voices (2014) stars Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Artertonand Anna Kendrick.

Wikipedia Page

IMDB Page

Lynne Ramsay Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay won critical acclaim with her debut film Ratcatcher. She won several awards including a BAFTA for Newcomer in British Film. She was nominated for Best Director for We Need to Talk about Kevin at the BAFTAs and won a Best Director trophy at the British Independent Film Awards. She was slated to direct Jane Got a Gun but left the project due to creative differences.
Selected Filmgoraphy: We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) Morvern Callar (2002) Ratcatcher (1999)
Current/Future Projects: Her next film is set to be an adaptation of Moby Dick but with a Sci-Fi twist.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Page

Victim - Short Film

Here is a short film that I co-wrote and directed.  

It premiered today at the Worcester Odeon along with several other shorts.

Women in Film - Directors Part 1

Jane Campion is the first ever woman to receive the Palm d'Or at Cannes for the Piano. She is also one of only 4 women nominated for an academy award for Best Director. She won an academy award for Best Original screenplay for The Piano.
Selected Filmography: Bright Star (2009) The Portrait of a Lady (1996) The Piano (1993)
Current/Future Projects: Campion is executive producer for acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake. She will be co-writing and co-directing a second season.
Wikipedia Page
IMBD Profile

Kathryn Bigelow The first woman to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critic's Choice Movie Award and Directors Guild of America Award for directing The Hurt Locker (2008). She was also the first woman to win a Saturn Award for Best Director for Strange Days (1995). Often she is described as working in male dominated genres but surely with so few women working in film all genres are male dominated.
Selected Filmography: Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Point Break (1991) Near Dark (1987) 
Current/Future Projects: An untitled film set during the 1967 Detroit riots.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Profile

Mira Nair Her debut feature Salaam Bombay (1988) was nominated for an Academy Award. She won the Golden Lion for Mississipi Massala at the Venice Film Festival.
Selected Filmography: Vanity Fair (2004) Monsoon Wedding (2001) Mississippi Massala (1991)
Current/Future Projects: Her next release will be Queen of Katwe a Disney film starring Lupita  N'yongo and David Oyelowo.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Page

Andrea Arnold She won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short for WASP (2003) a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2007 for Red Road and was awarded an OBE in 2011.
Selected Filmography: Wuthering Heights (2011) Fish Tank (2009) Red Road (2006)
Current/Future Projects: 2 episodes of Transparent and film American Honey showing at Cannes  2016.
Wikipedia
IMDB Profile

Gurinder Chadha Her highest grossing film Bend it Like Beckham $76,583,333 on a budget of $6 million. It helped catapult Kiera Knightley to stardom and also starred Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Selected Filmography: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008) Bend it Like Beckham (2002) Bhaji on the Beach (1993)
Current/Future Projects: Viceroy's house due for release 2016.
Wikipedia Page
IMDB Profile

BFI 10 great British Films Directed by Women

North by North West: Textual Analysis of Crop Duster Scene

Director Alfred Hitchcock and writer Ernest Lehman were originally employed by MGM for a screen adaptation of “The Wreck of the Mary Deare” (Taylor, 1978). However, after some time Lehman realised he was uninspired by the novel and could not write the script. Hitchcock enjoyed Lehman’s company and, unperturbed by his inability to adapt the novel, began kicking around several unconnected ideas for sequences that he had always wanted to film. A man being pursued across Mount Rushmore, a murder that takes place in the United Nations building in New York and so on. The plot of North by Northwest was, in effect, built around these set pieces. The locations of these sequences are all quintessential American spaces from the bustling streets of New York to Mount Rushmore (Millington, 1999). This is perhaps ironic considering the hero, villain and even head of US intelligence are all portrayed as British in the film. One sequence in particular, the crop duster scene, has become iconic and been imitated and parodied countless times. Nathan remarks that it is “one of cinema’s most memorable images... outrageous, exciting and ineffably cool” (2010, pp. 151).

The crop duster scene begins with a crane shot of an empty road dwarfing the bus travelling along it North by Northwest (2009). In the scenes directly preceding this one the audience is aware that the protagonist thinks he will be meeting a man named George Kaplan but is in fact being lured into a trap by the antagonists. What exactly will befall him is not known at this point but a sense of suspense is created before the scene has even begun. Roger Thornhill played by Cary Grant alights the bus and a series of shots follow alternating from close-ups of him to his point of view. This gives the scene a perceptual subjectivity (Bordwell and Thompson, 2013). This narrative manipulation restricts the knowledge of the viewer to that of the character. It is a device used repeatedly throughout the film. Hitchcock explained his reasons for wanting to film the scene as a way of subverting the usual cliché "Now how is this usually done? A dark night... The waiting victim standing in a pool of light under a street lamp. The cobbles are 'washed with the recent rains'...The slow approach of black limousine etc" (Truffaut, 1968, pp. 321). In fact a black limousine does appear in the scene but serves only as a red herring, the audience assuming that the antagonists have finally arrived to kill Thornhill only to have expectations dashed as the car continues to drive past him. North by Northwest (2009) 

This subversion of expectation happens repeatedly as several cars pass Thornhill with no consequence. Finally a car appears from behind a cornfield and a man gets out and walks up to the side of the road. Thornhill assumes that this must be George Kaplan, the man who he has been mistaken for and the reason he has had to flee New York in fear for his life. The audience knows this is impossible however as it has been revealed to them that Kaplan is a non-existent decoy created by the United States Intelligence Agency to divert suspicion from their real operative. With the knowledge that Kaplan does not exist, it appears that this man must be working for the antagonists but this is another red herring. The man is simply waiting for a bus, before he departs however he serves another purpose, that of drawing our attention to the real danger with the line “That plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops.” Finally after nearly five minutes and four misdirections the true antagonists are revealed. In fact the crop duster had already made its appearance at a little over a minute into the scene. Its significance reduced by the fact that it appears far off into the distance. “The size of an object in the frame, should equal its importance in the story at the moment” (Newman, 2013, pp. 94). Here Hitchcock has reduced the artificial control of the plane not because it is insignificant to the story but to foreshadow later events in a subtle almost subliminal way. When the plane begins to attack Thornhill the scene becomes rapid and thrilling. The antagonists’’ motivation for luring him into the desert to shoot him down with a plane is unimportant. According to Hitchcock the film was a fantasy but, in the Cold War climate, it was a paranoid one “that brought the individual’s desire into alignment with the nation’s security interests” (Corber, 1993).

The scene was extensively storyboarded by Hitchcock and shot mostly on location with some inserts filmed in front of a rear projection in the studio. The scene is a total of nine minutes and forty five seconds and unusually, for Hitchcock and his editor George Tomasini, involves a high number of cuts that are short in length (North by Northwest: Deconstruction of a Scene, 2015). Why would Hitchcock employ so many cuts when his usual  preference was for long takes? The simplest answer may be that it is because it was written that way. Lehman often suggested camera placements which at one point, whilst filming the mount Rushmore scene, resulted in an outburst from Hitchcock (Taylor, 1978). Reading Lehman’s screenplay there are a number of notable differences from the final film as shot, such as his suggestion of using helicopter shots where Hitchcock decided to only use cranes and his depiction of the criminals in the plane that was never shot (Gianetti, 2011). Nevertheless, much of what is onscreen is in the screenplay including its emphasis on space and silence. 

It is worth noting that music only appears in the scene near the end when the crop duster crashes into the oil truck. 

Also up until this point in the film Thornhill has only been shown in crowded areas or confined spaces. Now for the first time he is utterly alone in an open field. “The challenge and the grandeur of the wide open spaces of the Western become a paranoid nightmare by the late 1950s...Thornhill’s suit and tie are peculiarly but aptly out of place in the heart of the country” (Monaco and Lindroth, 1994, pp. 314). It is not only his suit that is out of place, Thornhill himself is a fish out of water. Up until this point he has survived by using his quick wit, money and fast talking charm but here in the middle of nowhere on the run from a malevolent plane all these assets are of no use. He cannot talk or buy his way out of this and there is nowhere to run. When he tries to take cover in a field of corn the antagonists let loose a poisonous dust which forces him back out into the open.

The scene has become iconic and highly influential. Similar scenes have appeared in such diverse works as Bombay Ka Chor (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Looper (2012) and Midsomer Murders (2014). 

In an interview with Scott Thill Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird stated:

what was on my mind during the sandstorm chase in Dubai was how to make a suspense scene in the middle of the day, and North By Northwest’s crop duster sequence is the greatest example of that. Usually with suspense, you aim for darkness and claustrophobic spaces. But Hitchcock set that scene in the middle of the day, in a cornfield with an infinite field of view, which broke all the rules and delivered an amazing sequence. So yeah, I was inspired by that (2011).

Interestingly the sandstorm chase may be closer to Hitchcock’s original vision than the scene in North by Northwest. The director originally wanted Thornhill to be attacked by a tornado. Unsure of how the villains would be able to use a tornado as a weapon Lehman suggested a crop duster (Akroyd, 2015). In the sequence from Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt contends with a sandstorm whilst in pursuit. Like Thornhill he decides to steal a vehicle whilst its owner is distracted. He even wears a suit in what is perhaps an homage to Thornhill. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2012) The crop duster scene has also been parodied a number of times for comedic effect. Spoof versions have appeared in Follow that Bird (1985), The Simpsons (1991), (1994) and (1998), Stuart Little 2 (2002), Scrubs (2004), Family Guy (2005) amongst others. 

Even from this partial list it is obvious that the scene has inspired filmmakers since it first appeared and continues to be a source of inspiration to this day. The scene exerts a power of its own, independent or perhaps even greater than the rest of the film, as the characters and plots were built around such very scenes.

References

Ackroyd, P. (2015) Alfred Hitchcock. United Kingdom: Chatto & Windus.

Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2013) Film art: An introduction. 10th edn. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education.

Corber, R.J. (1993) In the name of national security: Hitchcock, homophobia, and the political construction of gender in postwar America. United States: Duke University Press.

Giannetti, L.D. (2011) Understanding movies. 12th edn. United States: Allyn & Bacon.

Millington, R.H. (1999). Hitchcock and American Character The Comedy of Self-Construction in North by Northwest. In: Freedman, J and Millington, R Hitchcock's America. New York: Oxford University Press. p135-154.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2012) Directed by B. Bird [DVD] Los Angeles: Paramount Home Entertainment.

Monaco, J. and Lindroth, D. (2000) How to read a film: The world of movies, media, and multimedia: Language, history, theory. 3rd edn. New York: Oxford University Press.

Nathan, I. (2010) ‘The Complete Hitchcock’, Empire (July) pp.151.

Newman, R. (2013) Cinematic Game Secrets for Creative Directors and Producers: Inspired Techniques from Industry Legends. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

North by Northwest (2009) Directed by A. Hitchcock [Blu-ray] Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.

North by Northwest: Deconstruction of a Scene. (2015) Available: https://alfredhitchblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/north-by-northwest-deconstruction-of-a-scene-the-crop-duster-sequence/ (Accessed 12th May 2016).

Taylor, J.R. (1978) Hitch: The life and work of Alfred Hitchcock. United Kingdom: Faber and Faber.

Thill, S. (2011). Brad Bird Talks Ghost Protocol and Making Great Movies. Available: http://www.wired.com/2011/12/brad-bird-interview/. Last accessed 12th May 2016

Truffaut, F. (1978) Hitchcock. London: Granada Pub. in Paladin Books.

Composition in Storytelling

North by Northwest - Crop-duster Sequence

Suspense

The famous crop duster sequence was created as a way of subverting cliche. The audience knows something bad will happen to the character of Roger Thornhill but is left in suspense wondering where the attack will come from since he is standing in an empty field. 

"Now how is this usually done? A dark night... The waiting victim standing in a pool of light under a street lamp. The cobbles are 'washed with the recent rains'...The slow approch of a black limousine etc." - Hitchcock from Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut.

The dreaded attack comes from the sky in the form of a crop duster. 

Hitchcock was famous for his use of storyboards. This video edits together the storyboards created for the crop-duster sequence.

This video breaks down how the sequence uses silence and space to create a sense of anticipation in the scene.

Influence

"It’s funny that you mention North By Northwest, because what was on my mind during the sandstorm chase in Dubai was how to make a suspense scene in the middle of the day, and North By Northwest‘s crop duster sequence is the greatest example of that... Hitchcock set that scene in the middle of the day, in a cornfield with an infinite field of view, which broke all the rules and delivered an amazing sequence. So yeah, I was inspired by that." Brad Bird Director of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol from a wired.com interview 

At first the crop duster sequence of North by Northwest and the Sandstorm from Ghost Protocol seem quite different but there are a number of similarities. Originally Hitchcock had envisioned a tornado attacking Roger Thornhill in the desert instead of the crop duster. In this sequence from Ghost Protocol we see Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt battling a sandstorm during a chase scene. Like Thornhill he decides to steal a vehicle whilst its owner is distracted. He even wears a grey suit in what is perhaps an hommage to Thornhill.

 Parody

The scene has become iconic and has been parodied a number of times by The Simpsons, Sesame Street and Family Guy among others.

North by Northwest - Scene Breakdown

Grids and Lines in North by Northwest

This Moderninst painting by Piet Mondrian uses lines to separate blocks of bold colour. Similar designs can be seen in North by Northwest in architecture, on decor even in the opening title sequence.

Yves Saint Laurent designed Mondrian inspired dresses in 1966.

This article discusses the influence of the artists Klee and Mondrian on Hitchcock.

Hitchcock and Klee

"North by Northwest explores the clash between tradition and modernism... the point of so much modern art wasn't just to say something new, but, rather, to highlight the hollowness of modernism itself, especially the lethal hypocrisy of modern statecraft."

- Excerpt from article.

Theatrical Poster for the film, utilising the square motif.

The opening Credits for the film were created by renowned graphic designer Saul Bass. The grid pattern is our very first image in the film. They appear almost like lines on a map. The titles then dissolve into a picture of a skyscraper with the grid pattern becoming the windows of the building.

A short video about Saul Bass.

This image of the outside of the UN building again emphasizes this grid pattern.

The lines on the inside of this train carriage seem to almost form a web in which Cary Grant is caught. A perfect metaphor for the film's plot.

A chessboard style pattern can be seen on the walls and floor of this restaurant. The column also has a grid pattern. The chessboard motif fits in with the film's plot of spies and criminals trying to outwit each other.

Even the windows have a modernist rectangular design.

The tall thin trees form stark lines which separate the two characters just like the thick black lines in Mondrian's painting separate the blocks of colour.

The character of Eve Kendall is trapped and isolated by the gridlock windows of this house. Even the walls of the house contain a grid pattern.

The Vandamm house was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's modernist designs which were popular at the time the movie came out. His fee was much too high for the studios to consider so the set designers created their own Modernist style house.

This article explains the origins of the Vandamm house.

"To understand how the Vandamm house came into "existence", you have to understand the main point of "North by Northwest"... it is about a man who is surrounded by the trappings of wealth, power and prestige- none of which are of any use to him... Hitchcock had two basic reasons for all this luxe. First was the movie’s theme of isolation amidst luxury, of course. But there was another reason: "North by Northwest" was designed from its inception as a very, very commercial movie. Hitchcock knew the mass audience responded very well to being shown things and places they couldn’t really afford."

- Extract from article by Sandy McLendon

Modernist art and architecture was still popular when the film was released in 1959. The film was a commercial studio picture and the clothes and locations featured in the film are very glamourous. However the grids and geometric patterns also isolate the characters, separating them from each other. They create visual mazes and webs that the characters must navigate their way out of. They also recall chessboards, the characters of Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall being pawns in the spy game who must break free and determine their own lives.