Textual Analysis of a clip from Rear Window

The scene in which the murderer realises he is being watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ez6dw3ywcc

In this clip from Rear Window, voyeurism and tension are represented. However, this is done through lulling the audience into a false sense of security.

The clip opens with a high-angle long shot of a woman walking into an apartment. It is a voyeuristic shot because it is as if someone is looking through a telescope. Most of the scene is voyeuristic because it involves three people watching the movements of the man in the apartment opposite. Therefore, there is constantly a sense of worry about being found out. This is represented through the MES because the characters have worried looks on their faces. Tension is created through camera shots because the camerawork is kinetic, along with a fast pace of editing building a heightened state of concern for the woman in the apartment.

Voyeurism is created through the camera shots because we as an audience see what is happening as if we are looking through a telescope. Voyeurism is created through the editing because there are lots of cutaway shots, and also through the sound with hushed tones being used in the dialogue. A false sense of security is created (traditional in a horror or thriller film) because the non-diegetic music is soft and so we think that there is no danger present. We also only hear faint sounds of fighting which alludes to the sense of the audience knowing that the two protagonists are too far away to help.

This leads to the audience feeling helpless because there seems to be no way out for the woman, until the police arrive. At this point the whole scene shifts: the camera angle changes perspective from low-angle camera shots looking up at the protagonists to high-angle shots looking down at them instead. This could be due to them not willing to do enough to rescue the woman from the evil clutches of the murderer (a sense of disapproval).

The non-diegetic music in the clip reinforces the false sense of security because it builds on the audience’s emotions of the happy music to match the mystery getting solved. However, the audience does not count on the owner of the apartment to come back. It is here when tension begins to build, also demonstrated by reaction shots of the man in the wheelchair as he constantly rubs his face wanting to help but not being able to. The music is asynchronous until it begins to grow sombre as the fighting continues. Here it becomes synchronous because it not only matches what is happening in the scene, but also matches the audience’s feelings.

Low-key lighting is used in the clip to give an enigmatic feeling, it also helps the theme of voyeurism because the shadows which are created are mysterious and help to create a sense of foreboding. Near the end of the clip, the main female points to her finger multiple times bringing attention to the wedding ring. This is significant to the scene but it is at this point that the murderer realises he is being watched. He sees her actions and then a voyeuristic mid-shot (through the telescope) of him shows the audience his reaction. There are many reaction shots in the clip, along with a fast pace of editing. There are a lot of reaction shots because a lot is happening opposite which the man in the wheelchair must react to. All reaction shots are close-ups which involves the audience more because we feel closer to the action occurring in the clip.