The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock analysis.

"The Birds" was a film made in 1963 by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette. It is a thriller movie, however it can also be perceived as a horror.
The trailer for this movie contained certain aspects that are associated with a typical thriller. It is very tension building, quite a bit of action, especially when she is in the telephone booth and the car blows up. Also, there is a tracking shot when the children are running away from the birds and there is a massive chase scene which is normally associated in a thriller.
This appeals to the audience for it stars famous actors/actresses in those days. Also, many special effects were used in the filming of "The Birds." Most movies in those days did not contain quality special effects, and so the fact that this thriller contained many special effects can have made the film appeal to the audience. Back in those days, there wasn't much color in television and film productions, so with "The Birds" being in color, it also made it special, and made people want to see it for it wasn't the usual black and white that the audience was used to.

"The Birds" is an archetypal thriller for it is like an apocalypse of birds. It is thrilling, and fast-pacing action. Also, the line "This time, the external threat is from nature!" makes it more thrilling because it is unusual. Also, the movie involves some dramatic irony, for in the school scene Tippi Hedren does not know acknowledge the birds that have been gathering but the audience does, and so we know something that the character does not.
                                
 "Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action."
One example of this is the scene where the birds are attacking the children.

The children are running and trying to get away, and the birds are swooping down at them and attacking them, and so this is fast pacing and frequent action. The children are screaming and the birds are screeching so this builds up the tension more for you wonder what is going to happen; is a child going to get hurt? Is one of them going to fall over and be pecked to death like the last few murders that the birds have caused? What is going to happen? And so this is a very good example to prove that the sentence  "Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action," is correct in 'The Birds.'

The sentence "Resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains" works in some cases of 'The Birds.' The heroes in this film are Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, but they seem near enough useless towards the birds. They are good at getting rid of the birds though, and they always seem to escape, so maybe that counts for thwarting the villains plans. However, humans have some power over the birds, for they can shoot them down with guns. But there are unlimited amounts of birds in the world and so that plan could not work, and so the birds would win for they have sharp claws and beaks. So the sentence is correct.
The MacGuffin of 'The Birds' is when Tippi brought Rod Taylor the two love birds; it was important to het but the audience didn't care, for they thought there was going to be romance. But once the birds started attacking, the two lovebirds that were given as a gift were completely forgotten about, and so that was the MacGuffin.

There was many different endings that the director wanted for this film. One was to have the Golden Gate Bridge entirely covered by birds, but Hitchcock ended up having the film finish without the usual words 'The End,' for he wanted to give the impression of unending terror.

Here are some of Hitchcock's thoughts for the film.


Hitchcock wanted people to understand and realize that mankind has abused birds throughout history. He used a bird-loving old lady as a character to show that nobody agrees with her and everyone feels that birds are unnecessary for just after she spoke, another character ordered southern fried chicken at the bar.
Hitchcock also said that our usual evasions, which are science and religion, denies us. We are on our own.

Hitchcock said that thrillers allow the audience to "Put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like." I feel like he has succeeded in this film for he wanted to put the message out there that we shouldn't abuse birds just because we can, that we need to stop being ignorant and thinking that we are all the alpha males because we are human; that we think we are more powerful than every other living being. He was trying to show us that we are not the most powerful in the world, we are weak compared to the birds, and most other species, so we should treat them with respect, or it could come back to bite you.