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Allie Hahn - the characterization of Lisa 

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Allie Hahn - the characterization of Lisa 

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In the beginning of the film Jeff views Lisa as a lot different from him. He is very simple, and adventurous while Lisa has a different lifestyle as a fashion model. He doesn’t see a future for the two of them because he thinks she is “too perfect”. When Lisa begins to start helping Jeff with his murder investigation, Jeff finally finds out she is just as adventurous and bold then he previously imagined. Lisa’s characterization develops as she sneaks into the Thorwalds apartment and finds Mrs Thorwalds wedding ring, which is actually what convinces detective Doyle that there was in fact a murder. After Lisa practically proves the murder on her own, Jeff finally realizes there is much more to her then just her looks and considers marrying her.

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High residential buildings sit beside one another, creating a secluded courtyard setting; centering all attention within the windows of the community. Neighbors easily in each other’s business with complexes directly across from one another. The proximity of the apartments gives the audience / Jeff the ability to see and hear all surroundings around the courtyard. During the beginning of the film the neighborhood is active and full of greenery, giving us a sense of happiness. As the film progresses the neighborhood becomes less lively and later on puts a bad taste in Jeff’s mouth, leaving him unhappy. This can be foreshadowed from the transition of weather throughout the storyline; beginning on a bright sunny day and ending in a gloomy thunderstorm. Windows have a significant meaning in this visual text, as the windows create the storyline. The windows can be seen as a visual bridge, allowing us to have our own perspectives on the acts of Jeff’s neighbors.

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Maggie Tarkenton- Conflict between Thorwald and Lisa

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Maggie Tarkenton- Conflict between Thorwald and Lisa

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Lisa, Stella, and Jeff are working together to figure out the murder by watching Lars through the window. Jeff calls Lars in order to lure him down to a bar so that the girls could go down and dig up the flowers to see what’s buried. After digging, Lisa climbs up into his apartment and he comes home. She is enduring pressure to find evidence. He started harassing her and the police had to come. The conflict between them allowed viewers to see Lars was physical with women and that the murder could be true. Jeff then becomes sure he has figured it all out and that the detective will know. The tensions had made Lisa, Stella, and Jeff work together to find evidence and catch Lars.

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Throughout our own lives people tend to have there own ideas of marriage. Most the time it is seen to be a picture perfect world, and were we can now be happy. In Greek mythology there is something called Plato's theory of soulmates. It is about how we spend our lives trying to find our other half, or in other words trying to find our soulmates. As a society sometimes it makes us feel that we can’t be as happy without that special one, and that if we are alone we can be much more bitter. In the film we see a happy new couple move into there new apartment, and as the audience we see joy in that. When we look at the main character however, he seems less happy and more bitter. This could be because of the power of the absence of marriage.

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Lauren Reed - Thunderstorms (symbolism to setting)

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Lauren Reed - Thunderstorms (symbolism to setting)

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Hitchcock uses the symbolism of a thunderstorm to impact the setting and control the audience's emotions while reacting to the film. The thunderstorm sets a mysterious undertone for the scene, and it reflects how Jeffries feels while witnessing the alleged murder. As the scene unfolds, the thunderstorm gets increasingly worse which aligns with the frequent suspicious actions Jeffries sees while watching his neighbor through his window. Hitchcock is able to manipulate both Jeffries and the audience by creating this unsettling undertone and deepening the suspicion about the events unfolding.

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The setting being at night causes Jeffries to have a big suspicion on his neighbor for murdering his wife. Although carrying a bag of big knives is weird, it made it even more suspicious because he had that bag while returning home in the middle of the night. If he was seen with a bag like that in the daytime it wouldn’t have been as important to Jeffries due to the possibilities that maybe his neighbor needed these knives to do a certain job. This thought would be reasonable because it wouldn’t be very late at night.

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An explicit detail from the film that contributes to characterization is Lisa’s expensive dress/clothing. Hitchcock uses this detail to introduce Lisa as someone luxurious, and to represent her wealth and lifestyle, which in the film is often referred to as the opposite of Jeff’s lifestyle, and one of the reasons he might or might not exactly imagine a future with her.

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In the movie the street that you only see a glimpse of is an important place and gets your mind thinking. Many things happen or you think may happen there but you can’t tell because you lose sight. When Jeff is people watching once he loses sight of them when they go down the street it builds curiosity and suspicious thinking in Jeff’s mind.

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Neighbor Characterization - Mia Bertoldi 

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Neighbor Characterization - Mia Bertoldi 

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As we are slowly introduced to the neighbors in the courtyard, we see multiple different perspectives of life in America during the 40’s and 50’s. For example, we see a married couple, a lonely woman, a drunken piano player, and a dancer. Each of the windows represent a different perspective of life in this time period and allows us to understand the culture of the people, setting, and time period.

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Every couple around the courtyard is at a different stage in marriage. One is newly wed, one is a widow, and one is in a possible entanglement with murder. This is a representation of some of the different ways Lisa and Jeff’s marriage could end up. The Thornwalds are obviously the worst scenario...

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Ellie Fasick- setting- apartment complex in the summertime

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Ellie Fasick- setting- apartment complex in the summertime

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One very important factor in the setting of the film is the environment that is created throughout the majority of the film, focusing on the different apartments and people inside those homes. There is an important, yet easily overlooked detail, which is that it is summertime, so the air is warm and therefore the windows of the apartments are open almost all the time. Because of this detail, we as an audience get to observe some of the quirks and uniqueness of the people around Jeff. We see the characters in their daily lives and notice more about who they are as people. Through that, the setting allows us to imply our own thoughts about the conflict. The open windows facing each other create an open view into these peoples lives and their stories, making the viewer feel connected to them, simply by creating a setting where the buildings face each other and everyone keeps their windows open.

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In the film,Jeffries is dating Lisa Fremont, an expensive,younger, fashionista. She comes over to Jeffries apartment and sets up dinner for him. She tries to give subtle hints about her being in love with him but it’s obvious he doesn’t feel the same way. The two argue and Jeffries finally tells Lisa about herself. He tells her that she doesn’t fit into his world and them together doesn’t make sense. Lisa is disappointed by his words and leaves while clearly upset. This conflict is important in developing Jeffries character because he wasn’t to sure about Lisa and the idea of marriage in the beginning but now in this scene he makes a decision and is sure. Lisa isn’t the one for him. His perspective and thinking are finally clear.

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When it rains in the movie it is also during nighttime. Jeffries is awake at night when it is raining and he observes his neighbor Thornwall leaving and coming back to his house multiple times Jeffries then suspects that Thornwall has murdered his wife and is trying to cover it up somehow by leaving at night. Nighttime usually represents darkness in movies and that is exactly what’s going on in the movie. Thornwall leaving at night represents the darkness that he is doing (covering up the murder). The rain also plays along into this. When it is rainy and dark outside it represents something bad is going on.

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During the film Thorwall keeps leaning his house during the middle of the night and JB in convince he murdered his wife. While leaving the house many times with suspicious activity the thunderstorm during all of this activity adds contexts to all of this. The reason for this is because during horror movies or murder mysteries rain or thunderstorms play a big factor in each one making it darker at night and creepier, which in a sense shows that something bad could happen or is happening.

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Towards the beginning of the film we get a snapshot of all of Jeffrie’s neighbors. One of the most intentional shots was Ms. Lonelyheart. She is obviously missing a spouse/partner. This is foreshadowing the major conflict of the film: did Mr. Thorwold kill his wife? I believe that Hitchcock is showing us the fragility of human relationships through Ms. Lonelyheart. To a lot of people, you’re either missing someone or hating someone. It seems, sometimes, that there is absolutely no in between. Ms. Lonelyheart is an effective way to show us the problem opposite of Mr. Thorwold’s.

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The film takes place within the confines of the apartment building and courtyard that is created by the surrounding buildings in which Jeffries resides. The setting allows for Jeffries and the audience to see and hear everything that is going on. I courtyard adds a sense of confinement which helps us feel what Jeffries is feeling. The constant setting adds suspense as well because we only know as much as Jeffries leaving the rest up to our interpretation.

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While JB wakes up in the middle of a rainy night, he sees Thorwall walking in a dark alley wearing a trench coat and a hat. In pop culture, criminals tend to wear trench coats and hats (pictured above). Hitchcock did this to keep the suspect somewhat anonymous and bring suspense to the audience.

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Windows contribute important information to the story being able to see different aspects of life through different windows. Jeffries sees “Ms.Lonelyheart” who is a girl that seems distraught at a dinner table for two. He also sees the “Ms. Torso” who is shown entertaining different men who she doesn’t even have any interest in. It shows a lot of different complications of marriage, relationships, and life that Jeffries doesn’t want to end up facing.

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I feel a big symbol used in the Rear Window is the weather. At the beginning of the film when all is good it is bright out and sunny. It is when it is thundering and at night when many of the suspicious events begin to happen. This could be just setting the mood or Alfred Hitchcock trying to trick the audience into thinking something sinister is happening.

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throughout the story, Jeffries is interested in his neighbors window. We see the neighbors wife in bed yelling at him. Jeffries stays up to watch the neighbor and sees him doing suspicious things like leaving the apartment with dufflebags and saws. Eventually Jeffries gets the help from his nurse Stella and a detective, to help get to the bottom of this. While the detective doesn’t believe Jeffries, he chooses to investigate the case himself.  Jeffries believes that his neighbor killed his sick wife and plans to flee the city. This is significant to the story because it builds tension. We want to know more about the neighbor and what he is doing late at night with a briefcase. Hitchcock helps us get to the bottom of this by giving us Jeffries perspective through different cameras and binoculars.

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Within the exposition of the film, we are introduced to Stella, the insurance company nurse. Stella not only tends to Jefferies's physical recovery, but also provides Jeff with some important advice regarding his relationship with Lisa. Stella's role is to be the voice of reason and say things that the audience might be thinking, but the characters (like Jeff) are unwilling or unable to say, a contrast to the more reserved Jeff & Lisa.