Hitchcock & Montage

Video as a medium of expressing and representing has change the way of creating audiovisual dialog.  And the technique of montage specifically has caused the ordinarily invisible to become visible. 

Different from traditional film, video is a new medium that has the possibility of putting several different scenes together in one frame. Especially by using montage, the artist can condense information, spaces, emotions in a less amount of time. It is a great way to increase the tension of a flow. 

In a montage sequence, by showing details of the subjects, or a close shot of a person's face, or a quick transition between different scenes, the video can inform audience something they may not notice in their real life. In other words, that sequence provide a change to the audience to notice some invisible things in our ordinary lives. For example, in Willard Mass's work, the Geography of the Body, by putting various close shots of different parts in human body together, the artist allows the viewers to see something we may not notice or be aware of in everyday life. Sometimes, the human body landscapes are really beautiful and romantic, however sometimes they are really scary or even gross for looking in a close distance. In a slow and smooth flow, the artist created a mysterious and somehow holly atmosphere in the video. These effects achieved by montage technique can hardly be transformed by other art medium.

As a master of cooperating montage in his films, Hitchcock established a notable personal/artistic style. In the film Psycho, montage was used thoughtfully in creating tensions in this horror movie. 

The most famous montage part in this film is the Shower Killing Scene. When the movie describing the murder of the main actress, the director put hundreds of short shots of the actress's hands, eyes, feet, bloods, and the killing knife together in a very quick sequence. Audience do not see the knife into the actress's body, but viewers can see that happening in their minds. By the different angles of shooting various body pieces, director increases the interaction or feeling for the audience when they're watching that part. Besides, the music did a great job in creating tensions and putting horrify emotions into this scene.