Alfred Hitchcock: Exposition Is A Pill That Must Be Sugar-Coated

[RushLimborg]

Hitchcock was a genius--and he's spot-on!

Exposition is altogether necessary, to explain for the audience who the characters are--but the problem is, it runs a serious risk of being boring, if "explaining" is all you're doing. The key is to make the exposition exciting or otherwise compelling, to keep their interest while at the same time lodging the necessary info in their minds.

[lz2rini]

it is a really bad movie. check. it is a mystery, not a suspense film. check. it was successful b/c it was a) a best seller b) a scandalous best seller c) a tom-hanks-ron-howard summer film= guaranteed studio push. had it been an expose on the orthodox church starring jean reno=not a box office hit. but the movie's hook is that a) begins w a provocative murder scene b) has a conspiracy-misterioso tone c) the knowledge it is a critique of a perceived powerful institution.

[TheNickNuttall]

Christopher Milan gets this. His remarkable visuals complement the intricately organized dialogue.

[smithhedgehog]

@TheNickNuttall lol

[TheNickNuttall]

@smithhedgehog Smith... I can't tell if your laughter is in agreement or mockery... you are TEARING ME APART!

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog .. not

[smithhedgehog]

@cr33pyGamer does

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog nolan does not need anything in terms of filmmaking explained to him.

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog they weren't. but if you think that, congratulations, you just became a dumbass.

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog anyone thinking inception is poor is just jealous of the money it grossed, or completely blind in terms of film. gotta love people who only support movies that don't make any money at all to try to seem sophisticated. gotta love 'em.

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog and who the fuck are you to say its not as deep as I think it is? are you fucking retarded?

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog .... you're mentally ill. and blocked.

[smithhedgehog]

...which is immediately what people say to jump to its defence if you attack it's merit. It's dull even as a 'fun picture'..... Its not me that's the dumbass...it's those that watch this with profundity and "think that they are thinking". you're reading something into it which is NOT THERE up on the screen, and filling in the holes. So, if anything, give your own intellect credit for that, not TO the film, crappygamer. :)

[cr33pyGamer]

@smithhedgehog yeah, because you definetely know what Nolan meant to express when he made this film. you're soo right bro. and smart. silly me

[smithhedgehog]

@cr33pyGamer yeah, I do. Or he dosen't. its one or the other.

[nameless12345]

@smithhedgehog Nolan didn't have a choice lol. The audiences are too dumbed down. If Inception didn't have the level of exposition it did it would not have worked as a blockbuster and people would have criticised it for being too "complex" lol

[smithhedgehog]

@nameless12345 sorry, I don't agree. Audiences are cleverer than we give them credit for. This is simply a muddy piece of film-making. You can't treat your audience as idiots and then justify it with "oops, not my fault; I HAD to do this cos audiences are too dumbed down" it doesn't wash. Besides, I doubt that christopher nolan was thinking that. I think he probably thought the opposite; set out out with good intentions...and made a lot of wrong turns (much like the characters in the film, haha)

[shinWangXiao]

@smithhedgehog It has nothing to do with how "smart" the audience is. In science fiction, you need to establish the parameters of the story universe. It doesn't matter how smart the audience is if you can just make up rules as you go along. If anything, Nolan's films are testament to the fact that audiences are smarter than we think. Everyone thinks of Batman and Inception. How about Memento and Following? Do you seriously mean to argue that those aren't smart, taut, and filled with emotion?

[smithhedgehog]

@nameless12345 but of course, I know, that can't happen now - because the producers are too worried about the film making 'a return'. It was always a business, but it's more a business now than it ever was.

[duckangelfan]

@smithhedgehog Christopher Nolan needs nothing explained to him. However you could use some time to learn from Mr. Nolan.

[smithhedgehog]

@duckangelfan ok then

[wownov83]

the da vinci code was a terrible movie...

[lz2rini]

The whole point of Da Vinci is basically expository. Who the lead character is is what he knows. Knowledge and concealment is the whole point of the bloody film. But do I need to remind you? The movie begins with a very colorful murder that gets us through all that exposition.

[Hablar22]

Fuckin A

[brianpadraic]

Intro to a James Bond film, for example...

All exposition does have to be sugar-coated, but what of Da Vinci Code? A lot of exposition and very successful!

[anthonycotillo]

@brianpadraic succesfull? that movie sucked, besides the da vinci code is mistery not suspense, he already explained the difference between them.

[brianpadraic]

@anthonycotillo Uh, actually it was VERY successful.... and, yes, there was suspense, not a mystery, as 90% of the audience already read the book. Hardly mysterious.

[anthonycotillo]

@brianpadraic depends on what you consider to be successfull.. got terrible reviews, and with reason cause it was a really bad movie, and if it had suspense it was terribly staged on camera