The Birds (1963)

“Have you ever seen so many gulls? What do you suppose it is?” — Melanie Daniels

"If you have ever eaten a turkey drumstick, caged a canary or gone duck hunting, The Birds will give you something to think about," drawled the voice of Alfred Hitchcock. It was 1962 and this was a radio advertisement for the film, a clever spot designed to intrigue and titillate audiences while implicating them in the director's latest horrific tale. Hitchcock was already a household name, his films Notorious, Rope, Strangers on a Train, Dial M For Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, and dozens more were already behind him.

When The Birds was released in 1963 it was a technical as well as aesthetic marvel, combining live action, composite photography, animation, and mechanical as well as live trained birds to produce a whopping 1,400 shots – more than twice the usual number for a feature film.

THE END OF THE WORLD

Based on the story of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier, The Birds is a taut picture with moments of delightful comedy and abject horror. It occurs over a long weekend in Bodega Bay, California, spanning a five-day period from Thursday to Monday. It is also at heart an apocalypse movie, the world becoming overrun by crazed, winged…

RSS & Email Subscribers: Check out the full The Birds article at Art of the Title.

from Art of the Title http://ift.tt/2z57xY6