Universal Studio - Earthquake
April 13, 2000
Go behind the dark side of the master of suspense in Alfred Hitchcock -- The Art of Making Movies.
Recreate the shower scene from Psycho and learn the techniques behind the plot twists that made Hitch famous.
Survive an edge-of-your-seat 3-D ambush of shrieking birds -- and see the film like never before!
Perch on the edge of the Statue of Liberty for your own cameo in Saboteur.
Put your sleuthing skills to work -- stake out the murderer in a life-size set of Rear Window.
If you survive, head for the interactive area of intrigue to go behind-the-mystery in Vertigo.
Learn the techniques that made the movie a real head-spinner!
Enter Hitchcock's world and let the roguish genius show you the techniques of terror!
Keep your eyes open! You can see Hitchcock make a cameo appearance in 34 of his films.
(Hint: He's wearing a cowboy hat in Psycho, and in many other films he's smoking a cigar.)
• While thousands of feathered creatures in The Birds were real, many were hand-painted
on to individual frames of film. There are actually 370 trick shots in the film!
• Every Hitchcock film includes a MacGuffin -- a plot device that advances the story,
builds suspicion and eventually disappears. It's what adds the mystery to his movies!
• The first toilet-flushing scene in American movies occurs in Psycho.
• Production for The Birds lasted three years because of state-of-the-art
special effects that made those chilling attacks seem so real.
• Hitchcock mastered his fluid camera angles and technique by using wild walls --
walls that can be quickly shuttled out of the way to let the camera roam free.
• Hitchcock calls the moments of intrigue in his films "icebox talk" scenes because he
envisioned audience members talking about them later while raiding the icebox!
• Hitchcock was rather bald, but he reveled in having the little hair he had left cut.
For posterity, he would have most of his haircuts photographed.
• Fond of practical jokes, Hitchcock used to drink massive quantities of tea on the set.
When he was finished, he'd toss his porcelain cup over his head to keep the crew on its toes.
• The Psycho house may remind you of more than just a domicile of doom --
it was used for Elwood Dowd's dwelling in Harvey.
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