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Why did Hitchcock use a green screen here?

posted 8 years ago by RynoII
5 replies | jump to latest

In the scene where Gavin throws his dead wife's body off the rooftop, on the way down, as the body falls, you can see that it's been green screened in, or something like that. The background is not actually under the falling body.

But why did Hitchcock feel the need to do this? Since Gavin's wife is dead, the body will not move at all as it fell and would be completely still. So why not just throw a dummy of a woman off the roof while filming, since a falling dummy that is actually falling, would look better than a green screen ground, below. So why didn't they just use a dummy?

[–] MonikkaZ 8 years ago

If you read the movie's trivia, it says that the actual location didn't have a tower, and so to film this particular shot, would have been impossible.
I was wondering the same thing while watching the film to be completely honest with you, but thank god for internet 😂

'You're saying that that's a real person...underneath?'

[–] RynoII 8 years ago

Oh okay. Wouldn't it just be less work to find a location with a tower though, compared to the whole green screen process?

[–] MonikkaZ 8 years ago

Yeah, it probably would, but you know, when Hitchcock decided on something it had to work no matter what.

'You're saying that that's a real person...underneath?'

[–] DracTarashV2 (4493) 8 years ago

It looks somewhat trippy and works for the movie's dreamlike quality. I think.

[–] Martoto (5036) 8 years ago

You need to remember that the sequence you are describing is Judy's recollection of what happened. It's not supposed to be realistic.

Time is compressed for one thing. But most importantly, the shot is Judy's recollection of something she didn't even see!