Analysis of the final scene of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963)

                                                   Textual Analysis
                                          Alfred Hitchcock’s "The Birds"
                                                         End Scene
                         The suggestion and power of a final image in a film
 

      The scene opens with a man and two women sitting on a sofa. The lighting around them is dark, with shadows flickering in the background, indicating a sense of danger. The middle woman seems to be in a trance like state. She is covered in bandages, with visible signs of blood, indicating some sort of attack. This links to the dark, low lighting, conveying an impending sense of danger and the possibility of another attack. The other two characters help her up, and a reverse shot shows them leading her away. The lighting becomes incredibly dark, leaving only the characters silhouettes visible, creating an ominous and sinister atmosphere and indicates an impeding danger. The scene is quiet, apart from the sound of slow footsteps which again, adds to the increasingly tense and creepy atmosphere. The door opens, and the characters are bathed in an intense light, which reveals a shocked expression on their faces. The camera cuts to a shot of outside; a car surrounded by hundreds of birds, with hills and the sea in the distance. The panoramic view shows darkened clouds which reinforce the ominous atmosphere. The camera cuts back to the character, making their way out of the house. The diegetic sound of creaking floorboards builds upon an already sinister atmosphere. The diegetic sounds of the birds cawing, along with the shaken woman’s terrified reaction creates a link between the two, indicating that the birds are the cause of her terror and implies that the birds have caused her injuries. A close up of the car indicates it is of importance and that the characters wish to use it to escape. The camera then cuts to a close up of each characters face revealing the fear in each of them. The camera continues to cut from shots of the characters to the birds, to build up the sinister atmosphere, and reinforce the idea that the birds are dangerous. The diegetic sounds of wings flapping, gradually growing louder, reinforces the idea of a danger approaching. A high to low camera angle shows the birds at the characters feet, indicating they are surrounded, with no way of escape, heightening the feeling of fear. The camera cuts to a shot of a young girl in the doorway calling for the man’s help, then cuts back to the characters getting into the car. This starts to quicken the pace of the scene, as the birds are become more agitated. The non-diegetic sound of wind howling grows increasingly louder adding to the frightening atmosphere. The camera then follows the man from the car to the girl, revealing swarms of birds on the roof, again, reinforcing the idea that they are surrounded and building upon the scenes increasingly tense atmosphere. The camera follows the two characters back to the car. It then cuts to a shot of the two women consoling each other. A close up shows the bandaged woman gripping the other woman’s arm, revealing how terrified she is. The camera cuts to close up shots of the two woman looking at each other, showing how they are aware of each other’s fear, and that they are both equally terrified. The man gets into the dimly lit car, and a front shot reveals each character has made it safely into the car. The sound of the engine starting drowns out the sound of the crows, and the car begins to pull away. The camera cuts to numerous shots of the crows either flying of cawing, adding to the sinister atmosphere. In the last shot, we see the car driving away into the distance, towards the rays of light, indicating there is hope for them. But at the front of the shot, the area is dominated entirely by birds, which gives the sinister impression that they have won.