Seeing the Pictures of a Story vs. Reading the Words

Seeing the Pictures of a Story vs. Reading the Words by Debra H. Goldstein

I Am Alfred Hitchcock is a 2021 documentary that I recently saw at Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival. It followed Hitchcock’s career, interpersonal relationships, and the mastery of his art of making the viewer feel a part of each story. The documentary was divided into several thematic topics including escape, desire, and height that can be related as much to filmmaking as to writing.

For example, depending upon the film, Hitchcock provided escape for the viewer from the reality of the world around them, escape for the characters from danger, or escape from a mental state. If an author succeeds with a book, a reader is captivated away from their everyday existence for as long as they are immersed in reading. Part of the reader’s escape comes from seeing if the characters will escape external threats that put them in peril or danger. If the conflict arises from something internal, the reader waits to see if the character can overcome the mental fears or confusion blocking them from acting.

He believed desire might be attainment of a goal, such as murdering a wife (Dial M for Murder), obtaining a valuable piece of jewelry (To Catch a Thief), successfully fleeing with stolen money for one character or committing a brutal act for another (Psycho). Hitchcock also often used the camera to highlight romantic desire as it built between characters by filming a kiss directly or using circling camera angles or the filming of circling characters to build the implied sexual tension. Similarly, writers may start with characters hating each other who warily circle each other until their lust can’t be contained. Of course, how much of this plays out is either described in detail or, as in a cozy, happening behind closed doors.

Hitchcock used height through high/wide camera angles or close-ups to show scenery, isolation (loneliness), and to build tension (North by Northwest). Coupled with common sound effects, such as street noises, Hitchcock engaged the viewer. Although the visuals don’t exist in a book per se, authors use words to create the same effects. When a book works, the reader becomes so immersed that a subliminal translation is made from personal visuals to what is happening on the page.

The point of the documentary, besides illustrating the complexity of Hitchcock himself, was to demonstrate how framing the various shots, enhanced by sound, costumes, and actor gestures, created a whole product for the viewer. Authors do the same thing with words. 

Do you prefer to have the storyline run through your head by viewing pictures or reading worded descriptions?