Alfred Hitchcock: The Difference Between Mystery & Suspense

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Alfred Hitchcock explains the differences between mystery and suspense at an AFI Seminar in 1970.
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Пікірлер: 113

  • @lynnturman8157
    @lynnturman81579 жыл бұрын

    Suspense is created by giving information to the audience. Mystery is created by withholding information from the audience.

  • @heatherferreira4225

    @heatherferreira4225

    7 жыл бұрын

    SPOT ON.

  • @edp3202

    @edp3202

    2 жыл бұрын

    I actually like both. I do like mysteries too.

  • @ASMRASCENDING

    @ASMRASCENDING

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yaaa

  • @corrinflakes9659

    @corrinflakes9659

    Жыл бұрын

    @@edp3202 That’s why you mix them, withhold key details for mystery, give vital details for suspense.

  • @oliverford5367

    @oliverford5367

    Жыл бұрын

    So a mystery is like a whodunit. You're trying to figure out who the murderer is. Suspense is when you know who the murderer is and you are waiting to see who he'll kill

  • @heatherferreira4225
    @heatherferreira42257 жыл бұрын

    I learn more about film in 60 seconds of listening to Alfred Hitchcock than I learned my entire time at NYU film school. Not to knock the school, it was fantastic. But this man was the absolute cinematic genius of all time.

  • @BeardofHorrors

    @BeardofHorrors

    5 жыл бұрын

    Heather Ferreira True that

  • @monsieurgolem3392

    @monsieurgolem3392

    2 жыл бұрын

    Lol, NYU

  • @dafunkyshit
    @dafunkyshit Жыл бұрын

    In my opinion, he is the greatest filmmaker of all time. His genius is his simplicity and his films are just as he speaks - economical but brilliant and to the point.

  • @Mirrorgirl492
    @Mirrorgirl49214 жыл бұрын

    He says so much with so few words...brilliant

  • @Hritik9000

    @Hritik9000

    3 жыл бұрын

    How are you after 10 years?

  • @GNoodle
    @GNoodle14 жыл бұрын

    Both Mystery and Suspense when done properly can be an absolutely amazing experience.

  • @theviolinoob
    @theviolinoob9 жыл бұрын

    . "Mystery is an intellectual process, like in a whodunit. But suspense is essentially an emotional process".. :D

  • @hjeriz
    @hjeriz11 жыл бұрын

    The "whodunit" that Hitchcock mention is the film "The Sabotage" (1936).

  • @apontutul
    @apontutul6 жыл бұрын

    9 mysterious people disliked this, which keeps me in suspense, why?

  • @catherinerosa-baker2937

    @catherinerosa-baker2937

    3 жыл бұрын

    🤣

  • @tomatoherb
    @tomatoherb13 жыл бұрын

    It's like he knows how much of a genius he is, and I ain't even mad.

  • @rievans57
    @rievans574 ай бұрын

    Mystery is an intellectual process and suspense is an emotional one. Fascinating.

  • @Sheesh123
    @Sheesh12312 жыл бұрын

    Listening to Hitchcock speak, it makes me a film student and aspiring director/screenwriter realize just how much i have to learn.

  • @rockingtundra2830

    @rockingtundra2830

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hey! How are you doing with your progress towards Directing/Screenwriting one decade later? I hope it’s going in a good direction!

  • @LeconsdAnalyse
    @LeconsdAnalyse10 жыл бұрын

    A brilliant man.

  • @gunnerysgthartman6124

    @gunnerysgthartman6124

    6 жыл бұрын

    LeconsdAnalyse hey i also said the same😦😄

  • @Alectricify
    @Alectricify13 жыл бұрын

    I find him mysterious... And yet watching him speak is just full of suspense.

  • @pod9363
    @pod93633 жыл бұрын

    Mystery is "what happened" and Suspense is "what's going to happen".

  • @pod9363

    @pod9363

    3 жыл бұрын

    There is intrigue in what happened, but there is only anxiety in what's going to happen. The only time you feel anxiety is when it effects what's going to happen. Like in Mystic River. The suspense isn't in "who killed the boy", it's in what's gonna happen once they find out who killed him.

  • @paulod27
    @paulod2714 жыл бұрын

    Good to know the differences, but you can mix mystery with suspense. This can make a story doubly exciting.

  • @pyrrho314
    @pyrrho31414 жыл бұрын

    one of the best philosophers of authorship ever, not to mention perhaps america's best filmaker (among another dozen artistic geniuses).

  • @lbrtvlldr
    @lbrtvlldr12 жыл бұрын

    Great lesson. Always give priority to the heart over the brain. Mystery = a brain process. Suspense = a heart process.

  • @petrfrizen6078

    @petrfrizen6078

    4 жыл бұрын

    Like in Japan's medical regulations, as far as I remember...

  • @kell_checks_in

    @kell_checks_in

    2 жыл бұрын

    That's not what he said. He wasn't bashing mysteries. Jeesh.

  • @landofthesilverpath5823
    @landofthesilverpath58239 ай бұрын

    Greatest filmaker of all time. His films are timeless.

  • @rievans57

    @rievans57

    4 ай бұрын

    If someone believes Hitchock to be the greatest filmmaker of all-time I can understand why.

  • @madahad9
    @madahad910 жыл бұрын

    Probably a good example of his "suspense" would be (in my opinion one of his best films) Frenzy where we know who the killer is so there is no mysetery as to whom is guilty and who is innocent but the unfortunate series of events which befall the main character causes the light of suspicion to fall upon him. It has one of my favorite end scenes. It at first has a disturbing moment, an "oh, no" moment, and then a line that has just the slightest touch of humor but does not sabotage the moment.

  • @mrshadows738
    @mrshadows73813 жыл бұрын

    i love alfred hitchcock :D most kids dont know who he is. my teachers freak out when i talk about him. they just tell me "your only 16 how do you know him." therefor i tell them "i dont know him, i know about him."

  • @n0on343

    @n0on343

    3 жыл бұрын

    Your 25

  • @mrshadows738

    @mrshadows738

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@n0on343 bruh

  • @n0on343

    @n0on343

    3 жыл бұрын

    Wow a 25 year old!

  • @gunnerysgthartman6124
    @gunnerysgthartman61246 жыл бұрын

    A brilliant man

  • @STONECOLD1987
    @STONECOLD198713 жыл бұрын

    Master of Suspense

  • @dondoyle8474
    @dondoyle84744 жыл бұрын

    WOW such a Genius

  • @SalamiKing7
    @SalamiKing715 жыл бұрын

    Gotta love Hitch!

  • @petrfrizen6078
    @petrfrizen60784 жыл бұрын

    Very clearly explained.

  • @robonez
    @robonez14 жыл бұрын

    Great point from Hitchcock there!

  • @PlayIt4MeAgainSam
    @PlayIt4MeAgainSam12 жыл бұрын

    A very wise man! Well many have knowledge, Hitchcock has wisdom.

  • @more_tezza
    @more_tezza15 жыл бұрын

    wow, totally agree with him!!!

  • @MTFDarkEagle
    @MTFDarkEagle14 жыл бұрын

    this guy is a genius!

  • @coachfb18
    @coachfb1812 жыл бұрын

    The Man!

  • @Double-R-Nothing
    @Double-R-Nothing4 жыл бұрын

    This genius explains why A Quiet Place is such a brilliant movie decades before it even existed.

  • @Karaokuma
    @Karaokuma24 күн бұрын

    Case in point: Psycho. Essentially, it's a mystery because we aren't told who's committing the murders until the final ten minutes of the film. However, Hitchcock makes sure that the film isn't just a whodunnit because we get emotionally invested in Marion Crane's story and after she's murdered, we get emotionally invested in Norman and Lila and Sam's story. We're on the edge of our seats because WE know there's a psycho running around with a knife hacking people to bits, but the characters don't. The suspense is what fuels the film, not the curiosity of who's killing people.

  • @nexttimewelove51
    @nexttimewelove5115 жыл бұрын

    Alfred "Genius" Hitchcock

  • @madahad9
    @madahad910 жыл бұрын

    The only hope for modern movies is to look back at it's history. What made movies great seems to be a thing of the past now. Today it is all just pandering to the audience instead of taking them on a ride that has an absurd predictable outcome. A good student of film will look to the very beginning of cinema to the silents. Stanley Kubrick stated that to make a silent is a great education. It is pure cinema--the image. Study the German expressionists. Europeans saw film as a true artform.

  • @GeorgeVreelandHill
    @GeorgeVreelandHill13 жыл бұрын

    He knew his stuff. No wonder why Hitchcock is the legend he is. George Vreeland Hill

  • @aoodi6
    @aoodi68 жыл бұрын

    Gramatik

  • @rajendrabiswas
    @rajendrabiswas2 жыл бұрын

    Vertigo was mysterious

  • @EmperorsNewWardrobe
    @EmperorsNewWardrobe12 жыл бұрын

    @cheeriosinabowl In a way, you're right, there is mystery in suspense, but it is possible to have no suspense in mystery. For instance, working out the 'w' questions of a scene (who, what, where, why etc) is not emotive alone, but when these directly effect the emotional stakes towards the character, that's when it become suspense. Hitch is distinguishing the two to cease the common confusion that mystery alone is as emotionally effective as suspense. I'd love to know what you think!

  • @CYBERSURF88
    @CYBERSURF8814 жыл бұрын

    Hitchcock is my favorite. However, in this clip, H is stating the obvious. Simply put, "Mystery" is a noun. When applied to film, it is a catagory / genre of film. In a Mystery, there is a puzzle that must be solved. In contrast, "Suspense" is an adjective. It is an action word which evokes emotion. Holding your breath in anticipation is an act of Suspense. As I've earlier said, H's earliest films were his greatest. The suspense thrillers of the 30's. JAMAICA INN is one of the best.

  • @MrFacundo7
    @MrFacundo714 жыл бұрын

    @Jtp101z I agree,he was the best,he is the best and he will be the best.He was a real artist and a genius.Alfred Hitchcock,We salute you!

  • @MindlessInvalid
    @MindlessInvalid13 жыл бұрын

    @film23790 You're overthinking it. Suspense requires a person to connect with a film on an intuitive level. They have to enjoy a scenario enough to want to know more. Suspense is essentially wanting to know what happens next. Mystery on the other hand, is a process of trying to intellectualize the possible outcomes of a given scenario. Emotion and Thought are fundamentally different. Suspense and Mystery are the respective results of a informational vacuum in a work. Feeling and Thinking.

  • @deljefe
    @deljefe13 жыл бұрын

    what a fucking genius so much to learn here

  • @shockingpinks
    @shockingpinks14 жыл бұрын

    Bomb ticking. He makes a great point...then loses it in the end when he says mystery results in curiosity which is an emotion. Suspense is created by set-ups. BOOM!

  • @13Orcun
    @13Orcun13 жыл бұрын

    @film23790 indeed David Lynch gives a very limited things you to not have any chance to think about possibilities. He only gives unconnected visuals to see. Then he said '' meaning depends on people ''. There is no any suspense and mystery.

  • @goldenheaven110
    @goldenheaven1102 жыл бұрын

    1:38

  • @LIFEGUARD805
    @LIFEGUARD80512 жыл бұрын

    Master if suspense, indeed! He also is the master of manipulating, soliciting emotions from the audience. Same as Steven Spielberg and his ability to manipulate the audiences emotions. Amazing guys!

  • @PlayIt4MeAgainSam
    @PlayIt4MeAgainSam12 жыл бұрын

    I'd say: "To Catch a Thief" (1955)

  • @phaedrabacker2004
    @phaedrabacker2004 Жыл бұрын

    A wonderful accent.

  • @breaksystembse
    @breaksystembse12 жыл бұрын

    He's gotta a point about the differences, but I like to think mystery and suspense are the Ebony and Ivory of literature.

  • @Stratword_
    @Stratword_ Жыл бұрын

    Curious to know what his 'whodunit' will is.

  • @dwinklet
    @dwinklet13 жыл бұрын

    Hmmmm. I don't know about this answer here. HIs reply seemed a bit contradictory, though I think I understand the gist of what he's trying to say. I mean, one can't say that a mystery has no emotion, except the emotion of curiosity. And one can't say, I've never made a mystery, but I've made a whodunit, when he defines a mystery as a whodunit.

  • @petrfrizen6078

    @petrfrizen6078

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes, mysteries are very emotional. But less informative compared with suspense.

  • @NotRegret
    @NotRegret14 жыл бұрын

    in video games suspender is nonexistent and the plot is designed to hold as many '5 second revalations' as possible. since the player is supposed to feel like he is a character the player is frustrated when he must knowingly guide his character into a trap and not act on his knowledge of the plot. surprises have more of an impact on the audience in game environment however because the player has an emotional investment in the playable character and doesn't want to see bad things happen to him

  • @SerlingPictures
    @SerlingPictures12 жыл бұрын

    @seth5220 ummm... did u mean north by northwest?

  • @goldenheaven110
    @goldenheaven1102 жыл бұрын

    00:24

  • @lassesolbu1360
    @lassesolbu13602 жыл бұрын

    I think suspense and mystery are not so easily separated. For example, you can get a good deal of suspense going by having characters being in danger. Such as in Agatha Christies "And then there were none". It is a whodunit, but you also know the victims are together on an island with a mad killer, and that creates suspense (not merely an intellectual curiosity). Also suspense and mystery can be combined to great effect, such as Hitchcock himself did on numerous occations, such as n Psycho. We are curious to what is really going on in that old house (mystery), and we also know that 'mother' is hiding in the fruit cellar (suspense). Also I don't think suspense is "better" than mystery, just affecting us in different ways..

  • @goldenheaven110
    @goldenheaven1102 жыл бұрын

    1:05

  • @jewellmiket
    @jewellmiket13 жыл бұрын

    I pay FULL TRIBUTE to HITCHCOCK and BERNARD HERRMANN with my movie, WE ALL DO DUMB THINGS (posted above). This is a suspense-filled little movie I made with these two names in mind when I set out to make it.

  • @johnpaulpierrot
    @johnpaulpierrot12 жыл бұрын

    Which film is the 'whodunit' that he refers too?... I'm thinking maybe The Lodger?

  • @vigneshvicky8139

    @vigneshvicky8139

    5 жыл бұрын

    Sabotage

  • @silvpetros
    @silvpetros13 жыл бұрын

    hello there

  • @BjornSvenson
    @BjornSvenson12 жыл бұрын

    which film does he consider his only "who done it?"

  • @027220
    @02722013 жыл бұрын

    Mystery - Who done it? Suspense - Emotion.

  • @gabrielferreira3552
    @gabrielferreira35522 жыл бұрын

    Alfred Hitchcock was a great director, cristhopher nolan should wach this video to learn how to use suspense.

  • @Deathriken
    @Deathriken13 жыл бұрын

    @artformeandyou the creator of Slashers

  • @RB-mq6em
    @RB-mq6em2 ай бұрын

    Mystery is about the past; suspense is about the future.

  • @smithhedgehog
    @smithhedgehog13 жыл бұрын

    In "the lady vanishes" dosen't the main character go missing; and therefore it's a mystery because we don't know where, why, or how she dissapeared...?

  • @DenkyManner
    @DenkyManner2 жыл бұрын

    His films often have mystery in them. Vertigo is ostensibly a mystery though he deliberately turns the mystery of the second woman into a suspense when she confesses the truth in a letter she never sends. I don't know if he was right to do that as the suspense didn't work for some reason. The power of Vertigo is from a deeper mysteriousness, a poetic, unconscious dream like disorientation rather a plain "whodunit".

  • @ohiogremlin87
    @ohiogremlin8711 жыл бұрын

    I think strangers on a train

  • @cheeriosinabowl
    @cheeriosinabowl13 жыл бұрын

    To me, mystery and suspense go hand in hand.

  • @Aqua_paw
    @Aqua_paw12 жыл бұрын

    gramatik brought me here

  • @SharpDesign
    @SharpDesign5 жыл бұрын

    Murder She Wrote- Mystery Columbo - Suspense

  • @madpeace1764
    @madpeace17642 жыл бұрын

    THE YODA OF FILMMAKING...

  • @jagdishacharya1438
    @jagdishacharya14384 жыл бұрын

    Mystery# paper currency and Suspence# paperless currency. Cards.

  • @MaxxUS08
    @MaxxUS0814 жыл бұрын

    Im not completely sure which film he referred to as the 'Who dunnit". It has to be Under Capricorn, not his best at all.

  • @adelacarmen
    @adelacarmen13 жыл бұрын

    if he would live now .... i bet was the king of horror movies ..:P

  • @edp3202
    @edp32022 жыл бұрын

    I love that Hitchcock found showing too much of women's body parts boring and offensive which is why his actresses always are pretty covered up and classy.

  • @GregCoxTV
    @GregCoxTV4 ай бұрын

    Indeed, Hitch was a great filmmaker but don't forget to give credit to the screenwriters, without them there would be no great film.

  • @houserulez2008
    @houserulez200814 жыл бұрын

    hitchcock or kubrick?

  • @petrfrizen6078

    @petrfrizen6078

    4 жыл бұрын

    Leonardo da Vinci or Renoir?..

  • @IoEstasCedonta
    @IoEstasCedonta3 жыл бұрын

    The irony is, I'm wondering which film he considers his "whodunnit." Murder?

  • @Andreasjacke1
    @Andreasjacke110 жыл бұрын

    Vielen Dank - wenn Du magst siehe meinen Vortrag über Hitchcock auf der Seite von meinem Kanal!!!

  • @GOreelz
    @GOreelz13 жыл бұрын

    why wouldn't psycho be a "whodunit'? Doesn't the audience want to know who killed Janet Leigh's character?

  • @vigneshvicky8139

    @vigneshvicky8139

    4 жыл бұрын

    No information was already given..!

  • @christianespinal1938
    @christianespinal19384 жыл бұрын

    ttt

  • @gethsoftware
    @gethsoftware11 жыл бұрын

    the "horror" aka zombie movies, resident evil, are not really that scary. movies like Alien and games like slender are very suspensfull, sure alien has gore, like chest buster, but alien is so much more then that. lot of the deaths happen off screen. and slender is all about mystery and suspense. the tention grows and grows when you stalked by slender without any breaks.

  • @cubanbach
    @cubanbach11 жыл бұрын

    not really, because we always know "who did it"...

  • @pyrrho314
    @pyrrho31414 жыл бұрын

    @pyrrho314 : yeah yeah, he was a brit... :) ANYONE CAN BE AMERICAN! fine, world's best... grrmamdmfmbmblb

  • @oxymomo
    @oxymomo14 жыл бұрын

    Sorry, but "suspense" is a noun, too.

  • @m420carbine4
    @m420carbine412 жыл бұрын

    we are donating now on youtube? are you kidding me. how about we all donate to reinvest in america. but only if we can vote more than 4 years.

  • @oliverford5367
    @oliverford5367 Жыл бұрын

    Vanilla Sky is the worst example of too much mystery. You can't figure out what's a dream and what's real. After you've seen it you can argue about which bits were real, but that's a cerebral thing. It's not emotional.

  • @monsieurgolem3392
    @monsieurgolem3392Ай бұрын

    Hitchcock lies, lol, his presents series was nothing but mystery, which Im finding to be better than his movies.

  • @ofanzivnonestabilan
    @ofanzivnonestabilan10 жыл бұрын

    you couldn't be more wrong

  • @broc8095

    @broc8095

    6 жыл бұрын

    Filip d I’d trust the word of Hitchcock more than the word of a Filip d

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