Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 March 27

= March 27 =

Hitchcock
Why do Alfred Hitchcock's movies always have somebody falling from a high place? Did he have a fear of heights, like his main character from Vertigo? Or was this perhaps intended as some kind of symbolic gesture? Or maybe there's some other explanation for it? 24.23.196.85 (talk) 00:19, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * ScienceBlogs - The Psychology of Alfred Hitchcock "Freud placed great importance on dreams involving falling; the repeated use of the theme has been interpreted by some to be a manifestation of Hitchcock’s obsession with death". Make of that what you will. Alansplodge (talk) 00:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It's not true that Alfred Hitchcock's movies always have somebody falling from a high place. --Omidinist (talk) 04:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It is, however, true that a large proportion of his movies had a blonde heroine who he was likely trying to bone. -- Jayron  32  04:09, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ... that he would have probably liked to have boned (as would have not a few other red-blooded men), but didn't try to. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:54, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Off the top of my head, I don't recall any long falls in: Rich and Strange, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, The Lady Vanishes, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Dial M for Murder or Marnie. It is a pretty common plot device in films, so it really isn't unusual for Hitch to have used it as well, and more memorably than most others (e.g. Norman Lloyd from the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur, Martin Landau and his cohort off Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest). Clarityfiend (talk) 06:47, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * And to answer the question seriously, Wikipedia has an article titled Themes and plot devices in the films of Alfred Hitchcock. There are some problems with the article, but it should give you a good starting point.  -- Jayron  32  04:10, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * It just lists a few of his movies that feature people falling from high places, "among others". Doesn't say any possible reasons why. 24.23.196.85 (talk) 23:16, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Marnie (one of my favoritest films) has got the horse run and the rather ineffective red special effect as visual devices. I think the falling motif follows simply from the fact that you can bewilder the audience by changing the depth of focus back and forth.  Think of High Anxiety. μηδείς (talk) 01:25, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't consider a horse a "high place", unless she was riding this fellow. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:43, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
 * No, I meant the horse chase and the red flashes were visuals he used to dramatic effect in the same way he used car chases, sudden changes of focal depth, etc., all visual devices. Contrast that to the slow motion, slow panning, sudden reveals, and eerie lighting of Kubric's The Shining. μηδείς (talk) 17:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
 * How good to see that everyone of my wikiphile friends is a cineaste. --Omidinist (talk) 17:56, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Macklemore - and we danced
The background track to this rap mix sounds almost exactly like something I've heard before as well as something that's been in my head since before this song was created. I feel like I know this but it's just on the tip of my tongue. Any ideas? ~ AH1 (discuss!) 03:55, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * The chord progression is i/VI/III/VII (in Dm). It's a pretty popular ( perhaps overused) sequence - this article calls it the "Sensitive Female Chord Progression" and lists some songs that use it. This answer lists some more; perhaps you're particularly thinking of Hans Zimmer's Pirates of the Caribbean theme - this video has more users of it.  Personally I can't hear the Pirates theme without hearing the chorus from Heart's "How do I get you alone". -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 14:23, 27 March 2013 (UTC)


 * And here's some more. It's so popular TV Tropes has a list here; see the "minor" version there. For the major version see Axis of Awesome's medley. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 14:35, 27 March 2013 (UTC)