For example through out the film rather than the conventional music score , Hitchcock used a soundtracks that consisted of a mixture of bird calls and electronic noises from a proto-synthesizer called a trautonium.
The trailer of the 'the birds' is executed with an effective use of irony. Alfred Hitchcock uses sarcasm to explain all the ways in which humans have wronged the birds. For example he talks about how feelings close to the birds and having sympathy for them while cutting a chicken , this use of irony is already showing the audience how humans often mis treat birds. He hints at the events that will occur in the movie like any conversational trailer but he does it in a unique way for example when he puts his finger in the cage and the bird pecks him , this hints on the violence that the characters are going to receive from birds. Then when we begin to hear violent shrieks of the birds establishing them as the villain because the plot of a thriller is driven by the villain the twist in this is that the villain is nature , this makes the film stand out to the target audience which is essentially people who like the thrill of terror.
PLOT
The birds is about a wealthy San Francisco socialite who pursues are love interest to a small town in California. The seemingly romantic story line takes a turn for the worst when birds of all kinda begin an attack on the town , with increasing numbers and increasing violence.
Conventions of a thriller.
In a conventional thriller people are pitted against powerful villains who are determined to destroy them , their country or stability of the free world.
In a way the birds follows these conventions. It has a very unprepared and ordinary hero and she does have to fight for her survival , the birds are certainly determined to destroy her along with whole town.The bird are presented as very powerful creatures Hitchcock does this by using a rang of clever shots for example at times he shows them from a low angle shot making them look powerful and those beneath them valuable and at risk of danger. He also does this by emphasizing on their numbers in the scene were the woman talks about how many birds they are in the world and how they out number humans. Suggesting that in a war with birds we humans "wouldn't stand a chance" this is very effective use of dramatic irony because the audience begins to lose hope of a way out. It also puts them in the position of the characters who are stranded and have no way out. This makes the creates a even more terrifying experience for the audience.
Alfred Hitchcock uses a range of devices to make the film chilling.
In the scene Hitchcock uses dramatic irony , while the audience see's the number of birds increasing , Melanie does not. This creates tension and fear as the audience is concerned about her because the threat is increasing. He also uses the nursery rhyme to represent innocence this contrast makes the birds more evil and cunning. The nursery rhyme is also used as a symbol , this is because each verse of the song is longer than the one before in the same way the number of birds increase behind Melanie. The two longest verses are when she notices the birds and rushes into the school.
In this shot right after the explosion when there is a lot of distress from below Alfred Hitchcock shows this shot to make it seem as if a 'god' or a higher power was watching over this with no mercy or sympathy and no intention of intervening. This makes the people look very vulnerable , this is is added on by the fact that the birds are looking over them and swooping in to attack , so its like nature has more power that humanity.
A lot of elements in the birds are unconventional , for example there does not seem to be a clear maguffin , however this makes the film even more terrifying as we do not exactly the motivation behind the birds sudden attack.
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