Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.
Alfred HitchcockRead
For me, suspense doesn't have any value if it's not balanced by humor.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Suspense is more enjoyable when accompanied by humor.
Alfred Hitchcock suggests that the tension and anticipation of suspenseful moments need to be tempered by humor to have true significance and value. By balancing these elements, the experience becomes richer and more engaging for the audience, making both suspense and humor contribute synergistically to storytelling.
Themes
SuspenseHumorBalanceStorytellingEntertainment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a film class discussing the importance of comedy in suspense films.
More from Alfred Hitchcock
All quotes βLuck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.
Alfred HitchcockRead
I can't read fiction without visualizing every scene. The result is it becomes a series of pictures rather than a book.
Alfred HitchcockRead
I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.
Alfred HitchcockRead
Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.
Alfred HitchcockRead
There is something more important than logic: imagination
Alfred HitchcockRead
Similar quotes
I've always been drawn to discomfort and that limbo of unease you get between comedy and tragedy. Making people laugh one moment and the next making them feel really uncomfortable.
Steve CooganRead
People say I'm difficult and sometimes that's a badge of honour.
Bill MurrayRead
And do I look like the kind of man that can be intimidated?" barked Uncle Vernon. "Well..." said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving eye. Uncle Vernon lept backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley.
J. K. RowlingRead
Storytelling and copulation are the two chief forms of amusement in the South. They're inexpensive and easy to procure.
Robert Penn WarrenRead
I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I'll bet I'd be darling at it.
Dorothy ParkerRead
My wit is more polished than your mustache. The truth which I speak strikes more sparks from men's hearts than your spurs do from the cobblestones.
Edmond RostandRead