The opening sequence of Rear Window establishes the setting and introduces the main characters through a series of shots. It begins with a wide shot looking through a apartment window overlooking the street below. It then does a panning crane shot up the building, introducing neighbors going about their morning routines. This allows the audience to get a sense of the location and characters. The shots then focus on the main character, L.B. Jefferies, revealing he has a fever and is an photographer based on photos in his apartment. The sequence conveys the middle-class neighborhood through its decorated terraces and neatly landscaped courtyard.

1. Similar product analysis
Rear Window (1954)
The opening shot gives is a
medium wide shot (mws) and
gives us a view through an
apartment window; in the
foreground we can see the
neighbouring apartment
buildings and part of the
street below. After this shot,
the camera slowly moves pans
down and simultaneously
moves forward to the middle window where it stops on the sill. The shot then cuts to a
crane shot that follows a cat up a set of stairs form the street below, before panning to the
left slightly and moving up. Once the crane shot man overs its way up from the ground and
away from the street we are allowed to observe the residents of the apartment complex,
form this we can establish that this scene is happening sometime in the morning as all the
residents are getting dressed and one man sleeping on his terrace. This shot opening shot is
used masterfully by Hitchcock as a different kind of establishing shot and on a much smaller
scale than most audiences are typically used to; more importantly this shot allows the
viewer to gain an understanding of the characters who could possibly play a part in the
narrative o the film and it also gives us an awareness of the location in which event within
the film could take place. In this opening sequence the camera effectively goes from the
apartment window to the area below, before panning round the rest of the apartment
complex and then returning to the apartment of origin. Once the panning crane shot moves
back into the original apartment, it stops focussing in on a close up of James Stewart, he is
asleep and is sweating profusely, the shot then cuts top a thermometer which indicates that
he must have a high temperature or a fever. The shot then pans to the left and shows
another character a man shaving, and this time the character isn’t in the foreground; from
this we are able to gain a greater amount of insight into these characters lives . The shot
then traverses to a shot of a man whom we previously saw being woken up by his alarm
clock next tom him, although lying the other way is what we can assume to be a girlfriend or
a wife, the shot then pans down and yet again to character who we have previously seen
from a distance, as she makes her breakfast we can intuitively say that she is a dance as she
demonstrates a high degree of flexibility. From here the shot pans down slightly before
zooming out and back to the first apartment again showing James Stewarts character again
and that he is still asleep, it also reveals to the audience the name of the character as the

2. initials of his first and middle name are printed with his sur-name on his a cast on his leg,
from here we can clearly deduce that our this character who so far can be identified by the
audience to be the protagonist is going to remain static for some time. His apartment (L.B.
Jefferies; James Stewart) is fairly disorganised and messy to an extent as can be shown by
the cluttered books and broken camera. Once we are presented with the cameras and the
photos captured that show to us several famous and historic events we can quickly establish
our characters profession and that he is very good at his job.
The apartment complex that we are presented with seems to be inhabited by members of
the middle and upper middle class this due to the fact that the majority of the characters
seem to have jobs of sorts and a few are professionals i.e. the dancer and the musician as
L.B. Jefferies. Hitchcock seems to have used a lens to make sure that all the colours present
in this opening scene appear to be warm and vibrant, Furthermore many of the terraces are
adorned with colourful flowers and the small opening in the centre of the apartment
complex shows a neatly cut green, and more rows of flowers. The latter points all
emphasise that this is a well looked after place where neighbours respect each other and
‘seem’ to live happy lives. Another point to make, with regard to the mise en scene is the
instrumental music used throughout the opening sequence; my point being that it is upbeat
and cheerful, yet still conveys an element of suspense and intrigue to the viewer who is left
to interpret all of this information from their own unique perspective.