Exhibitions

Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film

January 28–June 14, 2009
Deutsche Kinemathek, Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin

January 18–April 20, 2008
Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA

Albert Whitlock, production design study for visual effect, The Birds, 1963, gouache on Mylar matted over gouache on illustration board. Robert Boyle Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Alfred Hitchcock presented himself as the sole author of his films — his movies were the direct translation of his creative genius to the screen. In reality, however, Hitchcock was a deeply collaborative artist, working intensely with actors, producers, cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, and production and sound designers to create what the public knew as “an Alfred Hitchcock film.” Through drawings, paintings, storyboards, and production documents, this exhibition explores a film making process that thrived on teamwork, with the director's colleagues contributing critical ideas and Hitchcock engaged in creative collaboration frame by frame. An illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

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Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film is organized by the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, in collaboration with the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The exhibition was generously supported in the United States of America by James B. Pick and Rosalyn M. Laudati, the Alfred J. Hitchcock Foundation, the Rubens Family Foundation and American Airlines.