by The Technique Behind Windows Films
One of the most unique film techniques that has gained popularity in recent years is the ‘windows film.’ Films shot entirely through windows offer a restricted perspective that provides interesting creative challenges for directors, cinematographers, and viewers. Shooting through windows limits the frame and forces filmmakers to get creative with shot composition and storytelling. Windows also add their own unique visual textures and distortions to shots. Pioneering films like Rear Window from Alfred Hitchcock showed how an entire mystery thriller could be told through the windows of an apartment building courtyard. More recent films have further explored the potential of this technique.
Peeping Through the Panes: Rear Window
Undoubtedly the greatest and most famous Windows Films is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece Rear Window. The entire film is seen through the windows of L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, a photographer who is confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg. Jeff spends his days observing and growing suspicious of his neighbors through his large windows. Hitchcock uses windows as frames to tell a compelling mystery/thriller plot entirely from Jeff’s restricted perspective. The windows add intensity as the audience is as confined to what Jeff can see as he grows increasingly fascinated and concerned by one neighbor in particular. Rear Window set the gold standard for restricted perspective storytelling through windows.
A Glimpse into Isolation: Glass
Night Shyamalan’s 2019 psychological thriller Glass also utilizes windows prominently as a storytelling device. The film follows David Dunn as he continues his pursuit of Elijah Price aka Mr. Glass. Much of the film is seen through the windows of the psychiatric hospital where Price is committed. The windows emphasize the isolated and restricted world the characters inhabit. As with Rear Window, the audience only sees what is visible through the hospital room windows. This mirrors the characters feeling trapped and out of control of their situation. The windows elevate the film’s darker and more unsettling tone as the characters’ unstable psychological states are externalized through the frames.
Persistent Peeping: Peeping Tom
Released in 1960, Peeping Tom took the voyeuristic elements of Rear Windows Films even further in disturbing ways. The film tells the story of Mark Lewis, a camera operator for a film studio who also murders women while filming their death throes. Much of the murder sequences are filmed through Mark’s apartment windows as he spies on his victims. The windows emphasize the cold, detached way Mark views his targets as mere objects for his twisted experiments. By filming through windows, the audience is uncomfortably drawn into Mark’s disturbing perspective. Peeping Tom confronts the exploitation and dehumanization possible through windows in an unsettling psychological horror genre film.
Capturing Confinement: The Truman Show
Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show takes the concept of windows films to a meta level. The entire life of Truman Burbank has been filmed through windows as he lives unaware his whole life is an elaborate reality TV show. Various windows and frames are used to maintain the illusion – from the seamless neighborhood to the faux skies painted on the studio ceiling. Viewers of “The Truman Show” watch Truman through these ever-present windows. This emphasizes the ironic confinement and lack of true autonomy in Truman’s constructed world. Only by breaking free of the framing windows can Truman truly liberate himself, serving as a commentary on surveillance in mass media entertainment.
Building Beyond the Frame: A Series of Unfortunate Events
More recently, the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events utilized windows prominently in creative ways across multiple episodes. As the orphans Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are passed between various eccentric guardians, windows often frame their observations of new unfamiliar surroundings. Clever shots show the children catching glimpses of danger or clues through open bedroom windows. In some episodes, the Baudelaire children even use windows for ingenious escapes like Violet inventing a grappling hook to scale down a tower window frame. This playful series demonstrates how windows can extend story possibilities rather than limit perspective when used creatively.
Expanding Horizons for Windows Films
This growing collection of notable windows films proves the storytelling potential through such a seemingly restrictive framing device. Directors find creative ways within the confined frame to tell compelling character-driven plots and immerse viewers in fascinating fictional worlds. As the technique develops further, new opportunities will surely arise. Advancing camera and video technology may allow filmmakers to achieve more seamless shots transitioning between indoor and outdoor spaces. The windows frame could also facilitate unique modes of visual storytelling incorporating 360-degree shots or virtual/augmented reality elements. While early windows films emphasized voyeurism and isolation, later examples show how the technique can empower characters or extend narratives in unexpected ways. As long as innovative directors push the boundaries, windows will continue offering fresh perspectives on filmed entertainment.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
About Author:
Money Singh is a seasoned content writer with over four years of experience in the market research sector. Her expertise spans various industries, including food and beverages, biotechnology, chemical and materials, defense and aerospace, consumer goods, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/money-singh-590844163)
