3 The Director’s Chair

Chapter 2 The Director's Chair Alfred's father, William, worked long hours in the grocery store. He had difficulty breathing and later developed problems with his kidneys. When Alfred was only fifteen, his father died. His brother, William Jr., no longer lived at home, and his sister was already married. Alfred left school and went to work to earn money for himself and his mother. Alfred also took photography and art classes at the University of London. He began reading film journals. These were not fan magazines that gushed over stars; they were

阿尔弗雷德的父亲威廉在杂货店工作很长时间。 他呼吸困难，后来出现肾脏问题。 阿尔弗雷德十五岁时，他的父亲去世了。 他的弟弟小威廉（William Jr.）不再住在家里，他的妹妹也已经出嫁了。 阿尔弗雷德离开学校，去工作挣钱养活自己和母亲。 阿尔弗雷德还在伦敦大学学习摄影和艺术课。 他开始阅读电影杂志。 这些不是对明星滔滔不绝的粉丝杂志；他们是

technical journals that explained how movies were made. Hitch preferred American films to British ones. American movies used backlighting —placing some of the light source behind the actors—which made the actors appear to stand out from the background. In British films everything looked flat. It wasn't so different from the lighting tricks he'd noticed on the stage as a young boy. In 1920 the American film company Paramount announced that it was building a studio in London called Famous Players-Lasky. Alfred went to the office and showed them some of his drawings. He was given a job designing film title cards. At this time there was no recorded sound—no audio track—for movies. All movies were silent. Any important information or dialogue was provided in words shown on the screen, called

解释电影如何制作的技术期刊。 比起英国电影，希契更喜欢美国电影。 美国电影使用背光——把一些光源放在演员身后——使演员看起来从背景中脱颖而出。 在英国电影中，一切看起来都很平淡。 这与他小时候在舞台上注意到的灯光技巧没有太大不同。 1920年，美国电影公司派拉蒙宣布将在伦敦建立一个名为“著名演员-拉斯基”的工作室。 阿尔弗雷德走进办公室，给他们看了一些他的画。 他得到了一份设计电影片名的工作。 那时还没有电影的录音——没有音轨。 所有的电影都是无声的。任何重要的信息或对话都以显示在屏幕上的文字提供，称为

"titles." Alfred did so well drawing titles that he became head of the title department. From there he went to work in the editorial department, deciding what the titles should say. He studied American writers for tips on how to write scripts. When a director got sick, Hitch stepped in to help direct. He was learning all aspects of filmmaking. Paramount's Famous Players-Lasky stopped making movies in England in 1923. The studio was then rented to British-owned film companies. One was run by Michael Balcon, who gave Hitch—as Alfred was now known—a job as an assistant director. Balcon asked Hitch

“标题”。艾尔弗雷德画头衔画得很好，他成了头衔部门的主管。 从那以后，他到编辑部工作，决定标题应该怎么写。 他向美国作家学习如何写剧本。 当一个导演生病时，希契会介入帮助导演。 他在学习电影制作的方方面面。 派拉蒙的著名演员拉斯基于1923年停止在英国制作电影。 这个工作室随后被租给了英国所有的电影公司。 其中一家是由迈克尔·巴尔肯管理的，他给了希克——阿尔弗雷德现在的名字——一份助理导演的工作。 阳台问希奇

who he thought he should hire to write scripts. Hitch offered to do it himself. He also volunteered to be the art director. The one job he didn't take for himself was that of editor. For that he recommended a young woman he had worked with in the past: Alma Reville. The more Hitch worked with Alma, the more he liked her. They took a trip to Germany to scout locations for a new film. On the way home, Alma became seasick crossing the English Channel. Hitch chose this moment to propose to her. According to Hitch, Alma "groaned, nodded her head, and burped." He said, "It was one of my greatest scenes—a little weak on dialogue, perhaps, but beautifully staged and not overplayed."

他觉得应该请他写剧本。 希契提出自己来做。 他还自告奋勇担任艺术指导。 他唯一没有接受的工作是编辑。 为此，他推荐了一位过去共事过的年轻女性：阿尔玛·雷维尔（Alma Reville）。 希契和阿尔玛共事得越久，他就越喜欢她。 他们到德国去为一部新电影寻找拍摄地。 在回家的路上，阿尔玛在横渡英吉利海峡时晕船了。 希契选择这个时刻向她求婚。 据希契说，阿尔玛“呻吟着，点点头，打了个嗝。” 他说：“这是我最伟大的场景之一——也许在对话上有点弱，但舞台布置得很好，没有夸张。”

By 1925 Hitch was writing scripts, creating sets, and assisting the director. The only job he had never done on his own was the most important one: director. After years of learning nearly every job on a movie set, Alfred Hitchcock was finally ready to sit in the director's chair.

到1925年，希契开始写剧本、制作布景、协助导演。 他唯一没有独自做过的工作是最重要的：导演。 多年来，阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克几乎学会了电影片场的每一项工作，他终于准备好坐上导演的椅子了。