Subliminals in Movies

 

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                                 October 17, 1990

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                               Subliminals in Movies

       Film makers such  as  Alfred  Hitchcock and other directors of films

       have long been suspected of including  secret  images in their films

       to further scare the audience.

       "Subliminals" are images or sounds which occur very  rapidly and are

       not perceptible by  the  conscious  mind.  However, the subconscious

       does see the subliminal and can react to it in various ways.

       In movies, they are intended to help  establish  a  mood, usually of

       suspense or horror.

       Modern viewers have  the  distinct advantage of VCR's  which  allows

       them to slow  done a movie and examine it frame by frame to see what

       is hidden there.

       Normal movie film  shows 24 frames  per  second,  anything  less  is

       perceived as having a flicker.  Therefore, a single frame would take

       1/24 of a second to flash on the screen.

       Videotape contains 30 frames per second.  When movies  are converted

       to video, every  fourth  frame  of  the movie is repeated which will

       generate the additional 6 frames to make 30 frames per second.

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       Spellbound, by Alfred Hitchcock is  a black and white movie starring

       Ingrid Bergman and Leo G. Carroll.  The film is about  the  director

       of a psychiatric  hospital  who  is  being  forced to resign his job

       after suffering a nervous collapse.

       At one point, Bergman confronts Carroll who pulls a gun.  The gun is

       shown turning back toward Carroll,  then an explosion of white light

       during which a red flash is almost certainly visible.

       Analysis of the  tape  frame by frame shows 3 red frames,  all  hand

       tinted by the studio at Hitchcocks' instruction.

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       Psycho, another film by Alfred Hitchcock is perhaps his most famous.

       The stabbing scene  which  takes  place  in the shower is one of the

       most striking ever filmed.

       The movie is about a serial murderer  who  runs  a seedy motel on an

       isolated road.  When the mother of Norman Bates dies,  he becomes so

       unhinged that he  keeps  her preserved body in the house.  At times,

       he assumes his  mothers voice and  attitudes  believing  her  to  be

       directing him to kill.

       Hitchcock says the  shower scene took seven days to shoot, involving

       over 70 camera setups for what  finally  wound  up  to  be  only  45

       seconds of film.

       Contrary to many opinions, the knife never touches  the  body on the

       screen.  The very skillful editing of the film created the effect.

       The skull of  Bate's  mother  is said to be flashed over Bate's head

       while he is being held in a detention cell.

       A slow analysis of the tape frame  by  frame,  shows  a superimposed

       third image of the mummified head of Bates mother.   It  is slightly

       visible for about   50   frames  of  the  film  (64  frames  of  the

       videotape).  This gives an approximate  onscreen  time  of  about  2

       seconds.

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       Twilight Zone, the Movie

       A remake of  one  of  the old Twilight Zone segments  stars  William

       Shatner and John  Lithgow  as passengers on a plane.  Lithgow sees a

       monster on the wing of the plane  and  tries  to  convince the other

       passengers and crew that he is not crazy.

       At one point, Lithgows face is shown with his eyes  bulging from his

       head for 5  single frames.  The effect is most pronounced in the 5th

       frame.

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       consideration, interest and support.

           Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson

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