The opening of Rear Window

« see the window: it is the only thing which the viewer can focus on in a similar way to the audience of a theatre, focusing on the stage.

This credit sequence has some symbolic as the plot lies on what is seen through the window.

The fact that the shutters open will allow the action to take place.

It also makes the viewer feel like he is waking up in a warm atmosphere created by the sepia color of the shutters and the touch of red used for the credits.

As we are going to see, the opening scene which follows extends this feeling of waking up while immersing the audience in the environment of the future action.

Once the shutters have opened and the credits have ended, the camera moves forward to the window and stops once it has reached it.

This movement invites the audience to the next stage which is the discovery of the neighborhood: the viewer is going to look outside the window.

The next shot shows the courtyard situated in the middle of the blocks.

The camera moves so as to follow a cat which is walking in the courtyard.

The movement then goes up to show the the blocks and their residents in a second lateral movement.

This constant movement of the camera which covers every elements recalls the way with which a person would scan a place.

This allows the viewer to familiarize himself with the place as if he was there.

The movement ends on a close-up on James Stewart's character’s head.

The viewer can identify himself to him as he is in the room from which everything seemed to be filmed.

The sweat on James Stewart's character’s face indicates that the place is hot.

This is confirmed by the following shot which. »