So You Want To/Be the Next Alfred Hitchcock

Describe Be The Next Alfred Hitchcock here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchcockian

Potential Motifs
Hitchcock made a cameo in each of his movies. How'd he do this when the entire movie was two men in a lifeboat? As the Before picture of a weight loss ad.

Casting Director
Hitchcock was of the mind that actors were there to fulfill the director's vision in much the way a piece of the set or a prop is there. Not for him the idea that an actor could bring something unanticipated to the work. He told them exactly how to fulfill their role in minute detail, and is credited with calling his actors "cattle" (technically, he said something like "actors should be treated like cattle").

Camera Tricks
It was Hitchcock who started playing with the camera and figuring out what all you could do to upset the audience's expectations. He's the one who first filmed a woman holding a conversation while mostly blocked by a door - causing the entire test audience to lean over so as to try to see behind the door. He filmed Rope in as close to a One Shot as you could get at the time. He's also the one who realized that you could get more reaction from the audience with less than you could with more, leading him to get in some pretty gory scenes without budgeting special effects, and also some sexual content that happened offscreen and therefore wouldn't be censored (it's all in the audience's mind, right?).

Also, lots of shadows, and a strong black-and-white feel, even when the films started getting color.