As I watched the short film that Herve Attia made, all I continued thinking was of the ‘find what’s different’ game that everyone used to play.  There was certainly a numerous amount of differences. Buildings were demolished, some places seem drier, the color of paint was different, and even fences were built around certain areas.    Some places were still some what the same (besides the remodeling) like The Tides restaurant. Although the name changed  (it used to be The Tides Restaurant, but now its just simply The Tides), it still has the same concept – as in, its not a house, its still a place people go and dine.   I liked how the places used to look in Hitchcock’s film though just because in the beginning you see that the palm trees look bigger and healthier (obviously nature is getting ruined by the amount of toxics this present world releases now), and I love how Hitchcock shows the newsstand where it has a San Francisco poster, making it obvious to the audience where they are – unfortunately it’s not there anymore.

Attia does have a unique hobby, as I never would of thought people would do this just for the fun of it. It is kind of nice though, being able to revisit a certain place and seeing how time has effected the area. I do find it interesting that he chose this movie, is it because he loves San Francisco just as much? Or maybe because he enjoyed The Birds? I personally cannot stand this movie, I love scary movies, but this movie just creeps me out. The idea of birds being able to hurt a human that is over 10 times their size just sounds scary (plus I’m scared of pigeons overall).

Watching  Attia’s video based on the film location of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963’s The Birds really puts into perspective how much time has passed by since the original filming of the movie. As Attia revisits these places we can see changes in the locations the film was shot at. One of the locations that really stood out was the revisit of “The Tides”restaurant. The restaurant had a cozy neighborhood type of vibe in the movie but looks much more grand and modernized today. It looks more like a chain now than an independently owned place.

I found the matte backdrops that were painted on in the film so much more atmospheric (as it was intended to) than what it looks like in real life present day. Obviously Hitchcock had a vision in mind and decided to recreate nature in a way that seemed more fitting to him. This is also apparent in the scene where Tippi’s character Melanie, along with Mitch walk towards the hills overlooking a matte painted background rendition of the countryside.  The lighting on the characters and the fact that there is no wind indication as the grass isn’t moving makes it obvious to a modern viewer that this was replicated in the studio. It’s interesting that Hitchcock was such a control freak to the point of trying to manipulate nature for his own artistic vision.