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About this quote

What does it mean?
He suggests giving audiences relief after tension, like waking from a nightmare.
In plain terms
People want relief after scary experiences.
What can you take from it?
Audiences need release after tension.

Where it applies

  • storytelling
  • audience engagement
  • film structure

Putting it to work

  • balance tension with relief
  • understand audience needs

Questions to consider

  • How should stories balance fear and safety?
  • What do audiences really want?

Another view

Some audiences prefer sustained intensity.

More from Alfred Hitchcock

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  3. Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.

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