Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.
Monday, February 16, 2015
My inspiration: Lauren Child on Alfred Hitchcock
Lauren Child wanted to drop Ruby Redfort into a Hitchcock-inspired world, just as Hitchcock threw his characters in at the deep end
Lauren Child: Alfred Hitchcock is responsible for my desire to write a thriller for children. Photograph: Thurston Hopkins/Getty Images
Lauren Child
As a child growing up in the 70s there wasn’t a whole lot of choice about what to watch on TV. There were some after-school programmes, the odd Saturday show and there was a lot of test card time. I was good at entertaining myself: I liked being outside, I liked making things, drawing things and reading, but there were also times when I really wanted to just watch something. I was often so desperate to watch something that I would sit with my eyes glued to the test card, waiting for the weird static picture of the girl and the clown-headed creature to vanish and for a film to begin. Lauren Child: growing up in the 70s there wasn’t a whole lot of choice about what to watch on TV.Photograph: Polly Borland/PRThe films I watched were all in black and white, because we only had a black and white television; sometimes cowboy films, sometimes musicals, often thrillers. I got to know Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Shirley Temple, and countless other actors, but the only director whosename I ever remember becoming familiar with was, Alfred Hitchcock. He used costume and interiors to create a rich visual experience, sets beautifully designed to lead the eye around the screen seeding silent clues. He understood that thrillers are more thrilling when interrupted by the domestic, that suspense is heightened when drama is broken by chit chat and comedy. We are taken back to normality and reminded of what is at stake. Hitchcock is responsible in large part for my desire to write a thriller for children. When I began to sketch out the first Ruby Redfort book I returned to his films, in particular North By Northwest, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief – glamorous movies with sharp dialogue. More
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