Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - A Look into the Technical Side

In the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (directed by Don Siegel), stars Dr. Miles J. McCarthy (played by Kevin McCarthy) and Elizabeth Driscoll (played by Dana Wynter) battle confusion and paranoia as they fight to understand and survive the alien species that have overtaken their town by growing out of plant like pods and becoming emotionless body doubles of all whom they know and love. In this 1956 fantasy, paranoia is a distinctive characteristic that is constantly leaving its characters in anxiety and fear. Creating the theme of paranoia can be basically broken into two technical aspects consisting of lighting and sound.

Lighting in film is one of the basic technical aspect needed to create any movie, film, or show. Uses of lighting can be broken down into five categories which are visibility, mood, composition, revelation of form, and reinforcement. Selective visibility is used to help the audience’s point of focus and attention to be directed specifically towards one character or another on screen along with also doing the ever so helpful job of actually having the characters and set be visible. Mood is used to create moods and emotions that the director may use to help direct the audience’s emotions to compliment what the performers/actors words are meant to portray. Composition is used to help move the flow of the story and create structure and form the scene along with creating cohesiveness relative to the scene. Revelation of form is used to help enhance and add a three dimensional look to the actors, set, and props and help them look skinnier, fatter, taller, etc. Lastly and possibly the most important and obvious for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, reinforcement which creates feeling, mood, and theme. In this movie, all of these lightening aspects were used, however one moment specifically stuck out to me.

In scene where Miles is shown the body for the first time that is lying on the pool table by Jack Bellicec (played by King Donovan) and Teddy Bellicec (played by Carolyn Jones), Miles pulls back the sheet and inspects the body thoroughly. While doing so, there is a perfect and well deified shadow of Miles lifting up the sheet and inspecting the body on the wall behind him. So perfect that it could only be a specific choice made by the director himself using noir lighting and more than likely by the looks of it were created by using a three-point lightening setup, strong keys, very little fill light, and good back light. This effect, which was very common for its time, created a very creepy mood and gave an extra element of paranoia to that scene.

Sound was also a very influential part of creating paranoia in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Unlike lighting, sound in the film industry is only broken down into three categories which are the human voice, sound effects, and music. The human voice is the actors or performers and can be manipulated to convey different emotions when preforming the script. For this movie, the females often spoke in smooth, soft, high pitched, and gentle voices giving off the extra vibe of femininity that was expected in the 50’s whilst the males spook in more of a faster and more direct manner of speaking which demonstrated not only their masculinity but also the urgency of the situation as they were trying to understand and survive the attack. The second key aspect of sound in film is called sound effects. Sound effects were used in the film to create a realistic sound of the glass shattering when Miles smashed through the window. The third and final aspect of sound design that was most noticeable to untrained ear in this film is called background music. The soundtrack throughout the film featured 20 different music numbers that were used perfectly embody the movie’s sci-fi and paranoia themes such as the moment when Miles said “You leave me no choice!” in the height of danger, the line was immediately followed by the familiar “Dun dun dun” sound effect.

To conclude, sound and lighting effects play two huge roles, especially in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, to create a mood of paranoia. From visibility, mood, composition, revelation of form, and reinforcement all the way to human voice, sound effects, and music, Invasion of the Body Snatchers uses and takes advantage of it all to create a fast paced and timeless film.

Watch the trailer here: