Daily schedule
After registration on Sunday afternoon, we invite you to a welcome meeting in the Amersi Lecture Theatre in New Quad, where you will meet your tutors. Join us in Deer Park afterwards for our opening drinks reception, followed by dinner in Brasenose’s historic dining hall (informal dress).
Seminars take place on weekday mornings. Most afternoons are free, allowing you time to explore Oxford, enjoy a variety of optional social events (see details below), or to sit back and relax in one of the college's atmospheric quads.
Your course culminates on Friday evening with a closing drinks reception and gala farewell dinner at which Certificates of Attendance are awarded. For this special occasion smart dress is encouraged (no requirement to wear dinner suits or gowns).
Social programme
We warmly invite all Inspiring Oxford students to take part in our optional social programme, with all events provided at no additional cost. Events are likely to include:
- Croquet on the quad
- Chauffeured punting from Magdalen Bridge
- Expert-led walking tours of Oxford
- Optional visit to an Oxford Library or the Ashmolean Museum
- River Thames afternoon cruise
- Quiz night in the college bar
- Scottish country dance evening (where you do the dancing!)
Seminars
Monday
Hitchcock and the Silent Era: Beginnings of a Vision
Our week opens with an exploration of Alfred Hitchcock’s early career and his formative work during the silent era in London tracing how he entered the rapidly developing world of filmmaking and how the foundations of his distinctive style began to emerge long before the advent of sound.
Through examining his silent-era output, we will see how Hitchcock developed an interest in visual storytelling, using composition, lighting and framing to convey psychological tension and narrative momentum. We also see how constraints of the silent medium, particularly the absence of dialogue, fostered Hitchcock’s reliance on imagery, gesture, and editing as expressive tools, many of which would become hallmarks of his later work.
By the end of the day, you will have a strong sense of how Hitchcock's nascent artistic identity took shape and how the early stages of his career set the tone for his future evolution.
Tuesday
The Sound Era: Suspense, Spectacle, and the New Hitchcock
Today, we explore Hitchcock’s transition into the sound era and the dramatic expansion of his cinematic vocabulary, as dialogue, ambient noise, and sound design become integral components of filmmaking. This period of his career is marked by a series of influential films in which Hitchcock refined his command of suspense, pacing, and narrative construction. Our discussion focuses on how he incorporated sound not merely as a technical novelty but as an essential storytelling device, heightening tension and deepening audience engagement.
Alongside this, we examine Hitchcock’s growing ambition in staging elaborate set pieces, often situated in recognisable public locations, and his increasing use of fast-moving, tightly plotted narratives. We will learn how this phase illustrates Hitchcock’s skill in balancing spectacle with psychological intrigue and how it laid the groundwork for his eventual move to Hollywood.
Wednesday
Hitchcock in Hollywood: Crafting Iconic Cinema
Midweek, attention shifts to Hitchcock’s celebrated Hollywood years, when he produced many of the films that would establish his reputation as the 'Master of Suspense'. This session delves into how Hitchcock adapted to (and transformed) the American studio system, working with major stars, larger budgets, and expanding technological resources. Our discussion covers the vivid use of colour in films such as Vertigo, the meticulous construction of tension through confined settings in Rear Window, and the bold, genre-defining innovations of Psycho and The Birds.
We will explore how Hitchcock’s American films demonstrate a sophisticated blend of technical experimentation and narrative daring, drawing on themes of identity, voyeurism, desire and psychological disturbance.
Our day concludes by outlining how Hollywood enabled Hitchcock to push his creative boundaries, producing some of the most influential and enduring works in the history of cinema.
Thursday
Hitchcock and Film Theory: Auteurship, the Gaze, and Cinematic Legacy
Today, we consider Hitchcock’s work within key debates in film theory, examining how his films have shaped, and been shaped by, critical discourse. We see Hitchcock through the lens of auteur theory, which positions him as a director whose artistic signature is recognisable across his body of work.
We also explore how Hitchcock’s films have played a central role in discussions about the politics of looking, particularly through theories related to the male gaze and spectatorship. This session reflects on how Hitchcock’s use of point-of-view shots, doubling motifs, and psychological framing techniques has informed academic conversations about power, desire, and visual pleasure.
At the same time, we discuss the complexities of Hitchcock’s legacy, considering both the admiration he receives for his formal mastery and the critiques that emerge from contemporary perspectives. This broader reflection helps illuminate why Hitchcock remains a central figure in film studies and how his influence continues to shape both filmmaking practices and theoretical frameworks to this day.
Friday
Hitchcock and You: Personal Reflections and Interpretive Perspectives
Our final day brings the week’s themes together by inviting you to articulate your own understanding of Hitchcock’s work and its broader cultural significance. In our closing seminars we provide space for reflecting on the evolution of Hitchcock’s style, the emotional and psychological effects of his films, and the ways in which his techniques continue to resonate with audiences.
You also consider what you, personally, have found compelling in Hitchcock’s cinema; be it his meticulous visual design, his innovative use of suspense, his explorations of morality and identity, or his capacity to involve viewers in acts of looking. We discover how studying Hitchcock not only reveals the inner workings of a landmark filmography but also deepens one’s awareness of how cinema communicates, manipulates, and delights.
In drawing together the ideas explored throughout the week, we conclude with a sense of how Hitchcock’s films invite continual re-interpretation and why they remain essential viewing for anyone interested in the art of storytelling on screen.
