Editing in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat

When the editing is heavy, Hitchcock often cuts to other characters' reactions during one characters dialog and then back to the speaker to end his/her lines. This installs varying cuts in order to keep the editing fresh and to not repeat himself. Another strategy of varying cuts that Hitchcock used is changing the proximity of the camera to the actor. He used full shots, close-ups, and medium shots all cut in the same scene. This was present in addition to varying the angle of the camera, whether it was low or high, in relation to the actor. Also, the entire lifeboat is never shown; this is because Hitchcock has to deceive the audience on exactly how small the space is that these people have to live in. He is not interested in showing the real life troubles of these people. He is interested in conveying the drama that can entertain the viewer.

As the film opens, we see the stern of the original large ship slowly sink into the water. This is executed with one continuous shot which then slowly dollies to the right while showing several pieces of luggage. This sequence is perhaps the most slowly paced in the entire film; and it serves the viewer to immerse themselves in the world of the ocean and the characters' dire present situation. The editing clearly begins to increase as we first see Constance alone in the lifeboat and then the others arrive one by one.

The German character Willy, played by Walter Slezak, is the one character that Hitchcock chose to frame by using many low camera angles and extreme close-ups. This, of course, is to show the audience that Willy is the villain of the film and it serves to exaggerate his evil that will eventually be known in full to the viewer as the story progresses. This style is similar to how Eisenstein frames the factory owners in his film Strike. He sees these characters as people who have less than honorable intensions and uses many close-ups when they are on screen.