Read the chapter in your textbook on auteur theory, and the four pdf’s below:
- Hitchcock as an auteur
- Hitchcock on the art of suspense
- Shadow of a Doubt as a film noir
- Roger Ebert’s review of Stranger on a Train
- “Auteurism in North by Northwest”
Paper topic is here.
Lots of Hitchcock on youtube. Try his short explanation of the Kuleshov Effect, the basic idea of how editing affects perception:
Understanding Film 