An audience attending a Hitchcock film is required to do much more than eat popcorn and drink soda! A Hitchcock film immerses the audience within the action of the film using stylistic and cinematic elements, such as: camera placement, editing, point of view, subjectivity and objectivity, all working together in ways that help to evoke certain emotions, while also provoking certain questions, making you wonder just what in the world Hitchcock is going to do next?
In 39 Steps, one can see the reflections and shadows of a young Hitchcock’s budding brilliance. The meticulous care and decision making process he uses often leaves the audience spellbound, whereas in Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock takes clear, bold steps to snatch the moviegoer strait from their seats to plop them directly into the center of the intrigue, where they are helpless and spellbound against any encroaching evil. In Hitchcock’s 39 Steps, Richard Hannay - the better than average looking everyman is whipsawed back and forth by the push and pull of the forces around him. In some scenes, utilizing certain camera techniques, Hitchcock conveys a feeling of trepidation and whiplash. For example, as Richard is sitting in the train car with two other men, we bounce back and forth between the man in the train reading the newspaper and Richard’s reaction to the article. Because this is a Hitchcock film we wonder, why is the scene shot in this particular way? What is the purpose of this cinematic choice? Why not frame all the characters within a single shot? But as we watch the two men discussing the crime for which Richard has been framed, paired with his apprehensive responses, the tension inexorably builds. A stylistic element worth noting in this scene involves Hitchcock’s use of framing. As the scene opens, we are provided a view of a frame within a frame. The train car providing an excellent background of thirds, separating the parties, the two men, and Richard, with a wide blank window. From this image one can infer the separation, the forced division between Richard and society, as well as the isolation he feels and the helpless futility of reaching out to anyone for help. The shot containing the two men is spacious, allowing room for them to stretch, slouch, and move around freely; whereas, Richard’s framing is tight, restrictive, and constricting allowing for almost no figurative or literal wiggle room, which is denoted visibly by his exaggerated, frozen, and tense performance. The tension now created, Hitchcock wraps it all up and drops it into the viewers lap with a surprise POV shot. …show more content…
The scene comes to full fruition when Richard asks to see the newspaper and the passenger looks directly into the camera, into Richard’s eyes, into our eyes. While we have been distracted by the banter of the two men and Richard’s responses, Hitchcock has slowly inched the camera ever closer to Richard, switching between objectivity to subjectivity. When Richard asks for the newspaper, we the audience are tempted to reach out and grab it for ourselves. With this exchange, Hitchcock successfully conflates the viewer and Richard, aligning out fears, feelings, and nervousness. Hitchcock increases the intensity of the scene with addition POV shots of the menacing, lizard-like eyes of the second man who is unabashedly staring straight through us - at Richard.
In Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock’s use of objectivity is evident in the celebrated scene in which the camera glides so smoothly, closer and closer to Uncle Charlie’s countenance, as he speaks the venomous words regarding widows taking advantage of their deceased husband’s money. Though this is a moving and intense scene, there is another directorial strategy - projection of what is within a character onto the outside world, that is even more provocative. For example, the scene in which young Charlie races to the library to discover what, if anything, of which Uncle Charlie may be guilty. The scene starts with young Charlie flipping through crumpled cut outs of a newspaper., wearing a metaphorical paper mask and trying to conceal the obvious anxiety and newfound suspicion she feels toward Uncle Charlie. She then hastily makes her way outside where foreground tree branches block our view, perhaps signifying the missing pieces of the puzzle in Charlie’s mind, or perhaps to encourage
In 39 Steps, one can see the reflections and shadows of a young Hitchcock’s budding brilliance. The meticulous care and decision making process he uses often leaves the audience spellbound, whereas in Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock takes clear, bold steps to snatch the moviegoer strait from their seats to plop them directly into the center of the intrigue, where they are helpless and spellbound against any encroaching evil. In Hitchcock’s 39 Steps, Richard Hannay - the better than average looking everyman is whipsawed back and forth by the push and pull of the forces around him. In some scenes, utilizing certain camera techniques, Hitchcock conveys a feeling of trepidation and whiplash. For example, as Richard is sitting in the train car with two other men, we bounce back and forth between the man in the train reading the newspaper and Richard’s reaction to the article. Because this is a Hitchcock film we wonder, why is the scene shot in this particular way? What is the purpose of this cinematic choice? Why not frame all the characters within a single shot? But as we watch the two men discussing the crime for which Richard has been framed, paired with his apprehensive responses, the tension inexorably builds. A stylistic element worth noting in this scene involves Hitchcock’s use of framing. As the scene opens, we are provided a view of a frame within a frame. The train car providing an excellent background of thirds, separating the parties, the two men, and Richard, with a wide blank window. From this image one can infer the separation, the forced division between Richard and society, as well as the isolation he feels and the helpless futility of reaching out to anyone for help. The shot containing the two men is spacious, allowing room for them to stretch, slouch, and move around freely; whereas, Richard’s framing is tight, restrictive, and constricting allowing for almost no figurative or literal wiggle room, which is denoted visibly by his exaggerated, frozen, and tense performance. The tension now created, Hitchcock wraps it all up and drops it into the viewers lap with a surprise POV shot. …show more content…
The scene comes to full fruition when Richard asks to see the newspaper and the passenger looks directly into the camera, into Richard’s eyes, into our eyes. While we have been distracted by the banter of the two men and Richard’s responses, Hitchcock has slowly inched the camera ever closer to Richard, switching between objectivity to subjectivity. When Richard asks for the newspaper, we the audience are tempted to reach out and grab it for ourselves. With this exchange, Hitchcock successfully conflates the viewer and Richard, aligning out fears, feelings, and nervousness. Hitchcock increases the intensity of the scene with addition POV shots of the menacing, lizard-like eyes of the second man who is unabashedly staring straight through us - at Richard.
In Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock’s use of objectivity is evident in the celebrated scene in which the camera glides so smoothly, closer and closer to Uncle Charlie’s countenance, as he speaks the venomous words regarding widows taking advantage of their deceased husband’s money. Though this is a moving and intense scene, there is another directorial strategy - projection of what is within a character onto the outside world, that is even more provocative. For example, the scene in which young Charlie races to the library to discover what, if anything, of which Uncle Charlie may be guilty. The scene starts with young Charlie flipping through crumpled cut outs of a newspaper., wearing a metaphorical paper mask and trying to conceal the obvious anxiety and newfound suspicion she feels toward Uncle Charlie. She then hastily makes her way outside where foreground tree branches block our view, perhaps signifying the missing pieces of the puzzle in Charlie’s mind, or perhaps to encourage