Who Is Richard Hitchcock's Use Of Subjectivity In 39 Steps

Hitchcock’s filming style revolves around immersing the audience and making them work when they enter a theater and watch one of his films. The ways in which cinematic elements are used like: camera placement, editing, point of view, subjectivity and objectivity work together in ways that evoke certain emotions, while also making choices that make you question why and wonder what in the world Hitchcock is getting at. In 39 Steps, there are shadows of the young Hitchcock’s budding brilliance, and meticulous decision making, causing the audience to become spellbound. Meanwhile Shadow of a Doubt takes clear steps to snatch the moviegoer from their seat, placing them right in the center, helpless against evil.

In Hitchcock’s 39 Steps, Richard

Hannay, the better than average looking everyman gets whipped back and forth by the push and pull of the world around him. In certain scenes we also feel the whiplash and trepidation that Richard feels due to the utilization of certain camera techniques. For example, the scene in which Richard is sitting in the train cart with two other men. We go back and forth between the man in the cart reading the newspaper and Richard’s reaction to the article. Because this is Hitchcock we have to wonder, why is the scene shot in this particular way? What does it do? Why wasn’t it shot to include all of the characters in on frame? These shots of the two men talking to one another about the crime Richard has been framed for, paired with concerned reactions of Richard, causes tension to build.

Another element to point out in this scene is the framing. In the beginning of this scene we are given a frame within a frame. The train cart also providing a nice split into thirds, separating the parties, the two men and Richard, with a wide blank window. This suggests the forced division between Richard and society along with the isolation he feels, and the futility of reaching out to anyone for help. The shot that contains the two men is more spacious, giving them more room to stretch, slouch, and move back and forth freely. Meanwhile Richard’s framing is very tight and constricting, giving him almost no wiggle room, which is exaggerated through his frozen, tense performance, while accurately showing his situation visually.

Hitchcock then balls all of this tension created and drops it through the viewers’ stomach with a surprise POV shot.

The true purpose of this choice comes to fruition when Richard asks to see the paper and the man looks directly into the camera, Richard’s eyes, the viewer’s eyes. While we are distracted from the banter of the two men and Richard’s responses, Hitchcock has been slowly inching the camera closer to Richard, switching from objectivity to subjectivity. When Richard asks for the newspaper and the character hands him the paper, the audience is tempted to reach other and grab the newspaper for ourselves. With this, Hitchcock successfully conflates the viewers and Richard, aligning our fears, feelings, and nervousness. Hitchcock then continues to push the intensity of this scene with the POV shots of the menacing, lizard-like eyes of the second man, unashamedly staring straight at us- I mean

Richard.

In Shadow of a Doubt, the famous scene in which the camera smoothly glides closer and closer to Uncle Charlie’s face as he speaks venomous words about widows who take advantage of their deceased husband’s money is talked about again and again because of Hitchcock’s utilization of objectivity. Though this is a very moving, intense scene, there is another directorial strategy that, in my opinion, is more consistent in the Shadow of a Doubt. This strategy is the projection of what is within a character onto the outside world. For example, the scene in which young Charlie races to the library to find out what, if anything, Uncle Charlie is guilty of.

The scene starts off with young Charlie flipping through several crumpled cut outs of a newspaper. The metaphorical paper mask she wears on her face, trying to conceal the obvious anxiety and newfound suspicion she feels towards Uncle Charlie. Continuing through the scene, she hastily makes her way outside where several branches placed in the foreground blocks our view of her. Perhaps signifying the missing pieces of the puzzle in Charlie’s mind or to encourage the notion that at any moment she could be snatched away by the danger lurking behind every tree branch. As Charlie charges into the road, she is almost run over by a car. Not only does this mirror the accident that Uncle Charlie had as a child, it also portrays how distracted and alarmed Charlie feels. This then transfers to the audience as she continues to walk through the streets busy with traffic, worrying for her safety, and waiting for danger to spring forth at 40 miles per hour.

Hitchcock successfully shows us Charlie’s feelings of hopelessness towards going to anyone else for help with the policeman pulling her from the crowd and scolding her about crossing the street.

His words, “What do you think I’m here for?” holds an ironic message as he is now thwarting her mission that will inevitably end in getting her psychotic, serial killing Uncle out of the house and away from her family. As Charlie approaches the library, Hitchcock frames it in a way that is extremely menacing. Skinny, tall windows are lit up, the rest of the house shown as darker than the night sky, the extreme wide shot and high angle of the camera making Charlie look small. This shot serves to make the library look as unappealing as possible, comparable to an Amityville house vibe. It can also be interpreted as Charlie’s dread of finding out the truth. The scary truth of knowing that the man she is basically in love with, the man who was going to get her and her family out of the rut they were in, is actually an awful, dangerous human being is within reach. The truth is almost too foreboding to find out, but still Charlie must continue. Finally Charlie makes it to the library. The audience breathes a sigh of relief. However, our relief and gladness that Charlie is about to get what she wants is abruptly cut short when she arrives and the door is locked. The glowing light inside flickering off the second Charlie’s fingertips touches the glass door, along with her and the

audiences hope.

In conclusion, Hitchcock creates an interactive cinematic experience, transporting the audience into the shoes of the protagonists themselves by making directorial choices involving camera placement, subjectivity, objectivity, point of view, and editing. In 39 Steps, Hitchcock uncomfortably shoves the movie goes in the same line of fire as the character. He makes the same danger threatening the main character stare us in the face, holding us there that results in a culmination of emotions that bring us ever closer to the characters. Meanwhile in Shadow of a Doubt Hitchcock sticks his hand in the mind of Charlie, thrusting her mental state and emotions into the world around her for us digest and experience of ourselves. Both cases in which Hitchcock makes the audience participate.