Week 2: The 39 Steps

After watching “The 39 Steps” by Hitchcock, I was once again intrigued by the wonderful cinematography used throughout the film to portray deeper meanings in very mundane scenes. Due to the dialogue in the film, instead of the silent type like “The Lodger”, I was able to follow along a lot better in this movie. The film begins with Richard Hannay meeting and protecting Anabella Smith whom he had met at the Mr. Memory demonstration. Anabella claims that she had been running from assassins because she was a spy with a secret about the “39 Steps”.

                At (Timestamp: 16:05) Smith is killed and warns Hannay to run from the assassins. This scene was extremely powerful to me because of the great cinematography used to relay a deeper meaning in many instances. (Timestamp: 16:15) a Close-up is used to display a strong image of the map that Smith had left for Hannay that really allows the audience to focus their attention to the details on the map and the circled location. This allows the viewer to see the name of the location as well as the overall picture of the map which was important for the plot of the movie.

                At (timestamp: 25:02) Hannay runs into a random train compartment at meets Pamella whom he kisses immediately as a distraction to draw attention away from himself. The Level of Framing in this scene really played a huge part because it allowed the audience to see the expressions and the emotions of Hannay and Pamella. For example at (timestamp: 24:46) there was an Extreme Close-Up of Pamella’s hands as she drops her glasses when Hannay kisses her. This showed the audience Pamella’s emotions at the time as she is so surprised that she cannot even move almost as if she was stunned which portrayed a lot more meaning from the scene.

                Another meeting between Pamella and Hannay at (timestamp: 50:38) seemed to have a lot of great depth. Hannay is hiding from the police in a political meeting and is mistaken for a speaker. As he is making the speech he sees the same woman from the train that sold him out, Pamella. Hitchcock makes use of the Medium Long-Shot here to display Pamella speaking to the local authorities in the back of the room while Hannay is talking on the stage. This really added to the suspense of the scene because you know at any moment Hannay will be busted because the authorities know that it is him now. There was also a great use of contrast in the scene (timestamp: 50:30) as the camera switches from Hannay on the stage to Pamella talking to the police. A light contrast is used when showing Hannay making the speech and almost getting away yet a dark contrast seemed to be used when displaying Pamella talking to the police. This seemed to somewhat foreshadow that Hannay would eventually be caught by the police and taken away.

                These cinematic techniques really allowed the audience to get a great feel for the movie. Not only the plot of the movie but the emotions and the feelings of the characters throughout the movie. Hitchcock’s techniques seem to really bring out elements of the characters and the film that would otherwise have gone unnoticed to the audience.