It is my opinion that a director makes meaning in a film, although the audience will apply their own reading of it. Film has its own "language" and there are a wide range of techniques a director can use to enable the audience to understand his meaning. The director uses mise-en-scène to contribute hugely to how meaning is made in a film - a large part of how the story is told comes from …showed first 75 words of 989 total…

…showed last 75 words of 989 total…something is placed directly in front of him or not. Hitchcock also uses tight framing in this scene to give a claustrophobic feel. If he had widened the shot to include Marion, this would have included more height which might have meant empty space. However, at the beginning and end of the scene there is a long shot of the two characters to give us an idea of the distance (literally and metaphorically) between them.