1. Vertigo essay by Jacob Park
In the film Vertigo directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the common codes and conventions of
thriller genre films are used to represent characters as morally ambiguous and socially or
emotionally unstable.The first great use of codes and conventions are the symbolic codes
which can be seen at the start of the film in the opening credits. This sequence uses
imagery of twisted and warped colours and shapes swirling behind the opening credits.
The colours and shapes are emerging from an eye (which can be representative of the
minds eye) which act as a visual metaphor for a twisted and warped mind, symbolising
moral ambiguity from the very beginning of the film.
Camera shots and angles are Thriller conventions used extremely well by Hitchcock to
portray moral ambiguity with the character of Scotty. The best example of this is the scene
where Scotty is investigating Madeline by following her to a graveyard. Throughout the
scene Hitchcock uses wide shots and POV shots of Madeline to put the viewer into the
perspective of Scotty, as the scene progresses and Scotty gets closer to Madeline every
POV shot has more foliage in-between Madeline and Scotty, giving Scotty a very creepy,
obsessive and almost voyeuristic quality to Scotty that was yet to be seen up until this
point in the film. Hitchcock cleverly uses this to make the viewer question Scotty’s motives
and give the character a sense of moral ambiguity.
Another Thriller convention that Hitchcock uses to portray moral ambiguity is character
representation. Hitchcock uses character representation to show the moral ambiguity of
Scotty again. At the start of the film Scotty is represented as good intended person with a
clear mind. This can be seen in an early scene in the film with Scotty and his friend Midge,
they have a close and friendly relationship witch makes the characters appear good
intended and kind hearted, at one point in the scene Scotty gets vertigo while looking out
and down a window and Midge catches him, this shows Scotty as quite a venerable
character. This idea is then contrasted later in the film when Scotty meets Judy and makes
her change her looks so she look like madeline, by this point in the film Scotty’s character
has changed and become more demanding and obsessive after Madeline dies, blurring
what his morals and motives are. Scotty begins to realise this and has an internal conflict
this can be seen in the continuous shot where Scotty kisses Judy after she has
transformed herself. You can see on Scotty’s face he realises how sick his attempts to
recreate Madeline are and stops kissing her, but then he doesn't care, his obsession is too
powerful and he continues to kiss her. Hitchcock uses this character representation to
show how morally ambiguous Scotty really is and how Scotty’s internal conflict in this
scene shows that he is also socially unstable.
Hitchcock also uses the Thriller conventions of lighting and colour to portray moral
ambiguity with the character of Madeline/Judy. At the start of the film the first time we see
Madeline she is wearing a green dress in a predominantly red coloured room. This makes
Madeline stand out and makes the viewer take notice of her. At the start of the film
Madeline is shown to be a mysterious yet innocent person as she is never seen doing
anything wrong up until the point were she dies. After Madeline dies, soon after Scotty
meets Judy who looks extremely like Madeline and as their relationship progresses Scotty
starts to transform her to look more and more like Madeline. In the scene where the final
transformation is complete, when Judy steps out of her bathroom to reveal herself she is
bathed in a green mysterious light and mist. Hitchcock uses this as a call back to when
Madeline was wearing the green dress and turns this scene into the reveal that not only
does Judy look Identical to Madeline but in fact she is Madeline. The use of green
2. recurring reveals to the viewer that Judy and Madeline are the same people and in doing
so blurs what Madeline/Judy’s motives are and really gives those characters/character an
aspect of moral ambiguity.
In conclusion Hitchcock uses the common codes and conventions of thriller genre to
represent characters as morally ambiguous and socially or emotionally unstable, using
camera shots and angles and character representation for Scotty, and then lighting and
colour for Madeline/Judy.
