These are my notes on the thriller film 'Vertigo' and an essay on how it conforms to thriller codes and conventions.

1. Vertigo Notes
QUESTION: Using your notes below and your notes from your thriller seminars,
analyse how Vertigo conforms to our expectations of thriller codes and conventions.
Post your essay (800 words minimum) to your blog as a Google doc file.
How does this film show thriller themes
EDITING
CAMERA SHOTS/ANGLES/MOVEMENT
SOUND
THEMES & MOTIFS
SYMBOLIC CODES (including enigma and binary opposites)
IDEOLOGY
LIGHTING
NARRATIVE
CHARACTERS
REPRESENTATION
SETTING & MISE-EN-SCENE
MOOD & TONE
EDITING – quick/cut shots,
CAMERA SHOTS/ANGLES/MOVEMENT – close up,
reaction shot (fear of heights, marriage proposal, high angle, low
angle, dolly zoom, POV shot, establishing/eye-line match shot
of Ernie’s bar, Tilting to show grandeur of hotel, shot reverse
shot of Scotty driving, voyeurism shots (represent shots behind
foliage/objects adds to suspense/uncomfortable/mystery,
extreme close ups illustrate similarities between Carlotta and
Madeline, Driving shots of Scotty are all almost identical, low
angle on Golden Gate Bridge to make it seem imposing,
repetition of Eddies’ Bar, museum, flower shop and hotel
(places he saw Madeline),
SOUND – fast paced, loud, suspense, selective sound, Score
implies the formality of the scene, score matches environment,

2. heightens to alert audience to screen, score change to heighten
tension, pleonastic sound of phone,
THEMES & MOTIFS - Patriarchal theme – Scotty says he
knows whats right despite Judy loving the second option
Death, appearances, romantic delusion
Roses, spirals, tunnels, power and freedom
SYMBOLIC CODES (including enigma and binary opposites) –
stairs symbolise trying to achieve something (apartment and
church bell = conquer fear, different circumstances), binary
opposites: Scotty low point in career whereas Gavin is at a high,
Enigma. Madeline’s answers don’t match up the day’s events,
Scotty is trying to retain his sanity by climbing the stairs
(character journey), conquering acrophobia, green
IDEOLOGY – mental instability, Misogynistic transition:
choking her and throwing her against the wall, aggressively
pushing her up the stairs and threatening her.
LIGHTING – low key lighting, chiaroscuro lighting, film noir,
back lighting (unknown), high key in conversational scenes,
chiaroscuro lighting on Judy (split decision)
NARRATIVE – non-linear flashback sequence, first action
scene contrasts conversation scene, Curvy roads create sense of
unease as well as the shift in the non-linear narrative
CHARACTERS – isolated, Scotty – protagonist with vertigo,
Midge – Scotty’s friend, Dynamic shifts between Scotty and

3. Gavin about who will deal with his wife, Scotty’s grey suit like
Madeline’s, Costume changes to represent passage of time,
contrast character and mood change. Reflective of Madeline’s
personality, Midge tries to be more like Madeline (drawing
herself in the painting). Despite Judy’s altered appearance he
still picks out mistakes (OCD), Reaction shot/flashback to
portray character realisation, Scotty goes on emotional
rollercoaster from friendly detective to lustful obsessive
aggressive man,
REPRESENTATION – emphasising mental flaw (acrophobia),
proves pivotal in scene, Mental flaw #2 – melancholiac and guilt
complex for death of Madeline, depression, no back lighting,
Obsession with making her look like Madeline ‘suit, clothes,
hair’
SETTING & MISE-EN-SCENE – hat covers face to present
enigma, urban environment, red filter signifies danger and
caution at Ernie’s Bar, roses connotes death and mystery, grey
buildings/gravestones/Madeline’s suit, Green
car/dress/trees/grass, Scotty’s brown suit contrasts vibrant
colour, Carlotta’s name is repeated in few scenes for audiences’
attention, flowers in sea represents life being destroyed, green
colour palette in Scotty’s apartment, red dress, red door,
Scotty’s brown suit blends into brown trunks which are
associated with nature, pathetic fallacy - Waves swell and crash
at embracing moment, red dress on Midge, Red and green come
up in Madeline’s dream, repetition of phobia from first scene,
red filter/flowers, pathetic fallacy on Scotty after Madeline’s
death, Judy wearing green dress, Red filter in flashback, Red
lipstick, candle, room, purple dress (new look for Judy)
MOOD & TONE – foreshadowing emotional tragedy as cure for
acrophobia, patriarchal tone representing Madeline as mentally
unstable (possessed), accusatory aggressive tone towards Judy

4. Analyse how Vertigo conforms to our expectations of
thriller codes and conventions.
Many of the thriller genre’s codes and conventions are displayed
in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 psychological thriller Vertigo.
Character representation, camera angles/shots/movements,
sound,
The protagonist of Vertigo, Scotty Ferguson, is shown to have a
crippling fear of heights. This mental flaw is implicated through
the ‘Vertigo’ effect where a high angle shot is combined with a
dolly zoom to evoke a sense of unease for the audience. After
Madeline’s death Scotty then goes into a state of depression as
he fights a guilt complex. And in the latter part of the film
Scotty becomes obsessed with making Judy look identical to
Helen. This representation of protagonists is a common
convention amongst the thriller genre by portraying the
protagonist with a flaw that develops throughout the narrative
and is quintessential to the plot.
In the 50’s there was the ideology that men were the dominant
sex and this patriarchal theme is shown through Vertigo. Scotty
and Gavin have dynamic shifts over who will deal with
Madeline, Scotty decides what dress Judy wears despite her
preference to another and finally in the climatic scene Scotty
shows aggressive mannerisms and accusatory tone towards Judy
as he forces her up the tower to re-enact her apparent suicide as
Madeline. However this thriller ideology can be contradicted as
Scotty is lustfully chasing after this woman for most of the
narrative and despite being unaware that Judy was acting as
Madeline he’s still obsessed with changing her appearance.

5. Motifs is also a common code in Vertigo. The bouquet of red
flowers that pop up in throughout the film and represent life
however when Madeline is throwing petals into the Bay this
connotes her self-destructive tendencies as she later tries to
commit suicide. During Scotties nightmare a red bouquet is
shown and then disintegrates further representing Madeline’s
death. Another common symbol is spirals: the man Scotty sees
die in the opening scene is splayed in a spiral shape which
implies events going out of control, Madeline’s spiralling bun is
foreshadowing the chaotic events that she will entwine Scotty in
and lastly the stairs in the tower represent his struggle against
his fear as he tries to save the person he loves, only to lose her to
death. And the second time Scotty climbs the stairs he succeeds
in conquering his fear, only to lose Judy again.
There are two very prominent colours portrayed in Vertigo: red
and green. Red is usually associated with danger or lust and
both are conveyed throughout the narrative.
E.g. Ernie’s bar has red wallpaper and is the first time the
audience is shown Madeline, which foreshadows the lustful
attraction that builds between the two characters. As she
becomes more involved in his life this colour becomes more
prominent in different scenes e.g. doors, clothes, lipstick,
candles. Green also signifies eerie or uncanny connotations.
Madeline stands out with this dress and the colour of her car
when she is first viewed and this colour is used in Scotty’s
apartment after he saves her from drowning, Judy’s dress and
the green neon colour that floods the room when she transforms
into Madeline.