The document analyzes the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo. It summarizes that the opening features a close-up shot of a frightened woman's face that turns red, representing danger, while mysterious spirals emerge from her eye. This is followed by a rooftop chase scene between three men, including a policeman and the main character. The opening establishes the thriller genre through its dark tone, mysterious music, and lack of context or character introductions.

1. Vertigo Film
Opening
Analysis
By Jade Dowse

2. Vertigo Film Opening
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CZfSc6nJ8U
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7sznnL0NZ0

3. Introduction
• The film Vertigo was made in 1958 and directed and
produced by Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on the 1954
novel called D’entre les morts.
• The leading actors are James Stewart, Kim Novak,
Barbara Bel Geddes and Tom Helmore.
• The synopsis of the plot is that a retired San Francisco
detective suffering from acrophobia and vertigo
investigates the strange activities of an old friend’s wife,
and becomes dangerously obsessed with her.
• In the 1950s, the style of the opening of this film would
have been very different to the audience at that time.

4. Titles
• The title of the film is bold and the font colour is
white against a red background giving the
connotations of a thriller as red connotes blood,
danger and violence.
• The names of the director and the cast of the film
are in the opening scene establishing to the
audience who is in the film. This technique is a key
convention in a film opening.

5. Genre
• The genre is a thriller as can be seen from the dark
atmospheric background and the red screen at the
beginning of the titles. The music helps establish the
mood.
• The dark mysterious feel and death at the
beginning of the action are key conventions of a
thriller genre.

6. Audience
• This film is intended for an audience of older viewers
and it is not intended for a younger audience as
the storyline is dark and complex.

7. Camera
• The only camera shot used in the title sequence is a close up
shot of the woman’s mouth and pans up to her eyes. The
screen turns red connoting blood and danger. It focuses on
the physical beauty of her face although she is in shock as
shown here with wide unblinking eyes and twitching lips that
enhance the creation of suspense which is another key
convention of the thriller genre.
• In the rooftop chase there are many camera shots used such
as an establishing shot to show the location to the audience
that it is set at night. A shallow depth of field is shown with the
close up shot of the hand giving the audience a sense of
enigma before we see the next shot of who the hand belongs
to. A point of view shot from the main character looking down
at the alleyway below connotes his fear of heights.

8. Sound
• The music starts as soon as the universal logo fades.
Eerie music reaches a climax building up suspense for
the audience so that it creates an enigmatic feel. The
music gets louder and faster paced so as a result the
audience can expect something to happen. The non-diagetic
music runs throughout the whole film opening
to give the audience the sense of the genre of the film.
• The rooftop chase shows that the music continues from
the title sequence to continue the eerie music and build
up suspense. There is little dialogue which is from the
policeman’s perspective. Some diagetic sound in the
opening scene creates lots more enigma for the
audience.
• When the policeman falls the music deepens echoing
the mood.

9. Editing
• The scene with the woman’s face is one long take
meaning it has a slow pace to the film opening to build
up suspense for the audience.
• They have added graphical geometric shapes and
special effects to come from a distance and fill the
screen to show when it is coming out of the eye it
symbolises vertigo which the main character has. Also it
shows the inner workings of the mind. These spirals are
repetitive as one spiral leaves another comes showing
the never ending fear.
• Transitions used are slow paced to convey the dark
mood of the entire film and draw it out so that it is long.
Straight cuts are used to make the scene dramatic and
at the time the film was done they didn’t have the same
technology that we have today.

10. Mise en Scene-
Costume
• In the title sequence we don’t see much of what
she is wearing showing that we are only focussing
on the close up shot of her face and her physical
beauty even though her emotions are showing fear.
• However in the rooftop chase, three men are in the
scene showing formal costumes. One is a
policeman wearing a policeman’s uniform showing
he has higher authority.
• The main character is in a suit which is formal and
not what you expect to wear in a chase adding
enigma. It also signifies his profession and status.

11. Mise en Scene-
Lighting
• The lighting is low key to make the atmosphere dark
and mysterious, just like the genre of the film. The
woman’s face has light shone from one side to cast
shadows.
• The second part of the opening also has low key
lighting but natural as it is set at night. The street
lights and the darkness contrast light and dark
which symbolises good and evil that is shown in this
scene.
Low Key Lighting

12. Mise en Scene-
Actors
• Only one actor is used at the very beginning. The woman shows her
facial expressions of fear; the wide eyes when the title comes out of
her eye links with the music when the music changes; her mouth is
nervously twitching introducing anxiety and that she wants to speak
but she can’t, as if she is in a dream where you want to yell but you
can’t. The unblinking eyes moving around show she is clearly on
edge and not comfortable with the viewers scrutiny. We don’t know
what she is afraid of adding to the enigma of the film opening.
• Three actors used for the second part of the opening. Emotions are
shown from the main character of shock when he is hanging on to
the guttering showing his fear of heights as the camera view is a
point of view shot looking down.

13. Mise en Scene-
Make-Up
• Her face is pale connoting that she is in fear as if the
colour is drained out of her. As it is black and white
the colour is not shown much but is effective in
showing the thriller genre.
• In this scene not much make up is shown except for
the sweat on the main character after running
showing hard work and that this isn’t part of the
equilibrium of the film as it starts off with a chase
scene.

14. Mise en Scene-
Props
• No props are used at the very beginning making
the scene simple to the viewer. A lack of props
makes us more focused on the action in the scene.
• Only one prop is used throughout the film opening
and that is the gun on the policeman that was fired
multiple times make the scene like an action
sequence and to show the policeman’s status.

15. Mise en Scene-
Setting
• We don’t know where the woman is set as the
background is dark and makes it mysterious.
• We know that the second part of the opening is set
in San Francisco on the rooftops. They run along the
rooftops to symbolise the danger of the situation.

16. Enigma
• There is a lot of enigma in the opening scene of
Vertigo as the audience questions…
• Why are we looking at the woman’s face?
• Why does the screen go red?
• Why can’t she speak?
• Why is she scared?
• What is the significance behind the spirals?
• Who’s eye is it?
• Why are they running on the rooftops?
• What is the backstory of this scene?

17. Conventions used and
challenged and their impact
• Most of this film’s opening titles challenges the conventions of a film
opening sequence. But the rooftop scene meets most of the conventions
of a film opening.
• Instead of an establishing shot of the location we get a close up shot of a
woman’s face in the title sequence. Although in the chase scene there is
an establishing shot showing to the audience that it is set at night and
there is a chase scene happening.
• The title sequence shows the title coming out of the eye symbolising what
the title means. The names of the cast, producers and director are also
shown which meets the conventions of a film opening and the studio
logo is shown.
• There is a lot of enigma and lots of non-diagetic music to show the mood
and genre of the film.
• However a film opening convention that is challenged is that there is no
equilibrium at the start of the film showing that the action is straight away.
• We don’t know who the main characters are just from the start of the film
but you can get a sense of who it might be with the woman and the man
hanging on to the gutter.

18. Stand out moments
• In my opinion I think the stand out moments of this
film opening is the graphical spirals and the non
diagetic music played.
• The spirals symbolises the conditions of Vertigo
which is effective to the viewer as it is different than
live action.
• The non diagetic music helps create the suspense
of the film and establish the genre.

19. What makes it such a good
film opening and why?
• It is intriguing and simple and doesn’t show much of
the story or the characters. It does show us the
main characters but we don’t know that just form
the film opening. This helps creates a lot of enigma
for the audience. Although the rooftop scene helps
set the scene for the audience with an establishing
shot and the music sets the mood.
• I feel when the film was first shown this opening
would have been one that stayed in their memories
and has stood the test of time as to being an
unusual and clever film opening.