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Vertigo notes copy 1
- 1. QUESTION: Using yournotes below and your notes from your thriller seminars, analyse how Vertigo conforms to our expectations of thriller codes and conventions. ! ! EDITING! visual metaphors - twisted minds with the use of visual displays ! jump cut of his progression throughout the church ! the church madeline has matches with the flowers in the painting she has, same with her hairstyle ! upwards tilt to show the ceiling of the hotel, shows chandelier ! jump cuts between madeline throwing flowers into the water and of the flowers floating in the water! jump cut with use of suspenseful music ! shot reverse shot, but madeline is above scotty shows dominance ! establishing birds eye view shot of scotty and madeline driving, swaps to two shot, pov and eyeliner match ! ! CAMERA SHOTS/ANGLES/MOVEMENT! push out used swapping in between shots of the ground and the man hanging from roof, the vertigo effect ! birds eye view shot ! match on action of his foot moving up step by step ! high angle shot he looks at her then looks up and down, sees street below him and passes out ! establishing shot of shops ! use of low angle shot to show man talking to scotty to have dominance, scotty is sitting down and the man stands above him to show dominance ! scotty is shown taller than the other man in a eyeline match to show dominance ! low angle shot as scotty walks in church, low angle shot of scotty watching madeleine by the grave ! tracking shot go him going closer to her ! lots of low angle shots of scotty in this scene ! voyeurism - the love of watching , watching madeline through ! establishing shots of museum ! wide shot of him staring at madeleine in museum ! pov shot of scotty driving behind madeline and watching her go into a building ! tracking shot off him walking in to madeleine's room! lots of pov shots of him following madeline through the streets, eiery guiding music as he becomes more obsessed ! tracking shot go him chasing madeline through the church! tilt down ! low angle shot and two shot of judy in suit store! repeated two shot of scott and judy in the car just like the previous one of him and madeline ! tracking shot inwards of the bar! tilting shot of apartment ! planning establishing shot of san francisco city ! ! pov shot of madeline leaving store ! lighting with shadow! low angle shot at top of tower to show dominance from scottys perspective ! SOUND!
- 2. unsettling score atthe start of the film ! further use of unsettling score as the film starts ! classical sad music used after mig leaves the car, shows he is upset about her abrupt departure ! symbolic victorious music is used when he kisses madeleine by the sea ! very suspenseful loud music as judy walks out of the bathroom looking the same as madeline, the ultimate question ! suspenseful building score as they progress further into the church that madeline committed suicide in, close to reaching crescendo as we are at the climax of the film! ! THEMES & MOTIFS! lots of red, and changing music, green dress against red background makes her stand out against the rest of the crowd ! boyresim! when scotty goes into madeline's room she is not there and her car is gone, and the receptionist hasn't seen her, creates a large sense of mystery adds on to this theme ! repeated imagery of grey suit- theme -scotty is obsessive of her wearing the same suit as madeline and looking just like her! theme of masculine dominance he is putting on judy to change her into someone else - echoes hit chocks obsession with blonde ! ! SYMBOLIC CODES (including enigma and binary opposites)! madeline wears a red bathrobe to represent her beauty and elegance evil - he uses red in the background with the use of fire. Scotty wears green to represent envy, good, earthly, nature driven, ! long winding roads - commonly used in thriller films, shows isolation, can't see around the corner showing anything can happen - building suspense, long continuous shots ! hitchcock has used a lot of settings by the sea because it is seen as uncontrollable and dangerous - things are lurking beneath the surface ! use of flowers and Scotty is watching woman green dresses worn on woman to show his obsession with madeline because he misses her ! repeated symbolism of green - specific colour pallet ! red colour symbol indicates death - foreshadowing something bad - unsettling score ! symbolism of red - reported imagery of the same red necklace ! ! ! IDEOLOGY! quite common in thriller films for character to question themselves, scotty is doing this society is compared wearing a black suit - further use of green light used in her room - silhouette with green lighting - large contrast between scotty and judy - half her face is covered - lighting ! ! ! LIGHTING! night time at the start the use of blue light - set in san francisco! as she comes in to focus soft lighting is used around her face but more harsh lighting around scottys ! de saturated light on the street! low key lighting as he enters the building his following madaline into - mixture between light and dark - chiaroscuro lighting !
- 3. contrast between thislighting and the high key lighting in the flower store - binary opposites - madeline in high key and scotty in low key - flowers imply the high key lighting contracts with her grey suit and imply her beauty ! back to natural light of outside ! low key lighting as scotty talks with other man in the museum, constants with high key lighting of other part of the museum shown! the bookstore has low key lighting, creates an eerie sense in the scene, contrasts with saturated light go outside ! scottys office is lit with low key lighting as madeline has some sad depressing news about her dream to tell scotty ! low key lighting used as they walk up the church spiral steps, the higher they go the darker the low key lighting gets ! ch sarguru lighting, with split personalities ! ! NARRATIVE! starts with chase sequence at night ! push in and push out! changes to a different sequence - non linear narrative ! mental condition of acrophobia- fear of leaving the house ! fear of heights which gives him vertigo - makes him feel dizzy ! meg is lit with low key lighting in her car when she sees madeline leave scottys apartment ! significant amount of the film filmed in paramount studios, it looks like san francisco behind them but it is not ! changed location to redwoods from san francisco - trees tower over characters wide shot used to show insignificant ! starting to focus on scottys mental health issues makes us wonder if he is going insane ! use of cut down tree - symbols trying to figure things out from small insignificant things ! scotty is questing himself and his motives ! repeated imagery of grey suit - reveals the new lady he meets is madeline - learning that scotty wasn't as crazy as he thought he was ! repeating location of church - looks like a painting ! vertigo effect is show again while scotty walks up the church steps for the second time. ! the climax ends with judy jumping off the church roof just like madeline did ! ! ! ! CHARACTERS! REPRESENTATION! Scotty - John ferguson - represented as an old man with use of grey hair, cane and mig calling him “old man” ! personality contrast to Madeleine wearing a grey suit to a green dress, as it seems unusual to audience! he demonstrates scotty with vertigo with him looking down with a pov shot and the use of zoom and sharp music effects, zooming in and out ! he makes Judy look almost the same as madeline, shows utter obsessiveness ! ! SETTING & MISE-EN-SCENE! green dress against red background makes her stand out against the rest of the crowd - shows elegance, - her car is also green to further imply elegance ! san fransisco very recognisable city, up and down hills by the water, lots of famous streets and grey!
- 4. scotty is shownas dominate as he is wearing a black suit and standing above her while she is wearing a weaker light blue - always wearing different clothing - mysterious - fem pat ale! ! ! ! MOOD & TONE! repeated imagery of grey suit- theme -scotty is obsessive of her wearing the same suit as madeline and looking just like her !