Opening sequence

2. Mis en scene Firstly we are presented with a view of half a woman’s face to the left of the frame, with just her mouth and nose visible. The shape and slight sheen on the lips makes it clear that it is a woman’s lips we are looking it. As the camera moves to nearer the left the other side of her face becomes visible. The credits begin to appear just above her mouth. Eyes look from left two right in a detective-like manner, this creates a sense of mystery. The image of a swirling spiral appears in the woman’s eye and then this turns into a new scene of a huge swirling spiral- this reflects the name of the film, vertex is the sensation of dizziness. Subsequently various different spirals follow , one at a time in different colours but towards the end of the sequence they reappear back in the eye of the woman.

3. Camera shots and techniques There are extreme close ups of a woman’s facial features such as her lips and eyes perhaps portraying her as a sexual symbol. The camera moves slowly upwards to reveal her eyes. When the camera moves again to focus on only one eye, the credits featuring “Alfred Hitchcock” appears and everything in the frame turns from black and white to red.

4. Edits The first edit occurs between these two clips

5. Following edits... The next following edits are of the credits with images of spirals with one spiral appearing within another; the outer spiral grows bigger until eventually it fades out and is replaced by the spiral inside it.

6. Sound The music used sounds as though it going around and around in the same motion as the spinning spirals, going from high note back to low ones and then repeats. One of the highest notes is heard at the same time the woman opens her eye wide open and the title of the film appears from her eye.