Vertigo opening sequence

Vertigo Opening Sequence

The opening sequence of Vertigo serves to introduce the character of Madeline, it opens with an ECU of features on a woman's face who is later established as Madeline. The ECU of her lips show them twitching nervously, introducing the theme of anxiety as the woman is closely scrutinised by the viewer. The close examination of her features leaves her looking on edge as she is clearly not comfortable. This scene introduces some key conventions of the thriller genre such as anxiety, paranoia, and the notion of looking, or 'gazing'. The opening sequence shows the fetishisation of Madeline and the closeness of the ECU shots create a sense of discomfort and claustrophobia. 

There is a shift in mood due to the graphics forming a red tint and the musical score building, creating tension. The close up of the now red eye reinforces the idea of 'gazing' and introduces the theme of identity. The red connotes the theme of obsession as we gaze upon this woman and are drawn in through the dramatic stylised changes and the continuous cycle of the music, and the music is most intense when we get a ECU of a part of the woman's face. Red also connotes feelings of lust and danger, which links to the woman's discomfort from being scrutinised by the viewer, and the lust links to Madeline's fetishisation and could also connote danger and lust as it is the same colour as her dress when she first meets Scottie. During the ECU of the eye alone, the theme of unstable identity and the internal working of the mind are shown through a mix of live action, colour change and the Vertigo graphic. The title graphic is significant as these are central themes to Vertigo which are being established in the establishing sequence. 

The series of geometric shapes appear to come from a distance and then fill the screen - when one disappears another takes its place. This was designed as a visual metaphor for the complex layers of a person's identity, for Madeline's hair style, for dizziness, and for falling. The whirlpool-like spirals create a sense of delusion, making the spectator feel as if they are being drawn in, establishing the theme of obsession as the spiral is continuous, like a hypnotic cycle. The spirals suggest that there is a 'downwards spiral' in the film, which would represent Scottie's obsession with Madeline as it is a cycle which cannot be broken, foreshadowing the events of the film. 

The illusion of falling created by the spirals encourages the foreshadowing of Madeline's death, and also Judy's death as Scottie experiences the feeling of vertigo from these places, and it gives the same effect that the spirals do in the opening sequence. The Vertigo shot reflects the effect of the spirals, showing that Hitchcock actively used the spirals to convey a message about this cycle of 'Vertigo', which links into the film's psycho-analytical messages.