SSC Film Studies

Vertigo - Title Sequence

The opening shot of Madeline’s lips is an extreme close up which fetishises her features and links in to the theme of obsession, the nervous twitch indicates that she is not comfortable with the viewers close examination. The camera then pans to her eyes, they shift nervously which shows her trying to avoid direct eye contact, then once she makes direct eye contact with the viewer, her eyes widen and the camera pans in as the spirals start, this is giving us a view into her psychology. The mood changes as the camera focuses on her eye through a red tint. The use of red, which is a powerful colour, identifies some of the key themes of this film, such as passion, danger, lust etc.

The downward spirals we see which represent Madeline’s psychology, connote a continuous cycle which draws the viewer in, the cycle is a running theme through out the film, this includes the intense music, the violins are repetitive which keeps the viewer locked and almost hypnotised by this internal workings of Madeline’s psychology, this represents Scotties obsession.