Vertigo Opening Sequence Analysis

In the opening sequence a number of enigmas are put in place for the audience to question. One of these is who is the person Scottie is chasing and what significance does he have to the rest of the film. It also makes the audience question what Scottie does or what he is as he isn't dressed in a police uniform like the other man he's with but he's shooting a gun and chasing after what seems to be a culprit. Another enigma in the opening sequence is what is happening to Scottie whilst hanging from the roof, the audience question why he's reacting the way he is, this is later cleared up as acrophobia (hence the title of the film, Vertigo).

The purpose of the opening sequence is to get the audience questioning Scottie and who he is straight away. It's meant to tantalise the audience and give the enough enigmas to want to carry on watching the film. The opening sequence is also important as it introduces Scottie straight away and you get the idea of what he's about before the film has even started properly. Through the opening sequence we are told who Scottie is and what he's about.

In the opening sequence we learn that Scottie is definitely the central character in Vertigo, we get the hint that he's involved with the police as he's chasing what seems to be a culprit on the roof with another police officer. We also learn straight away about his acrophobia as he's hanging from the gutter of a high roof, this is interesting as his acrophobia doesn't come into effect until the start of the end of the film once he has to climb the hight stairs in the church.

Camera angles

The opening sequence starts off with a close up of the persons hands on a ladder and within seconds it cuts to a panoramic view of the whole rooftop and of the culprit being chased by Scottie and the police man, Hitchcock does this to emphasise that they're very high up, this becomes more relevant later on but if for insistence the camera angle was a close up the whole way through the scene the audience wouldn't know who high up they actually are. As well as this once Scottie is hanging from there gutter the camera angle is a close up, this is done so you can clearly see his anguish and discomfort about being so high up, the audience instantly knows that Scottie is "scared of heights".

Camera Movement

The camera movement is simplistic but effective as the camera simply moves along with Scottie across the rooftop, especially in the panoramic shot the camera slowly moves to the left following Scottie across the massive rooftop. The camera also moves with Scottie as he's slipping down the roof, this is important as again it really emphasises how far the drop is and it teases the audience of the fall until the other police man eventually plummets to his death.

Setting

The whole of the opening sequence is set on a rooftop, as Scottie and another police man chase down a culprit. This is again important as this is where the audience first find out about Scotties irrational fear of heights and if for instance it was a normal car chase along a street it wouldn't invites the audience as much because they've seen it all before whereas in Vertigo the issue is Scotties self control and acrophobia the opening sequence really tantalises the audience as its something different than the normal "thriller" they would be used to.

Performance

Despite there being any real speaking lines in the opening sequence, the performance is put across really well. The audience know straight away whats going on as the scene is fast paced and very intense. However the best part of the performance is when Scottie is having off the roof, although he doesn't say a word the audience know straight away something isn't quite right about the way Scottie was reacting. The audience knew just through facial expressions that he had an issue with being so high up.

Lighting

In the opening scene the lighting would have been three point lighting as its dark outside, however you need to see Scottie, the culprit and the other police man so there would have to be a key light, fill light and back light to help put across the darkness but it emphasises the impending mystery of the rest of the film.

Comments

  1. A Bateman8 October 2017 at 06:41

    Literacy point- don't forget to use apostrophes for possessive purposes, i.e. Scotty's irrational fear, and for it's when you mean it is.

    A really good analysis, with some excellent detail and first rate references to the main elements of film language in the clip. Well don Kameron, an excellent read.

    An excellent piece of writing would be made almost perfect if you'd referred t the POV contrazoom shot and how this creates meaning for the spectator, so reply to this comment and explain how this has been used.

    ReplyDelete

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