Vertigo - Opening Titles & Sequence

Vertigo – Title Sequence



"Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that it's about circling back to the same moment, again and again ... And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for — he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession.” – Martin Scorsese, Sight and Sound, 2004

We see the face of a woman, and as we move to her lips, we hear dramatic music, by Bernard Hermann. Again we move to her eyes and the music becomes strong and powerful, but at each of these moments, the credits of actors come up. The camera then moves to her right eye, and suddenly the whole screen turns red. This is a connotation, and we automatically think of danger, and her eye widens to emphasise this. However, it could also indicate lust; but overall, it gives us an idea of what the film many include.

Then there is the use of graphic match, with the eye and the swirls, with gradually what we follow. The opening credits continue using this effect of swirl patterns, to reflect to the feeling of vertigo, making the audience dizzy (well certain people. Hannah was sitting next to me and she said it made her dizzy, and I heard others as well. It had no affect on me, but after a while, I realised it did). The swirls change colour, supporting the vertigo feel, of faintness and giddiness. This was created by Saul Bass, employing kinetic typography.

The shot of the woman’s face/eye, with the screen totally red, re-appears reinforcing the danger, and lust of this film. It then fades to black and we are then shown the opening sequence.

Vertigo – Open Sequence



The sequence if of a action chase scene as we see the close up shot of a man’s hand, which is followed by his body; we understand later when the police officer and detective John “Scottie” Ferguson, played by James Stewart. The sound of the music is extremely of a fast pace, as well as suspenseful and dramatic. The greatest effect used in the sequence is the use of ‘reverse zoom’. When the detective falls off the roof and hold on to the bar, and looks down, the effect is use to show us his fear of heights: vertigo.

The shots at the beginning are very long, so that we can obtain the information we need to understand what is going on. As well as this, long shot and panning is used, so that again, we obtain enough information and so we can see what is going on. The shots don’t become fast until the detective falls, and the music become of a faster pace. The music become more dramatic when the police man falls trying to save the detective, as we see him plummet to his death. The detective’s expression becomes more fearful, whilst hanging on for dear life, to convey the effects of vertigo.