Week 4 Blog Post: Vertigo

In “Vertigo”, I was most impressed with Hitchcock’s use of cinematography which allows the audience to experience the dizziness and disorientation that Scottie feels as he suffers from acrophobia. Hitchcock carefully uses camera angles and film techniques so that the audience sympathizes with Scottie’s difficult situation. In addition, Hitchcock’s use of cinematography builds suspense as the audience is able to experience Scottie’s dizziness.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when Scottie takes Madeleine to Mission San Juan Bautista to show her that the setting of her nightmares is actually a real place. The cinematography and mise-en-scene work to create a frightening environment that increases the suspense of the movie. As Madeleine races up the steep, rickety stairs of the bell tower (1:16:02), Scottie desperately chases after her. The camera cuts to a point-of view shot from Scottie’s perspective as he watches her race up the stairs (1:16:02). The low angle of the camera in addition to the sharp contours of the stairs creates a confusing and ominous shot that foreshadows the tragedy that is to come. In addition, the gloomy browns and greys that fill the shot add to the oppressive atmosphere. A tracking shot follows Scottie as he runs up the stairs after Madeleine, and the shot focuses on Scottie until we can only see the bottom half of his legs going up the stairs (1:16:08). The abstractness of this shot adds to the audience’s sense of urgency and fear as we watch the scene unfold.

The shot then cuts to a high angle shot as we watch Scottie run up the winding staircase until he finally reaches the same level as the camera. Then, as the background music sounds an alarmingly shrill and loud note, the camera cuts to a shot that films straight down the staircase, showing us how far the characters are from the ground (1:16:14). In the shot, Hitchcock tracks away from the staircase while also zooming towards it (Film Art: An Introduction). This technique that combines the forward movement of the zoom and the backward movement of the tracking creates a confusing and dizzying image that reflects Scottie’s fear and confusion as he struggles to overcome his fear of heights and chase after the woman that he loves. This shot encourages the audience to sympathize with Scottie because we can now partially understand the disorienting feelings that he experiences with his acrophobia. In addition, this shot builds the suspense of the scene as the audience wonders whether Scottie will be able to overcome his fear and save Madeleine.