Week 4: Vertigo

From 25:25 until 27:13, Scotty first sees Judy/Madeline at the art gallery staring at the painting of Carlotta. This scene serves to introduce and convince Scotty (and the audience) of the prospect of Carlotta possessing Madeline. Within this scene, there are a few distinct camera shots.
There are several shots of deep space such as at 25:25 where the entire room is put into view of the camera. This in turn creates an air of space around Madeline portraying her as perhaps small or mysterious, that is, someone able to taken control over by a spirit or supernaturally possessed by one, respectively. The use of lighting should also be noted; although Madeline is the one shrouded in mystery, as far as the plot goes, she sits in the light while we view Scotty from the back – in the dark. On a cursory level, this indicates Scotty’s “shadowing” Madeline wherever she goes, but this could also be a parallel to their respective amounts of knowledge on “what’s going on.” That is, Madeline/Judy knows full well what she is doing staring at a portrait as well as why she is doing so while Scotty, on the other hand, is left in the dark and does not.
Again after Scotty enters and leaves the room, he addresses the museum guide at 26:53. Scotty wishes to know about the painting, so he asks someone who would definitely know. However, there is now shallow focus focusing on Scotty and the man. This shallow focus, coupled with the dark lighting, may symbolize Scotty’s focus being in the wrong place, that is, he is shooting questions out into the dark while there sits someone in the light who knows all. Although at 27:02, he obtains a packet of information about the painting. This packet, since it is written material, may serve as part of the mis-en-scene and prove to be illuminating. The packet contains information about the painting and information about the painting is what ultimately aids him in discovering the falsity of Madeline and the true identity of Judy in the end.