Vertigo

Vertigo is a 1958 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film's credits were created by the well known title sequence editor, Soul Bass. We watched this opening sequence to see what we could understand about the theme and narrative of the movie and how it conforms to conventions of a thriller.

We are first shown an image of what we guess is a woman's face which we can assume may be a main character in the film. Later, the camera focuses on her eyes and show a jaunty movement and the eyes widen as if she is possibly scared or seen something which gives us a clue towards the narrative of the movie. Shortly after, the whole screen slowly turns red. Red is obviously a connotation for blood and danger, this makes the audience expect possible death in the movie. Dizzying animations come out of the eye and fill the screen. The word vertigo is an experience people get when they are frightened of heights. The animations could be portraying this emotion through its slow, disoriented spinning. Also, the animations regularly change colour and shape so that the viewer remains engaged. The music which accompanies the title sequence with its eery high pitched noises paired with low bass as well, creating an over all mysterious sound. Which we would expect of a thriller as most thrillers contain some kind of 'mystery'.