The film vertigo which was released in 1958 which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Vertigo is about a detective which has a fear of heights which is portrayed in the opening credits as the spinning and the spiral’s symbolises the detectives fear of heights as the detective suffers from an illness which is called ‘vertigo’. This is portrayed through the opening credits as the spiral’s convey the detectives emotions in the film through the opening credits we know what type of genre the film will be through the sound and visuals. Theories can be applied to the opening credits for example Roland Barthes theory of semiotics and Stuart Hall’s representation theory.
We start with an extreme close up of a woman’s mouth and eyes which connotes a …show more content…
This is because in the opening credits the spirals are the centre of attention. The spirals help symbolise the condition or the effects of vertigo which is very effective towards the audience as the audience start to become more active which is conveyed through the use of non-diegetic sounds as it helps to create tension. A spiral connotes the journey and the change of life as it unfolds. The spiral symbol can connote the consciousness of nature beginning from its center which expands from in to out. The colours which are used within the spirals change and differ which could potentially connote that the story and plot is completely different to what you usually see especially in that period of time. The black background along with the spiral connote that Hitchcock wanted the audience to feel a bit dizzy to put them at the edge of their seat to show the audience how someone within the film would be going through. Stuart Hall's representation theory can be applied to the spirals as the spirals can represent the women which was shown towards the beginning of the opening credits as the spiral could convey that the women could be suffering which is connotated through the eyes moving which shows the potential danger she could be in. The spirals can show the type of attitude or emotions which will be conveyed within the film. The context of the spiral is that even though the film was influenced by the novel ‘les diaboliques’ which was a novel related to a murder case, the film vertigo was related to Alfred Hitchcock as when he was younger he was suffering from phobias which helped influence him to create vertigo which links to spirals as the spirals are a way to confuse the
We start with an extreme close up of a woman’s mouth and eyes which connotes a …show more content…
This is because in the opening credits the spirals are the centre of attention. The spirals help symbolise the condition or the effects of vertigo which is very effective towards the audience as the audience start to become more active which is conveyed through the use of non-diegetic sounds as it helps to create tension. A spiral connotes the journey and the change of life as it unfolds. The spiral symbol can connote the consciousness of nature beginning from its center which expands from in to out. The colours which are used within the spirals change and differ which could potentially connote that the story and plot is completely different to what you usually see especially in that period of time. The black background along with the spiral connote that Hitchcock wanted the audience to feel a bit dizzy to put them at the edge of their seat to show the audience how someone within the film would be going through. Stuart Hall's representation theory can be applied to the spirals as the spirals can represent the women which was shown towards the beginning of the opening credits as the spiral could convey that the women could be suffering which is connotated through the eyes moving which shows the potential danger she could be in. The spirals can show the type of attitude or emotions which will be conveyed within the film. The context of the spiral is that even though the film was influenced by the novel ‘les diaboliques’ which was a novel related to a murder case, the film vertigo was related to Alfred Hitchcock as when he was younger he was suffering from phobias which helped influence him to create vertigo which links to spirals as the spirals are a way to confuse the