Saturday, 24 November 2012

'Vertigo' Analysis of Title Sequence


Analysis of ‘Vertigo’ Title Sequence

The title sequence of ‘Vertigo’ starts off with non-diegetic music creating a sense of confusion and introducing a sinister feel to the movie. The camera zooms in on the woman’s lips and the first title appears drawing attention to the woman’s red lipstick symbolising passion and danger and her twitching lips suggesting anxiety. The shot moves to her eyes flickering left and right emphasising her panicked state implying that there is something she is hiding from. The next title emerges from her eye drawing attention to this feature and as the eye is the gateway to the soul the flickering prevents anyone from seeing her soul. The shot is then edited to a red colour which could link to the genre of the film as the thriller may incorporate danger and the change in colour symbolises a change in mood which introduces the theme of identity, confirming the sub-genre, as this is a convention of a thriller. As the camera enters the eye it suggests we are entering the woman’s mind and subconscious where secrets are revealed. The titles are displayed on one side of the screen next to the swirls where the patterns eventually take over suggesting her psychotic state inside her mind and the way her mind works emphasising her unstable identity. The font of the text is bold and close to being three-dimensional possessing another layer and representing how there are secrets to be revealed as the text is emboldened with another layer. Especially as the font is emerging from being embedded in her facial features presenting the revealing of her own secrets.



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