Vertigo: title sequence

• The opening sequence commences with a fast paced non-diegetic composition (by Bernard Herrmann) with is eerie and unsettling, presenting the thriller theme.
• A significant convention of the opening sequence of a film is to establish the genre of the film: Hitchcock conforming to CHE.
• As the music continues it becomes louder, growing increasingly intimidating.
• The music is accompanied by company cards (Paramount Pictures) reflecting the Classic Hollywood Era since the film was made under Paramount Pictures, despite Hitchcock being an independent director (unconventional for the time)
• The company cards are in black and white, portraying the film as mysterious, perhaps even implying a neo-noir style, enforcing the theme of crime and detectives, as the main character is a detective. 
• VistaVision = new technology.
• Image fades in and the colour changes to technicolour, with a black background and low lighting providing an illusion of a mystery - a prominent trait of the thriller genre.
• The shot is a CU of the lower right side of a woman's face, sustaining the mysterious essence whilst introducing a character.
• The camera pans to a CU on the woman's lips with title 'James Stewert' plastered above them (editing). This positioning links / foreshadows Scottie desires for ultimate control over his love interest.
• The camera pans to an ECU focusing on her lips and nose, fixating on her physical beauty, objectifying her as well as implying the theme of romance and desire within the film.
• Like SL title sequence, the performance of the females being shown introduce the themes of the films: Vertigo's being the dangerous pursuit of a psychological obsession
•  It is evident that the woman’s lip is trembling within the shot, indicating fear and anxiety, possibly questioning mental health- a key theme within many thrillers (specifically psychological thrillers).
• The female is presented as vulnerable, the ECU showing her eyes shifting from side to side, a very stereotypical role within film, specifically thriller’s as she is often placed in danger which she cannot protect herself from
• Hitchcock's 'master of suspense' film style is shown through the dramatic score building suspense
• Pans up towards the eyes at a slow pace, increasing audience anticipation and suspense. The eyes are dark and flickering- looking side to side: reinforcing her apprehensive behaviour and angles appear to make it seem as if she is being watched, showing the obsession the lead character has on her.
• Her eyebrows reveal the woman to be blonde: implying she is a heroine: Hitchcock blonde
• Blondes are the perfect victim, blood on white snow.
• The camera zooms into an ECU of one of the eyes, the colour transforming into a red hue (indicative of danger and warning and once again stating thriller genre)
• The stars names come first: reflecting the star system
• As the title 'Vertigo' enlarges the eye widens showing paranoia and panic combines with the Saul Bass graphics of spirals (theme)/ LISSAJOUS WAVES emerging from her: which could be said to echo her state of mind.
• The tempo slows down as the frame consists of a black background and Lissajous waves filling the frame in a range of colours, acting as a visual metaphor for the complexity of identity.
• The shot also provides the audience with a sense of vertigo: subjective access into the film.
• These rotational images eventually rotate back and we are left with the red hued eye within the frame which fades as the film begins.
• This interesting title sequence reflects Hitchcock's auteur status as he goes beyond CH and into the realms of Soviet montage and German expressionism exploring psychology.