Vertigo: opening

• The non-diegetic Bernard Herrmann score is intense: creating this instant tension viewing the film.
• Fading in to an ECU, beginning in medias res: two techniques that break the classical continuity editing and instead reflect Hitchcock's technical competence (Andrew Sarris)
• Like DTRT, it begins with an ECU and pulls back into the establishing shot, reversing expectations.
• The criminal comes first followed by the Officer and Scottie (the detective)
• The camera pans in an ELS over the San Francisco skyline, this shot acts as our establishing shot, establishing themes with the pleonastic gunshots are heard.
• The colour pallette contrasts DTRT, the dark, blue tonnes connote the thriller and film noir genre.
• Hitchcock shows his 'pure cinema' through visual storytelling of the chase as we cut to a side MS as the criminal jumping across, followed by the police officer who almost falls and then finally Scottie, tightening the frame, who slips down the roof.
• The camera cuts place the audience in the chase.
• The MS of the Officer turning around reveals the criminal getting away in the backdrop, Hitchcock here breaks the Hays Code.
• When scottie jumps and slips he looks down, a dolly zoom shot is shown: subjective camera work + German expressionism
• The dolly zoom gives the effect of getting closer yet further away from the ground. It shows us the mental state of our protagonist and the anxiety he feels the first time he looked down.
• Hitchcock shows German expressionism through the dolly zoom in terms of exploring characters psychology.
• Hitchcockian dolly zoom was actually invented by Irmin Roberts, yet becomes a motif of vertigo showing Hitchcocks technical competence.
• We get multiple POV shots from Scottie, Hitchcock auteur trait of heavy subjective camera work, aligning the audience with Scottie and his vertigo.
• Hitchcocks use of SRS, seamless editing and reaction shots reflects classical continuity editing.
• The HA BEV shot emasculates Scottie as he hangs from the roof, this emasculating reflecting the emasculate men of the 1950s off the back of WWII as well reflects film noir.
• HIs swinging legs makes Scottie appear as a lifeless doll introducing this theme of death and necrophilia
• This emasculated man is a different role for James Stewart, which reflects Hitchcock as a director and the film industry growing out of the star system and into more independent filmmaking.
• As the officer goes to help scottie, BEV shows him fall to his death, HC bending the hays code again by showing the death of an authorial figure. It also could be rooted in HC's fear of authority.
• Whilst HC has a distinctive style, he also utilizes the standardised aesthetic through SRS following the 180* rule to allow stability and awareness of the character positioning.
• Film noir established through emasculated detective, and the shadowed, dark lighting.