Vertigo: scottie's nightmare

• The nightmare sequence, designed by John Ferren, symbolises Scotties breakdown.
• Like DTRT, this sequence breaks the narrative in order to allow the audience a deeper look into Scottie's psychology.
• It begins with a canted HA shot, this unconventional angle is non-conforming to the classical Hollywood style.
• The canted BEV wide shot of Scottie in bed foreshadows the distress he is about to experience.
• Cutting to a centre framed MCU of Scotties head as he rolls his head in distress.
• The Bernard Herrmann score begins peaceful and serene before subtly building to add to the distressed tone of the sequence as we voyeuristically watch Scotties restless slumber.
• Hitchcock utilizes pure cinema through Scotties performance, which could used to argue against the auteur theory since James Stewart powerful performance adds to the distress of the scene.
• Colour plays a significant role in this scene.
• In the BEV MCU of Scottie, the blue colour filter flashes: blue symbolising stability, tranquillity and depression highlighting Scottie's loss of control as he deteriorates: like how the blue colour filter shifts into the other colours.
• The blue colour filters transform into a deepening purple: associated with mourning and transformation.
• This sequence subvert the expectations of the connotations of the colours blue and purple: showing Scottie's life turning on its head.
• Scottie's eyes then open, breaking the fourth wall as he stares into the camera opening the portal of subjective access into his mind. (Hitchcock technical competence)
• We then enter the dream, this disruption of the narrative that sets up the events that ensue following it.
• The first visual is a bouquet of flowers in a M centre framed shot: the bouquet unravels: the petals floating across the screen.
• Flowers = a recurring motif
• Hitchcock provides a graphic depiction of the brightly animated bouquet swirling about before violently disintegrates—a symbolic representation of Madeleine’s death.
• This shot is reminiscent of German Expressionism (inviting the audience to explore the intimate mind of the protagonist) as well as Soviet montage.
• We then see a MS three shot of Scottie, Elster and Carlotta Valdez.
• Carlotta appears out of Elster shadow, turning to Scottie: as though she is making an attempt to communicate with him: a haunting shot depicting the women in the painting coming back to life.
• The shot then cuts to a zoom in on CV's necklace, declaring it's significance in the plot.
• The representation of Carlotta Valdetta here depicts women as tools in the evil plots of men: there is no real femme fatale in Vertigo since the women have been put into the manipulation by men.
• Scotties dream scene is filled with different colour lights: each colour identified by each characters identity and with this visual style, HC provides a sense of sexual ambiguity through Scotties lust.
• The light changes to red after zooming in on Carlotta's necklace: turning into a haunting scene of Scottie walking out of complete darkness (a void) into the graveyard.
• He appears confused, looking beyond the camera, past the audience at something unseen (Hitchcock withdrawing information from the audience to evoke tension and suspense)
• We finally then get a eyeline match / POV shot of the open grave with 'Carlotta Valdetta' engraved onto it: before the camera falls into it: creating this sense of Scottie stood in the position of the women in the film.
• We then get this very German Expressionism inspired shot where Scotties disembodied head is imposed onto a neon, psychedelic tunnel.
• This shot is very surreal, modern and steps away from classical continuity editing shifting into a more expressionistic style of filmmaking. Like DTRT: Vertigo reflects character emotions through colour + symbolism.
• We can see that Scottie shares the same fears and dreams with Madeline about Carlotta: the old Spanish building, the open grave and the near death from falling off the roof.
• The colours of M + C (green (shall) + red (pendant)) flash over Scottie in this scent, reflecting his entanglement with the two women and how his masculine identity is attached to them: it is reliant on his ability to cure Madeleine - which he failed to do.
• His failures immerse Scottie in a 'feminine' world of disintegration, madness and death.
• 'Scottie lives out m's hallucination, that very hallucination that he had tried so desperately to cure her from, and he dies m's death' Tania Modleski.
• Death is equated with emptiness for Scottie.
• Hitchcock then jump cut's Scottie awake.
• Hitchcock shows his 'pure cinema' communicating Scotties mental breakdown (which is something not typically addressed in men in the late 1950s) is an expressionistic and surreal way.
• Hitchcock expresses the beauty of pure cinema, pulling the audience into S's dream to experience his terror and an insight into his psyche.
• He pulls away from the realism of Hollywood, this is a psychotically manipulating scene: the confusing motifs mirror (HC auteur) Scotties inability to understand his insanity.
• What Hitchcock auteur features can be seen here?

  Inspiration from German Expressionism

  Subjective cinema

  Taboo sexuality (Elster + Carlotta)

  Symbolism

  Technicolour

  Pure cinema

  Soviet montage
• Dream sequence was designed by John Ferren