Vertigo 1958

The film Vertigo was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958. The one thing which I noticed straight away in this film was the fantastic mise-en-scene which was used, as it was all stylish and authentic. For example, there is a lot of the colour red used within the mise-en-scene which creates danger, love and passion. The colour red is used in many scenes, such as for the colour of the walls, the red lipstick worn on the female fatale and the also the red clothes that the female fatale wears. However, the scene with the roof top chase is a great thriller opening, as it automatically engages the audience, and brings them into the action themselves, which therefore makes the audience want to continue watching the film. The chase scene also means that film isn't giving anything away at the beginning, which is therefore keeping the audience guessing. The film also has the scenery of a house, which is quite light. This is a normal everyday setting, meaning the film isn't being to fancy, and wants to give away a feeling of the characters living an ordinary everyday life.

The female protagonist wears old fashioned clothes which obviously suit the time that this film was made. At one point within the film she wars a green backless dress which creates sexuality. As it is backless it is made to make the women stand out above the crowd, and green is the colour of envy, suggesting she's showing of to the men and making other women jealous of her looks and hold upon the men. There are plenty of effective sounds used in the film. For instance the music is quite sinister and non-diagetic. The music builds up, and is quite jumpy and contains a creepy feel about it. However, it keeps changing tone from loud to quiet to build up the audience for something to happen, then bring them down, which keeps the audience engaged. Certain thriller signifies used is the detective, and this is quite typical of a thriller. Special effects used are spirals around the characters eyes at the beginning, which gives the effect of dizziness to the audience and engage them.

The type of camera shots used varies, for example there are extreme close-ups used of the women's mouth and eyes. A birds eye view shot is used on a stair case (another known thriller signifier), which is effective yet simple to achieve. This emphasizes on the picture, and gives the audience a different view of the scenery. There are also plenty of quick angle shots including long, mid and close-up shots. The audience is also left with the question "Do you think Madeline is still alive?" This creates tension and engages the audience themselves to solve the mystery.