Notes about Vertigo.

In the opening sequence of the film 'Vertigo' a chilling tone is created. This is created through; Narrative, Character and Atmosphere. Firstly, the first thing we see if a mouth, then a close up of the mouth, this gives the sequence an edge of apprehension, this is because it makes the audience feel on edge when it is something to do with the human body, and harm. The music at this point in the sequence is very tense, using a string ensemble with a high pitch. When the camera leads to the mouth, and then lingers there the music changes into more of a tense and ends into a crescendo ( also when the character engages in dialogue, this is at the end of the opening sequence). Then after the focus on the mouth, the camera moved slowly up past the nose, towards the eyes. The same thing happens with the tone and atmosphere of the music when the camera hits, what looks like, a woman's eyes. This builds a lot of tension in this scene.