Section A - Hollywood: Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958) Flashcards
How were Classic Hollywood films produced?
Assembly line production (100s films/year/studio)
Factory-like environments
Studios contracted actors: guaranteed employment, take risks. Stars popularity brought in money - buying them saved money (investment)
Loan actors between studios for different genres
How much control did a studio have under the Studio System?
Studio had all production and distribution rights (owned own cinemas)
No committee - could make what ever you wanted
Whole creative teams contracted to studios: secured talent
Name the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Studio System
Ads: Lots of films quickly
Dis:
- Long hard shifts
- Women only worked as stars (objectified)
- New tax laws -> actors breaking contracts to earn more money -> studios closing
- Indie cinemas couldn’t compete
How divided was 50s America?
How does this relate to ‘Vertigo’
Racist & sexist - segregated society
Civil rights & women’s movements towards end of decade
Men trying to re-assert control over women. Scottie tells Judy to spend time with him instead of going to work: “Let me take care of you”
Who invented the contra-zoom and how was it used to create meaning in ‘Vertigo’?
Irmin Roberts - uncredited cameraman
Used for Scottie’s ‘Vertigo’; chasing Madeleine in tower, audience feels his vertigo. Used alongside P.O.V. shots
How are P.O.V. shots used to create meaning in ‘Vertigo’?
P.O.V. shots of Scottie viewing Madeleine/Judy - noticing curl in her hair is same as one of Carlotta in painting (male gaze theory)
How are close-ups used to create meaning in ‘Vertigo’?
Close ups on significant details: Carlotta’s grave, Madeleine’s necklace, curl in hair
How is Judy’s suit important in ‘Vertigo’?
Hitchcock controlled Novak through grey suit
Wanted Vera Myles (saw her in black and white). She got pregnant, so angrily got Kim Novak in. Wanted her to wear grey (recreate black and white). She didn’t want to, but Hitchcock made her
Scottie forces Judy to wear it to become Madeleine
How is colour used in the set design of ‘Vertigo’?
How does this relate to the production contexts/auteur theory?
Expressive miss en scene of Classic Hollywood ; use of colour - red in restaurant, love and passion
Hotel = grey, bland, bleak
Green = Madeleine (ghostly effect on her as leaves bathroom - ghost of Madeleine is there)
Mise-en-scene tends to expressive emotion: everything in the film relates to the story, conveys an emotion. Trying to compete with theatre - make the sets look like a theatre set
How is chiaroscuro lighting used to create meaning in ‘Vertigo’?
Green = Madeleine’s colour motif. Sat in the window at the hotel - green hotel light illuminates half her face, half not. Duality of Madeleine and Judy
Hitchcock inspired by German Expressionism - chiaroscuro lighting used commonly in this. Sign of his auteur signature
How does the idea of passive female characters relate to ‘Vertigo’?
Classic Hollywood films have passive female characters who are sexual objects for the active male characters
Madeleine = passive female characters. She doesn’t speak for first 40 minutes. Calls Scottie ‘Mr Ferguson’ at first.
Judy = more active than Madeleine. Protests at Scottie trying to stop her becoming Madeleine again, but lets him do it
Midge = active. Follows Scottie following Madeleine. Puts a note under his door, paints the painting for him
How does Judy’s closet create meaning in ‘Vertigo’?
Closet = Judy hiding the suit in there, repressing the idea of Madeleine, trying to forget it.
Kim Novak trying to forget the idea of becoming Madeleine, not wanting to wear that suit
4 Conventions of Classic Hollywood narrative
3-Act Structure
Progresses through character’s will and struggle to obtain a goal
Men - definable traits, active, goal oriented. Women - passive, rely on actions of the men
Objective storytelling: audience knows more than the characters do
How was space and time used in the Classic Hollywood style?
Flash-forwards and flashbacks
Most shots focus on gestures/facial expressions
Centering - significant people/object in centre of frame
Depth (set, lighting - mostly 3 point - costumes designed separate foreground and background)
What brought on New Hollywood (American New Wave)?
Old Hollywood rapidly losing money: competing TV audiences, poor operational links between studios and theatres
Studio system collapse: tax laws -> stars breaking contracts to get more money. Studios relied on them for money
Changing audiences: younger, more money, college educated
How did Hollywood react to the collapse of the studio system?
European films popular - innovative, took risks, so:
Studios hired young filmmakers - less studio control, more for directors and producers
Production code (1966) and Ratings system (1968)
