Vertigo

Question 1

What’s the specialist area and critical debate for the Hollywood essay?

Answer 1

Auteur Theory

Which has the most impact on the final shape of the film, Auteur or Prod. Context?

Question 2

When was the golden age of Hollywood and what ended it?

Answer 2

+Early 30s to 60s

+Ended by:
-Antitrust actions against vertically integrated, monopolistic studios.
-White flight to suburbs / resulting demographic change at theatres
-Television stole the existing middle class audiences
-Shifting cultural attitudes to drugs, sex, politics and entertainment.

Question 3

What did the studio system entail?

Answer 3

+Vertical integration of:
Production //Distribution // Exhibition
+Shooting on studio lots as opposed to on location
+Star Personas contracted to the studios to be leased as fit, payed a weekly salary, little agency.
+Studio Heads with executive creative control
+Overreliance on Genre, diff. Studios specialised in diff. Genres
+Motion picture production (or Hays) code was a form of self-censorship (to preempt gov. censors) in line with contemporary Conservative morality.
+Classical Hollywood Style

Question 4

Define Bordwell’s Classical HW style.

Answer 4

+Conform to explicit Narrative Logic, character seen moving thru struggle to defined goal.
+Motivations are often psychological, emotional concerns rather than social concerns.
+Three acts linked by explicit cause and effect.
+Time is linear and continuous, cont. editing is the established norm
+Painstaking efforts to make spaces appear believable, not abstract or symbolic
+Theatrical Performances
+Est. shots developed for sheer clarity
+Parallel non-diegetic score to anchor emotional response
+Clear Heroes and Villains

Question 5

How does Vertigo Subvert it’s contexts?

Contexts being Hays code, and general studio system genre demands.

Answer 5

+Justice isn’t done, Elster faces no punishment
+The Damsel in distress ultimately emasculates Scotty rather than affirming his masculinity
+James Stewart’s star persona as the everyman is subverted as Scotty is Wholly Alienated by the end
+Unsatisfying narrative resolution; Cliffhanger
+Dreamlike, nightmarish and experimental use of film form
+Elliptical narrative structure
+Hitchcock was asked to tone down the erotic vibe (Lol)