Vertigo

Question 1

What was Vertigo based on?

Answer 1

the novel by Boileau-Narcejac called D’Enre les Mortis, which was written specifically in the hopes that Hitchcock would do a screen play of it. It was bought by Paramount for Hitchcock.

Question 2

What part of D’Enre les Mortis intrigued Hitchcock?

Answer 2

He was intrigued by the hero’s attempts to re-create the image of a dead woman through another who’s alive, this can be seen echoed in Hitchcock himself as he would take a no name actress and bring them into fame, in a way he’d revive them or bring them the a higher plane.

Question 3

What did Hitchcock change about the story and why?

Answer 3

Hitchcock wanted to change the reveal that the woman the protagonist was attempting to bring back through another woman was still alive and was the woman he was using, so that it happened earlier instead of at the end, in order to build suspense and have the audience wonder what will happen next.

^^ everyone he worked with thought this was a bad decision however he was still able to go through with it, showing the absolute power he has

Question 4

What does Hitchcock describe the narrative of Vertigo as?

Answer 4

he states, “To put it plainly, ht mans wants to go to bed with a woman who’s dead; he’s indulging in a form of necrophilia”

This highlights the Taboo nature of the film and surprisingly Hitchcock was allowed to say this considering film was heavily censored at the time

Question 5

What does the scene where Judy “transforms” into Madeline mean to Hitchcock?

Answer 5

Hitchcock states that “Scottie is dissapointed because she hasn’t put up her hair up in a bun. What this really means is that the girl has almost stripped, but she still won’t take her knickers off. When he insists she says, all right!”

This highlights his primitive desires and his almost perverse nature

Question 6

What does the green light in Madeline’s apartment symbolize?

Answer 6

Hitchcock chose the location specifically because of the green neon sign, he states that the green light gives her a subtle ghost like quality as she emerges from the bathroom.

A similar effect can be seen dream sequence where they shot green light on fog to create a mysterious quality.

Question 7

Vertigo Key Collaborators

Answer 7

• Composer – Bernard Herrmann, worked on several other Hitchcock films. Without the music the film wouldn’t be the same. The music is instrumental in fooling the audience just as Scottie is fooled by Madeline/Judy.
• Kinetic Typography Opening - Saul Bass, created the first use of animated title sequences. Rumoured that Bass was the one who edited the shower scene. Created the dreams sequence
• James Stewart – Featured in other Hitchcock films, Rear Window. He was the biggest male Hollywood star at the time. The first to gain a cut of the movie’s overall revenue

Question 8

Vertigo Budget

Answer 8

• North by North west came before Vertigo, it was a huge success and it had a big budget. It lead studios to be more comfortable with letting Hitchcock use larger budgets as they knew he could gain it back
• The original author wrote the original source material in hopes that Hitchcock would adapt it, Paramount then bought the rights to the book for Hitchcock.
• One shot cost £19,000, the vertigo zoom shot on the stairs. Influenced many future directors and is still used within films to this day, Jaws, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Etc.
• The film was shot in color, which was expensive at the time. The dream sequence is a prime example. Psycho was filmed in black and white after Vertigo as it wasn’t a huge success at the time and he had to fund the film himself.