RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE VERTICO

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'Vertigo' almost has prodimently two different sections of its opening sequence, in which it shows a large number of credits using a see through font that is outlined in white for the 'eye' section of the opening, and a white coloured font for the 'spiral' section. This makes it easy to see the different words come up on screen. The two different sections helps to symbolise the two main driving forces in the film. The first images portraying a woman, which is a major driving force for the main character, whilst the second shows abstract spyrilling patterns which are meant to represent the effect of vertigo and are a major problem for the character. 

The first section uses clever camera movement and framing to help make you feel uneasy and intrusive, whilst also symbolising beauty which the character is drawn by. The camera is framed as an extreme close up, eventually moving from the mouth to the eyes, then zooming closer into the eyes. This helps to create a slight feeling of unease in an audience, as it feels too intimate, disregarding personal space. However, through the pan up, from mouth to eye, helps to enforce the theme of beauty, whilst the washed out colour makes the audience feel uneasy. The way in which the woman moves her eyes left to right help to further enforce this feeling, as it gives the illusion of nervousness. Moreover, as the camera zooms closer to the eye, the woman looks into the camera, causing this feeling to grow even stronger, as it seems she is looking at you directly. The use of colour/lighting changes in this section when the movie title comes up, as a wash of red is present. This creates a contrast to the beauty of the woman, as it symbolises how the characters yearn for a certain woman may be deadly. Introducing the main enigma for the movie. This helps to potray the romance genre of the movie, whilst the red lighting helps to establish the secondary thriller genre of the movie. 

The second part of the opening takes the form of spiralling patterns, that take slighly different forms and shapes. Designed by Saul Bass, this section would have been unique and groundbreaking for the time, it portrays an interesting use of technology. The spirals draw closer to the camera, coming from the woman's eye to start of the sequence before the background fades to black, the spiral grow and turn slowly before fading, to be replaced by another. This is meant to portrayed the feeling and effects of vertigo, which also helps to link the sequence to the title. Each spiral becomes a different colour which helps to make it stand out. 

The music helps to establish the genre as well as creating tension, due to it being fairly charring in parts and dramatic in others. For example, occasionally when a title would appear, the music would become more 'full' and dramatic.