Camera Movement In Vertigo

The efficacious nature of films owes its prominent properties to the array of editing techniques. In the aforementioned films , editing techniques stabilizes the movie and

Hitchcock makes use of a number of techniques in Vertigo and brings them together to make a film that is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces. Through the use of colour, lighting, camera movement, dialogue and characterisation, Hitchcock produces a film that fascinates and intrigues us.

The movement decisions made by the director were key to making audience members feel certain and distinct emotions. The opening sequence of Mary Poppins shows a backdrop of the city of London. As the credits scroll by, the camera pans from right to left on the backdrop until it zooms in on Mary Poppins sitting on a cloud. This specific camera movement allows for the audience to make an easily detectable assumption that this lady on the cloud will be important in the story of “Mary Poppins”. Another example of movement within the “Mary Poppins” film is the scene of the Banks family flying their kite while at the park. This is an example of movement in that the director chose to have an upward movement of the camera, from the Banks family and to the kite that is flying in the sky. This decision on camera movement allows the audience to have a sense of hope for the Banks family, individually and as whole family. A third example is when Mary, the children, and Bert go and visit Uncle Albert at his home. Within these scenes, several reaction shots, low or high angle shots, and close-ups cut back and forth from Uncle Albert laughing and tumbling in the air, to the children laughing, to Bert trying to keep from laughing, and Mary admonishing them. A cut to a long shot for reestablishing everyone's place in the room keeps viewers focused.

How auteur theory can be applied to the study of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and Vertigo

Through distinctive images composers develop interest, drawing the responder in and thus providing insight into the experiences of others. This is demonstrated in Amanda Lohrey’s novella ‘Vertigo’ as Luke and Anna find themselves in a new and disorientating environment as they attempt to build a new life and in the ‘The Red Tree’ composed by Shaun Tan, through the nameless girl’s journey as she attempts to find herself and her place in the world. Meaning created by distinctive images creates interest thus permitting the responder to gain a greater understanding on how the experiences help shape one’s self.

Almost every piece of cinema seeks to give the viewer an understanding by intricately assembling shots in a coherent, and a sometimes muddled, manner; the techniques used in editing places various shots in purposeful sequences, to emphasize certain relationships between shots. The shots can be arranged smoothly and logically, or shift abruptly from shot to shot; different methods of the aforementioned arrangement of shots are utilized in either discontinuous or continuous editing. Sherlock Jr. and The War on Drug’s music video “Holding On”, are two motion pictures that offer spatial relations, by applying techniques of both continuous and discontinuous editing.

clever camera techniques which create tension and fear. The camera shots also pay close attention to detail. For example, when the man with the dog throws a stick for his dog to fetch into the sea, the camera

Firstly the directors and their team use a variety of different camera techniques to shape our view on the characters, and ultimately

The first scene, where Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) is imaginatively urging Walter to climb onto the helicopter to hunt down photographer Sean O’Connell, uses techniques such as slow motion, high angles, and long shots. Slow motion is used when Mitty is running to catch the helicopter before it takes off; this creates a sense of “real time” in the film and also adds drama and suspense--the audience is waiting to see whether or not he will make it. Then, when the helicopter is taking off, the camera cuts to Cheryl, on the ground, looking up at Mitty. The use of this high angle is to showcase Mitty leaving the ground and leaving behind his “old” life; it is becoming smaller in his mind as he seizes the moment and jumps onto the helicopter, which is something he would not have previously thought of doing. It makes Mitty seem like a large, powerful person to be leaving. Lastly, when the helicopter is flying over the Arctic Ocean, the camera zoom out from just Walter to show him looking outside the helicopter, which turns into tracking as the helicopter flies away. This is to establish the scenery of Greenland and showcase how alone Mitty was after leaving all he was used to behind. This use of tracking emphasizes the scenery in the movie and impacts the audience in that they feel happy for Mitty for being so brave. Overall, Stiller’s use of tracking, zoom, slow motion, and high angles craft a sense of adrenaline, bravery, and beauty in the scene, which adds to the sentimental value of the film. In the next scene, Stiller once again works with

In the beginning of the movie, the audience is thrown into immediate action. At first you see a cop chase a man and Scottie, the detective, following. The music increases the suspense as the audiences waits anxiously to see what is going on. Scottie all of a sudden falls and is holding on to dear life at the end of the roof. This is when the audience first learns about Scottie’s Vertigo. The audience can feel his fear of heights. The feel of a thriller movie incapacitates that audience at this point because they are wondering at the edge of their seats what is going to happen. As the audience sees the point of view of Scottie looking down onto the ground, they can feel Scottie’s Vertigo. The camera work on that shot was revolutionary in that film period. The camera seems to blur and zoom in and out to portray how scared Scottie is. The lighting in this shot and

Hitchcock is known for the “meticulousness of his preproduction, shooting, and editing strategies” (Sterritt 9). An example of this is the filming technique Hitchcock used to illustrate Scottie’s Vertigo; to represent the sensation, the camera would physically move away from the subject while simultaneously zooming in on the subjects. Thus this specific shot was used whenever Scottie went through that experience, creating a specific motif for his reaction. Another strategy of Hitchcock is “his celebrated use of point-of-view shots”, which he employed to unite “physical and psychological identification between spectator and character” (Sterritt 11). This is exemplified in Rear Window, which is seen from almost entirely Jeff’s perspective, thus uniting audiences more with Jeff, and therefore the subjective narrative. This increases solidarity with Jeff, and makes it easier for the audience to adopt Jeff’s discoveries as the truth. Additionally point-of-view shots allow viewers to understand characters more, as seen through Judy’s point of view on her walk in the park with Scottie. Another camera angle favoured is the extreme high-angle shot, which in some cases marks a significant point in the plot; this shot is used to show Madeleine’s fall to her death in Vertigo, the point in the movie that serves as a climax that triggers the narrative

Alfred Hitchcock’s stance in the film business is something to be marveled. His prominent position as the “Master of Suspense” is due in part to the textbook blueprint he created in the thriller genre. His catalogue has many examples, but the two with the most similar psychological depth would be Vertigo and Rear Window. Not only do these two movies thrill on the surface level, but they also thrill from the character’s emotional and psychological stand point. This makes the suspense less abrupt and more of a gradual progression into the classic Hitchcock climax. Hitchcock puts his viewers on a psychological roller coaster due in part to his three useful components: fear, guilt, and redemption.

There are various elements that contribute to the significance of a film. Cinematography, is one important element in which the camera is used to capture visual images through a number of other controllable elements such as; camera lens, framing, scale, movement etc. Editing is another fundamental component of film studies in which different shots are put together in a coherent sequence in order to make meaning of a film.

The directors chosen camera technique, a simple two composition that progresses the scene a steady pace, forces the audience to feel a part of the awkward exchange; obviously, a quality of film that could not be as profoundly achieved through the narrative in the novel.

The camera tracks backwards as Szpilman walks towards us. It gives the audience the feeling that he is limping into our hands as if we are helping a poor elderly man. Then the camera tracks from right to left as we get the impression that he is searching for something. The director chooses to track his movements slowly to make the audience feel as if Szpilman is moving along in a fragile house just like himself. The camera tracks along showing the audience a full view of him showing us the little steps he is taking just to get to the other room. There is very low lighting in this scene which shows as if he is looking for something quietly without making noise. Szpilman then finds something on the floor, so he bends down and this is shown by tilting the camera down to a low angle. The director has chosen to do it this way because it makes it flow with Szpilman’s movements. Then the camera tracks and zooms into Szpilman walking into the next room. When Szpilman finds a tin opener and uses it the camera focuses on it even though it is a small object and not important. As Szpilman carries on trying to open it the camera is still focused on it. The director makes the audience focus on that repetitive movement of trying to open it but at the same time distracting them from the characters emotions if anything surprising happens.