Vertigo
Camera shots/angles/movement\
- Long shots/establishing shots and wide shots of the characters and their surroundings.
- This gives the audience the awareness of what danger they are in as they are running across very high buildings.
- Mid shot of police officer (foreground) with the man they are chasing (expected criminal) far in the background.
- Shows how the criminal is getting away while the police officer decides to help the man who is dangling off the side of the building.
- Close up of the man’s face while he dangles off the building.
- This shows the intense stress he is in while his life is in danger.
- Birds eye view/high angle shot of the road beneath him.
- The sense of danger is shown through this as the character has a long way to fall.
- Pan of the chase from a distance which sets the scene. Allows the audience to know they are on roof tops in the night time.
Sound
- The non-diegetic sound is the music.
- The music is fast with often loud sounds. This gives not only suspense but make the audience feel completely on edge as if something bad is about to happen.
- Diegetic sound- the police officer screaming while he falls off the building.
- The music is constantly being played with no breaks.
- This also helps to make the audience feel on edge as if the are waiting for something dramatic.
Editing
- Short, quick shots of the chase and the danger the man is in.
- This makes the scene become tense as everything is happening quite fast (including the shots)
- With the birds eye view shot of the road beneath the men, it zooms in and out (mainly out) this makes the fall feel more deadly for the characters and the audience.
Mise-en-scene
- The lighting is dull and dark.
- The opening scene mainly concentrates on the characters.
- Characters are differentiated. The policeman is in his uniform and his colleague who was perhaps higher up than him is in a smart uniform, (suggested good characters) he would've been a detective or something similar. The other is therefore the hinted antagonist.
- The policeman had a gun that is fired in the opening of the clip. This added effect to the scene because it shows that the criminal is worth shooting and the protagonists are desperate to subdue him.
Characters
- There is a police man in his uniform which is hinted as a protagonist and a mysterious man who is also hinted as a protagonist.
- The man is mysterious because he is in no uniform. This suggests that he might be higher up than the policeman.
- The suggested criminal has not much attention paid to him. He gets away quickly. This hints he may be a part of maybe an illegal/bad organisation.
Location
- It is not clear what country it is in but it may be America because the characters have an American accent.
- Also, it is a busy city as there are many high buildings and many lights.
- There is also the sea in the background.
- It is hinted that the location is set in a big, busy city in America e.g. New York.
Narrative/Plot
- Two men are chasing one man, guns are being heard.
- They are chasing him on top of buildings.
- It is at night time.
- A man dies as he falls off a building and the criminal gets away.
- Another man is left dangling off the builder.
- This is a big cliff hanger as the audience wants to know what the criminal has done and if he gets away.
- The audience also wants to know if the other mysterious man survives and what his role is in the film.
- This all draws in the audience and makes them want to watch the rest of the film.
Visual Style
- The scene is very dark, grey and with not many colours.
- This suggests a serious and bleak atmosphere.
- It is also very dark giving us a sense of mystery and being not completely clear of whats going on which invites the audience to watch more.
Genre
- This is definitely an action movie as in the first opening scene there is already a chase, guns and death.
- The dramatic music and the fact that it is happening at night time also suggests that it may be a thriller, action film. (Hybrid genre.)
