In defining the term “vertigo,” Robin Wood observed, “the sensation has been explained, I believe, by psychologists as arising from the tension between the desire to fall and the dread of falling- an idea it is worth bearing in mind in relation to the whole film.” John Ferguson, also known as “Scottie” by his friends, was the protagonist in this film. He quit his job as a detective when he failed to save the life of a police officer because of his suddenly overwhelming fear of heights. Given the title of the film, the “vertigo shot” was used often; this shot occurs when the camera is moved backward while the camera is zoomed in. It creates depth and illusion and when done repeatedly, it really brings to life what John was feeling when his …show more content…
There were many colors in the film but the ones that really stand out were: green, red, and yellow. The color green is reoccurring- splattered across dresses, invading thoughts, covering faces, etc. It is an unchangeable, internal effect that literally represents a “queasy feeling.” Often times in stories or films, when a character is getting sick or about to be, we hear the expression, “her/his face turned a shade of green;” this ties into the constant movement of vertigo. There were spiral motifs- the narrative structure was based on “the law of return.” One of the most intense scenes involved the tower stairs, of the first time, John being overcome with his acrophobia (fear of heights) and having the vertigo effect chime in with horizontal versus vertical viewpoints; and the second time, when John pushed through and overcame his weakness and made it to the top of the tower. When Madeleine “died” by throwing herself off of the tower in an act of suicide, my breath caught, and later, when Judy fell off the tower, I felt nauseous, I literally felt “green.” Also during John Ferguson’s dreams, he saw images in three colors. They represented different realms. He saw Madeleine/Judy in green with a red background flashed onto the