Blog Assignment #8

Tower Scene From Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock


     This scene from Vertigo demonstrates a battle between love and death.  The woman in the video has a choice of continuing to love the man, or end her life.  She ends up choosing death, because she knows that this love would never work. The theme that Alfred Hitchcock is trying to deliver, is that love is more complicated than what you feel.
     Contrast of space is vital to the feel ofVertigo.  When the main character is chasing the woman up the stairs in the bell tower, he looks down to see how high off up he is.  The camera shoots the ground with a fair amount of space between them, and the the camera pulls back.  This allows the audience to see what the protagonist sees. This is also a contrast and affinity, because it shows the contrast between normal vision and the protagonist's vision.  It shows affinity by doing this twice throughout the scene.
     Movement is also vital to this scene.  The characters are always in motion.  This constant motion creates great tension throughout the scene.  As the protagonist is acceding up the stairs, the music is playing in the background gradually increases in pitch.  This tension is then released when the girl umps off the tower to her death, and the music stops.