Evaluation Of Vertigo

At the beginning of the title sequence to Vertigo, the first shot we see is an extreme close up. Only half of the face was shown, which instantly creates a sense of mystery, and gets the audience questioning why we can't see the whole face.

The next shot we see, is that of an eye. The shot is in red, and this has connotations of danger, therefore we instantly have our own outlooks on the genre of the film. Either horror or thriller. Then a hypnotic type effect circles the pupil of the eye, this gives off a sense of mystery to the film before it has even started, but it prepares us for what types of things may occur in the narrative. Identity is key in a thriller, and you can tell a lot about a person by their eyes. So having an eye for this opening also has a link that the film coming on may be a thriller.

The third shot is when we are introduced to the characters of the film. They are running across the roofs of different buildings joined together being chased by police officers. The shots, panning and tracking, and the use of quick music, are used create pace and tension in the clip.
We see here a point of view shot, we see the man from the police officer's point of view, and get a sense as if we are there.

One of the characters gets into trouble as he slips off one of those roofs in an attempt to jump from one to the other. Holding onto a drain pipe, and the use of a birds eye view shows his vulnerability in the situation. Behind him we can see the location of the film, a city, and due to the buildings being so tall, this also contributes to the fact he is theoretically against the world.

A zoom out shot before the character falls to his death shows just how steep the drop is, and puts the audience in an awkward, and frightened state of mind. 

As the character is falling to his death, only one shot is used to show his fall, and that is also birds eye view shot. We see him getting smaller and smaller as he falls, and this shows just how helpless everyone is to him at this point, as there is nothing anyone can do. 

The first shot below shows how desperate he is at this moment in time, as he is holding on to dear life, on something so weak and unlikely to hold his weight.