Vertigo goes straight into the opening credits, throughout the credits there is tension building music. The music is to add suspense to the credits and give the film a mysterious atmosphere. This type of music and mystery are both common in thrillers. To add to the mysterious atmosphere there are extreme close ups of a woman’s face in black and white at the begining and for a short time at the end of the credits, however you never see the woman’s full face, this is to add a sense of mystery because the audience wants to know who she is.

 

There is an extreme close up of the woman’s eye during the credits which widens as if she is shocked or scared and at seeing something. The shot has been edited to go a red which shows the connotation of danger. As this is happening the music becomes louder and faster to build more tension and keep the audience on the edge of there seat. The use of red to symbolise danger, violence, blood and death is used in thriller genre films. The eye is shot to show the audience it is looking at us which gives an effect of voyerism which Hitchcock is known to do.

 

The Mise-en-scene of the opening scene is dark , the location is a urban city. This is commonly used in the thriller genre. This helps give the narrative a thriller feel to it. The music during the opening scene of the chase is fast paced to help keep suspension and tension during the scene. Death is part of the opening scene in Vertigo, this adds to the dramatic feel of the film it also gives the audience and idea of what the rest of the film will be about.