Short analysis of film opening- Vertigo

Background
A woman's face is the background at the start but it then zooms to her facial features. It zooms to her lips, which twitch and this adds a sense of suspense and conveys anxiety. It then zooms to her eyes which appear worried, fearful and anxious and from there the special illusional effects occur to give a sense of confusion and mystery and uncertainty, for the viewers. Again a bold white font is used for the text to stand out aginst a dark background.
Music
Comes across as eerie, low and creepy in the opening titles. It appears mysterious and adds suspense because soft instruments are used (harps and flutes) but short, sharp bursts of instrumental music are used to make it jumpy and frantic and hurried.
Shots

• close up of hands in first shot shock us.
• contrast in costumes are used so we can identify the characters.
• continuity.
• enigma- why are the two men chasing the man?
• antagonist and protagonist.

Summary of the opening chase scene

It is set in a very built up area of Sanfransisco. The main characters are the cop, the man running away and the other man chasing with the cop on a rooftop.

The two men were chasing a man, the guy falls and is hanging off the edge of a building. The cop stops the chase and tries to help save the man and in doing so falls off the roof himself. The main character's flaw is that he is scared of heights.