[Music] death and rebirth past and present repeating and returning round and round we go there's a reason we see the same scenes again and again in vertigo where's the sedge i look up i look down [Music] and it has something to do with this shape almost every movie can be summarized in a sentence but few can be encapsulated in a symbol this is motifs and motives vertigo and spirals the spiral is the perfect symbol for vertigo because it visualizes the core theme of obsession how do we define obsession an unhealthy and persistent preoccupation with an
idea because a person's mental and emotional energy keeps returning to this idea obsession is powered by repetition now think of a symbol that best represents these ideas of obsession and repetition a circle might work it captures the idea of being stuck in a loop and circling the same idea endlessly but the spiral adds an element of descent and negative change that we often associate with someone who is obsessed vertigo is a tale about obsession and hitchcock uses the spiral in many layers of the film to amplify this theme now after a traumatic accident [Music] our
protagonist scotty ferguson retires as a detective it wasn't your fault i know i know i have acrophobia which gives me vertigo and i get dizzy boy what a moment to find out i had it but soon after an old acquaintance asks scotty a favor ah watching your mind gavin i asked you to come up here scotty knowing that you'd quit detective work but i wondered whether you'd go back on the job as a special favor to me i want you to follow my wife to follow his wife for a very peculiar reason i'm afraid somehow
may come to her from home someone did do you believe that someone out of the past someone dead can enter and take possession of a living being no scotty doesn't believe madeleine is possessed merely obsessed well i think that explains it anyone could become obsessed with the past with a background like that obsession is the major theme of vertigo but there are minor themes that are also cyclical ideas the idea of death and rebirth and how the past haunts the present these minor themes can also be represented in a spiral and you can see just
how perfect this motif is now we have to talk about the title itself vertigo is a condition described as dizzying swirling sensation as if the world around you is spinning the spirals in the opening credits instantly evoke this sensation but hitchcock wouldn't be hitchcock if he left it at that even before the movie truly begins we hear the idea of vertigo listen to the mesmerizing melody in bernard hermann's magnificent score [Music] in fact there are two scales being played one ascending and one descending [Music] the rising falling and repeating notes it even sounds like a
spiral [Music] in the first three minutes hitchcock has already planted this idea in the title music and graphic design he wants us to think about this shape so we can draw the connections when we see it later on but this is just the beginning there are spirals throughout the movie scotty begins his investigation and sees madeleine for the first time at ernie's restaurant [Music] he follows her throughout the [Music] city she visits the grave of carlotta valdez [Music] and then the museum to stare at her portrait lady sitting in there who's the woman in the
painting she's looking at oh that's carlata here scotty begins to see madeleine's obsession with carlotta [Music] hitchcock could have used any hairstyle and we would understand madeleine's preoccupation but the fact that hitchcock chose a spiral twist is a stroke of genius it connects madeleine's obsession with carlotta and later becomes a key part of scotty's obsession with madeleine later madeline throws herself into the bay but scotty saves her [Music] and a connection begins to form my name is madeline ester my name's john ferguson good strong name acquaintances call me scotty i shall call you mr ferguson
oh gee whiz i wouldn't like that oh no travel to muir woods and find a redwood stump which has rings that are reminiscent of a spiral another clever way to visualize the minor theme of death and rebirth and a way to symbolize madeleine's obsession with the past [Music] by this point scotty has fallen in love with madeleine and wants to save her from this obsession i'm responsible for you now you know the chinese say that once you've saved a person's life you're responsible for it forever so i'm committed madeleine recalls a dream connected to carlotta
why what happened i had the dream dream came back again it's gonna be all right and scotty believes he now knows how to cure her you're going to be all right now madeline don't you see you've given me something to work on now i'm going to take you down there to that mission this afternoon and when you see it you remember when you saw it before and it'll finish your dream it'll destroy it i promise you [Music] madeline but this plan backfires scotty's vertigo gets the better of him [Music] and madeline falls [Music] [Applause] [Music]
as we discussed earlier obsession leads to an inevitable downfall in this case literally the spiral stairs become a highly symbolic location where madeleine's obsession ends and scottie's truly begins after her death scotty has a mental break [Music] [Applause] but when he recovers he begins his own obsessive downward spiral essentially the story structure itself becomes a spiral he retraces his steps returning to the same locations he saw madeleine [Music] [Applause] [Music] just as we saw madeleine unable to let go of the past now it's scotty's turn these repeated scenes helped the audience experience scotty's obsession first
hand drawing us further into the story and the character that's when scotty spots judy with an uncanny resemblance to his beloved madeleine [Music] like before he follows her he sees her in a window and judy becomes his new obsession well what is it just let me talk to you what about you why because you remind me of somebody their relationship blooms but scotty has yet to share his obsession he begins to change judy into madeleine buying her the same clothes i just want an ordinary simple grey suit you want me to be dressed like her
judy i just want you to look nice i know the kind of a suit that looked well on you and convincing her to dye her hair blonde color of your hair oh no [Music] he even asks to put her hair in the same spiral twist in order to complete the transformation well i should be back from your face and pen at the neck i told her that i told you that we tried it it just didn't seem to suit me eventually he succeeds and brings his obsession full circle [Music] what died has been reborn the
past has returned to visualize this hitchcock uses a simple arc shot that literally spirals around them it starts in a close-up [Music] opens up to a medium close-up as scotty unlocks a memory from his past romance with madeleine before pushing back into another close-up it should be a romantic moment but the spiraling camera actually becomes a bit of tragic foreshadowing help me with this wig but scotty eventually learns he's been deceived [Music] and his obsession ends at the same church bell tower where it all began i heard voices god have mercy so why is vertigo's
use of the spiral motif so important hitchcock found the perfect symbol to represent the main theme of obsession and used a variety of techniques to focus the audience's attention to it we saw how hitchcock masterfully crafted the symbolism in vertigo let's attempt this same strategy with an exercise step one is to understand your story at a fundamental level when you boil down to your plot characters and themes what is this movie really about consider the burnham family in american beauty lester and carolyn are both searching for personal fulfillment he seeks a return to a carefree
life without responsibility i see you're smoking pot now i i'm so glad she seeks perfection both at home and in her career i will sell this house today [Applause] [Music] step two is to find a motif that best captures the essence of these characters and their goals for lester and carolyn it's red roses for him this symbol is tied to lust for her it's an emblem of a perfectly manicured life and notice how the same symbol is slightly differentiated to match each character's state of mind carolyn's roses are picture perfect but confined and controlled and
leicesters are free floating petals step three is to identify the most meaningful ways to incorporate your motif this can be as subtle as set dressing or something big bold and expressive this will help guide and anchor your entire project from the big picture you've been working out haven't you i can tell all the way down to the details studio binder gives you every opportunity to write your motif into the script and to visualize it in your shot list to follow us further down this whirlpool of obsession subscribe and enable notifications then we'll meet again and
again round and round we go [Music]
