FM4 C Synoptic Study: Vertigo
Starter: (Groups) Using the handout provided, define the following in relation to film:
- Acraphobia
- Visceral experience
- Studio system
- Necrophelia
- Voyeurism
- Canon
- Theme
- Motif
- Symbol
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This is the third and final Section of the FM4 Exam Paper. It is worth 30 Marks (whereas the other Two Questions are worth 35 Marks Each.
It's the Synoptic Unit, meaning that it it draws on all the learning from the AS and A2 Years and applies it to a single film.
Centres are allowed to choose one film to offer/teach their students, taken from a list prescribed by WJEC. We have chosen to study Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958). Every film on the list is significant in several ways and they all regularly feature in 'Greatest Films Of All Time' Polls.
This film is significant because it now heads one of the most prestigious of the lists - the BFI List - after toppling Citizen Kane from that position, which it ran second to for many years.
This film is significant because it now heads one of the most prestigious of the lists - the BFI List - after toppling Citizen Kane from that position, which it ran second to for many years.
VERTIGO
This classic thriller-romance (starring James Stewart) follows a police detective who retires due to his acrophobia (fear of heights) and acute vertigo. He is asked to investigate a woman (Kim Novak) whose husband believes that she may be possessed, and falls madly in love with her in the process. It seems that the presumed “possession” is not the only mystery here, as he discovers a convoluted plot involving multiple identities and murder.
This was the first film to use the “dolly zoom”, a camera technique that distorts the perspective of the shot and creates a feeling of dizziness and disorientation in the viewer. The film opened to mixed reviews, but was later accepted as one of Hitchcock’s best works.
It is a significant film because
Section C: Single Film – Critical Study One question to be answered from a choice of two questions general to all films and a specific question set for each film prescribed.
Candidates are required to study the film chosen in a synoptic way - to consider the critical reception of the film (which in all cases has given rise to much debate) and to apply a critical approach appropriate to the film arising from one or more of the critical frameworks listed for FM3.
There is a choice of three questions available to candidates: two general questions and one specific question set for each film prescribed .
- A film about film: identification / obsession / misrecognition?
- A film about film: the gendered look, the female object
- The significance of this as a “Hitchcock” film - Recurring motifs and the possible symbolic patterning of the film
- Interpreting the Madeleine / Judy split - The spectator relationship to Scottie as the film develops
- The use of locations
- The success or otherwise of the film as a thriller
- Difficulties in taking the film seriously from a narrative realist perspective and problems of audience response that result from this
- The film’s canonical status
- The film’s critical reception
- It was directed by Hitchcock, widely regarded as an Auteur and nominated as such by the original French Film Theorists.
- It's a very complex tale of psychological obsession so analysis of its Narrative is very important.
- Following on from the previous point, it's a tense thriller (in the Hitchcockian tradition) so analysis of its Genre Conventions is very significant.
- It's Film Language is beautifully crafted (technically and creatively) so analysis of its Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Mise-en-Scene and Performance is very significant.
- It was made in the late 1950s - right on the cusp of some of the most significant Social, Political and Historical developments in the West and its Messages and Values about Gender, for example, are very significant.
- Whilst it is difficult to find technical criticism of HItchcock's work he has been labelled a Misogynist by Feminist (esp. Laura Mulvey) and even Non-Feminist Academic Film Critics, who find parallels between the awkwardness of his real-life relationships with women and the mirroring of these in his celluloid obsession with the stereotypical 'Ice Queen' (the unattainable, beautiful, frigid, blonde femme-fatal). She is very present in Vertigo so an analysis of Performance and Direction is extremely revealing.
Section C: Single Film – Critical Study One question to be answered from a choice of two questions general to all films and a specific question set for each film prescribed.
Candidates are required to study the film chosen in a synoptic way - to consider the critical reception of the film (which in all cases has given rise to much debate) and to apply a critical approach appropriate to the film arising from one or more of the critical frameworks listed for FM3.
There is a choice of three questions available to candidates: two general questions and one specific question set for each film prescribed .
Vertigo
The following list is not exhaustive, but questions are likely to focus on the following issues:- A film about film: identification / obsession / misrecognition?
- A film about film: the gendered look, the female object
- The significance of this as a “Hitchcock” film - Recurring motifs and the possible symbolic patterning of the film
- Interpreting the Madeleine / Judy split - The spectator relationship to Scottie as the film develops
- The use of locations
- The success or otherwise of the film as a thriller
- Difficulties in taking the film seriously from a narrative realist perspective and problems of audience response that result from this
- The film’s canonical status
- The film’s critical reception
Task 1:
Watch the opening title sequence (00.00-03.00)
Make detailed notes, what do we learn from it?
Task 2:
Watch this sequence (03.00-04.10), make detailed notes and answer these questions:
What is the location and the setting?
What narrative information is given?
What genre elements are evident in this sequence?
How might genre and narrative elements of this sequence set up audience expectations for how the narrative might develop?
We are introduced to James Stewart's character, Scottie, in this sequence. What character type (persona) was he famous for playing? How might this knowledge set up audience expectations for his character as the narrative develops?
FM4 - SECTION C: (Past Paper Questions 2012 – 2014)
In the exam you will select one question and answer solely on your selected critical study (Vertigo). You will have a choice of 2 ‘general questions’ or 1 ‘specific’ question.
Past General Questions:
How far has an awareness of the filmmaker as auteur influenced your response to your chosen film?
How far has particular writing by critics been important in developing your understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?
How useful have you found a particular film critical approach, such as an auteur or genre approach, in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?
With reference to critical and review writing you have considered as part of your study, discuss how your ideas on your chosen film have developed.
Explore how far the application of a particular critical approach has either reinforced or challenged your first impressions of your close study film.
How far have the opinions of reviewers and critics informed your thinking about your close study film’s messages and values?
In developing a response to your chosen film, how valuable did you find the application of a specific critical approach?
Explore how far a particular debate by critics has influenced your understanding of your chosen film.
Discuss some specific discoveries you have made in applying a critical approach to your chosen film.
Often different critics and reviewers respond very similarly to a film.’ How far is this true of your close study film?
Past Vertigo Specific Questions:
The representation of women in Vertigo demonstrates how far this is a film by a man for men.’ How far do you agree?
There is an artificial cinematic quality about Vertigo which makes us question constantly what kind of film we are watching.’ How far can it be argued that this is strength of Vertigo?
For the first time, in 2012, Vertigo, made in 1958, was voted the ‘greatest film ever made’ by Sight and Sound magazine.’ Why should the film be so highly regarded today?
Explore the importance of narrative structure in the development of key themes and ideas in Vertigo.
Identify and discuss two elements of Vertigo which, in your view, contribute to the sense of strangeness the film conveys.
FM4 - SECTION C: (Past Paper Questions 2012 – 2014)
In the exam you will select one question and answer solely on your selected critical study (Vertigo). You will have a choice of 2 ‘general questions’ or 1 ‘specific’ question.
Past General Questions:
How far has an awareness of the filmmaker as auteur influenced your response to your chosen film?
How far has particular writing by critics been important in developing your understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?
How useful have you found a particular film critical approach, such as an auteur or genre approach, in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?
With reference to critical and review writing you have considered as part of your study, discuss how your ideas on your chosen film have developed.
Explore how far the application of a particular critical approach has either reinforced or challenged your first impressions of your close study film.
How far have the opinions of reviewers and critics informed your thinking about your close study film’s messages and values?
In developing a response to your chosen film, how valuable did you find the application of a specific critical approach?
Explore how far a particular debate by critics has influenced your understanding of your chosen film.
Discuss some specific discoveries you have made in applying a critical approach to your chosen film.
Often different critics and reviewers respond very similarly to a film.’ How far is this true of your close study film?
Past Vertigo Specific Questions:
The representation of women in Vertigo demonstrates how far this is a film by a man for men.’ How far do you agree?
There is an artificial cinematic quality about Vertigo which makes us question constantly what kind of film we are watching.’ How far can it be argued that this is strength of Vertigo?
For the first time, in 2012, Vertigo, made in 1958, was voted the ‘greatest film ever made’ by Sight and Sound magazine.’ Why should the film be so highly regarded today?
Explore the importance of narrative structure in the development of key themes and ideas in Vertigo.
Identify and discuss two elements of Vertigo which, in your view, contribute to the sense of strangeness the film conveys.
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