After
reading the script for Vertigo, there are quite a few ideas I have for the
picture I would want to paint as the Director of Photography. Before I paint a picture I want to gather all
of the elements of the story that will give me hints to how I should create the
image and look of the film. So the script is a mix of a mystery, psychological,
and investigation. It also has elements of strong love and romantics, which
ultimately drives a lot of the main character’s actions. It revolves greatly
around one character and their fears and confusion. The reader or audience doesn’t always know
what is true and if the main character can see everything we do. It takes place
in a busy and populated city. The antagonist to Scottie goes back and forth
between his fear of heights, Madeline, and then Gavin.
As far as a
general basis for the look of the adaptation that I would want it to look like
would be to look like a noir film. One of the main reasons I saw that is that
the main character, Scottie is a policeman and for the most part it’s a murder
mystery. Noir styled movies are generally detective films with high key
lighting and dark shadows, not much in between. The noir style does a lot to
emphasize the darkness of a criminalized cityscape. It allows a lot of people
to blend in to the shadows and not be easily distinguishable to the detective
as he searches for the perpetrator. What’s a bit different from the tone of
this story is that it’s not a much of a search for a single person, but coming
across new clues to a personal fear and a questionable event. So with the more
psychological elements in this plot, I would not be so harsh on the noir look
but still emulate it with less contrast.
As for
camera movement I would like to play a lot with the psychological confusion and
fears of the deaths and heights. With the plot being highly focused on the POV
of one person, I would be leaning toward having a lot of shots from the eyes of
Scottie. When Scottie is in a rush and panic I would have the camera handheld
as his POV. When there are great heights involved I would like to use a very
wide angle to show the scale of his fear and his entire environment. Also for
when he is piecing together different details I will have deep close ups on his
face and eyes to show the reaction of this new knowledge.
The last
major piece of the picture I’d like to create from the cinematographer position
is the color of the film. The subject matter of the film is dark and mysterious
so I would definitely have a color pallet of dark blues, blacks, and greys with
hints of red. I would want the hints of red to be for the hints Scottie finds
as he uncovers his fears and confusion. The dark and dull colors also represent
the unknown and the abyss at the bottom of the great heights.
