Vertigo + Alien

Vertigo Character Profiles

Scottie- Protagonist

  • Suffers from Vertigo and acrophobia

  • has quit working as a detective

  • follows madeline, saves her from bay and falls in love with her

  • Takes madeline to mission tower, watches her kill herself

  • has nigthmares, suffers melancholia and is put in hospital

  • becomes obsessive over judy

  • reflects Hitchcock in his controlling nature

  • at first very demasculated

  • very overwhelming towards judy

Midge

  • first seems to be a strong woman- lingerie designer, unmarried

  • later becomes obsessive over Scottie before disappearing

  • appears very motherly

  • previously engaged to scottie

  • nickname is deliberately unromantic

Gavin Elster- Antagonist

  • Old college friend of scotties, quite affluent

  • believes his wife is possessed

  • plot twist- killed his wife and hired judy to pretend to be her to stage suicide

  • murdered wife to take money

  • only in four scenes, ambiguous ending

Madeline Elster

  • believed to be possessed, great grandmother is Carlotta Valdes

  • jumps into the san fransisco bay which she doesn’t remember afterward

  • we never meet the real madeline- played by judy

  • characterised deliberately to entice scottie

  • clothes are always very ornate

  • grey suit- ghostly

  • main character / love interest

  • silent for first 40 mins

Judy Barton

  • entrance is similar to madelines- standing in hotel window

  • hired by elster to pretend to be madeline and fake her suicide

  • creates idealised version of madeline

  • Scottie becomes obsessed with her - turns her into madeline

Alien Character Profiles

Ellen Ripley

  • strong female character, not very feminine

  • not respected by most of crew

  • senior officer- figure of authority

  • final girl- defeats xenomorph

Dallas

  • leader of crew

  • trusts ripley

  • killed by xenomorph

  • only person that can access ‘mother’

  • know for his bravery

  • some of his decisions have negative effects, such as disregarding quarantine

Kane

  • executive officer

  • first person to encounter the xenomorph

  • victim of the chestburster, effectively raped by alien

Ash

  • Science officer

  • initially appears to be quiet and logical, adhering to company policy

  • breaks protocol to allow kane back on board

  • revealed to be a robot, adding another layer of corporate conspiracy

Key crew

vertigo

cinematographer = Robert Burks

production designer = henry bumstead

costume designer = edith head

music = bernard hermann

editor = george tomasini

production company = alfred hitchcock productions

alien

cinematographer = derek vanlint

production designer = H.R Geiger

costume designer = John Mollo

music = jerry goldsmith

editor = terry rawlings

production company = brandywine productions

Opening Scene Analysis

Vertigo

cinematography

  • b&w ECUs on woman’s face - eyes / lips - fetish

  • vertigo effect- dolly zoom

  • green + red neon lights

  • lowkey lighting - links to film noir / thriller genre

  • MCU on scottie

  • high and low angle to show scotties vulnerability

editing

  • spiral motif sequence

  • gives dizzying effect

  • titles / credits in title sequence (saul bass), dramatic and bold

  • red lighting on face - danger / passion

  • black + white / sepia

  • experimental - slow transitions in edits

sound

  • very dramatic / frantic / bold

  • foley sound

  • jumping onto roof

  • sound effects- gun

  • opening track - dream like / foreboding - steadily builds into vertiginious tension

mise-en-scene

  • matte paintings, set, san fransico

  • dark - night time- dark costuming

  • rooftop chase - tension

  • eye motif

  • scottie looks like sterotypical film noir detective

  • criminal wearing white - innocence? distrust of authority

performance

  • woman looks timid / frightened

  • very little dialogue, scottie doesn’t speak

  • overexaggerated facial expressions

  • hands grip gutter

Alien

cinematography

  • long establishing shots of the Nostromo- world building

  • longshots - scale model - steadicam, smooth

  • filmed in slow frame rate to give models appearance of motion

  • almost 40 second shot - uneasy

  • low key lighting - moody + dangerous

mise-en-scene

  • spacecraft- high tech + futuristic - establishes sci-fi

  • emphasis on isolation

  • bedroom/podroom- all white, clinical, beds look like eggs

  • computer- tech influence colours: black / green / red

  • pod = flowerlike

  • lived in- toys

  • industrial + futuristic

  • helmet - mouth reminds of face hugger - first attack

editing

  • slow paced, drawn out - tension, mundane titles- narrative

  • title comes together slowly - reflects narrative pace, planet resembles alien egg

  • shot reverse shot sequence, almost like a conversation between machines

  • titles by r/greenberg Associates

sound

  • begins quietly, score begins to pick up, sounds very ominous

  • jerry goldsmith score

  • noise of the machine - eerie

  • lack of dialogue

  • levels- initially quiet

Introduction to Scottie

  • diegetic dialogue - exposition

establishes the most important parts of his character:

  • he has been diagnosed with acrophobia which causes vertigo

  • has retired from the police force

  • going to meet gavin elster

Hitchcock uses dialogue / conversation to relay information to audience

sound

  • dialogue dominates the scene- only essential information

  • classical calm music in the background which Scottie wants to turn off - doesn’t want peaceful life

mise-en-scene

  • cramped / crowded room, hectic, scottie’s life is chaos

  • yellow- sickness, mental health issues

  • colours seem very compatible- scottie + midges friendship

  • auteur- use of props + set, very telling of the character, commonly done by hitchcock

Scottie is emasculated- unusual for films of the time. midge presented traditionally. has a job but is still very feminine, very motherly towards scottie. Comments about war.

Hayes code- taboo topics

  • midge is a lingerie designer

  • midge and scottie are both unmarried, without families

  • midge working whereas scottie isn't

Introduction to Ripley

  • men talk more than the women, more demanding

  • ripley clearly has some authority over the crew- gives orders

mise-en-scene

  • establishes the spaceship + ripley’s role as an astronaut

  • positioning of Ripley’s seat - at front - shows power / rank / significance

performance

  • she is very quiet / subdued, clearly not close to the other members of the crew

auteur- military connotations, strict Rank order

overlapping dialogue- more focus on what Ripley is saying - shows her importance.

first dialogue: “Right?” - power and authority, man has more authority.

equality / representation: genders + economy, pay is discussed- working class wanting more money.

Aesthetics - Alien

  • scott wanted ‘haunted house in space’

  • gothic aesthetic, lowkey lighting, shadows#

  • broadly conforms to horror aesthetic

  • heightened realism- creepier for viewer

  • industrial yet futuristic = cutting edge realism

Aesthetics - Vertigo

title sequence:

  • avant garde in a mainstream narrative. Saul bass design accompanied by Bernard Hermann’s score is combo of emotional dream imagery and abstract

  • voyeurism- womans face partially seen

  • spiral motif structures film

mirrors:

  • used as in ‘Psycho’ to represent dual identities.

  • seen in ernies, Judy’s room and ransohoff’s

cinematography:

  • lengthy fluid camera movement adds to dreamlike feel

  • groundbreaking inventive camera work- dolly zoom by Irmin Roberts

colours:

  • blue

  • black

  • green

  • red

  • white

Ron Cobb:

  • concept artist used to design the sapce craft’s interior and exterior in a used future aesthetic

H.R Geiger:

  • designed the xeno morph, creadted from rubber and puppets. He and special effects helped Alien win Academy award for visual design. Concept collaboration.

Judy’s Transformation Scene

mise-en-scene:

  • grey suit - washes her out, link to Madeline - Edith Head

  • platinum blond hair- madeline - fetish

  • spiral in hairstyle

  • mirror- both scottie and judy positioned in front- dual selves

Cinematography:

  • Green fog lights- ghostly - makes judy appear even more haunting - uncanny, technical competence

  • kulsheov effect- salon, reflects change

  • 360 panning on kiss

  • fluid camera movement

  • medium long shot, cuts off legs, appears as though she is floating

  • camera panning- we see barn where scottie and madeline last kissed

sound:

  • Hermann’s score

  • anti-auteur theory- Pauline Kael- film is a collaboration.

technical competence:

  • during kiss, hotel room turns into stable at the mission. this was achieved through circluar set and rear projection

Dallas’ Death

mise-en-scene:

  • Bright colours when talking to mother- hope, shows mother has a god like power

  • drak on rest of ship

  • hatches opening + closing, claustrophobia

  • very Ridley Scott- white creates safe place despite the deciet by mother, in comparison to darkness of tunnels

  • reflects Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner

Cinematography:

  • perfectly executed jump scare- tantalisingly brief shot

  • emulates speilbergs use of sharks in jaws, only shows monster sparingly (4 mins total)

  • removal of dallas puts ripley into leadership role

  • last shot is of her face set in grim determination, solidifying her as protagonist

  • auteur themes of strong women - interior meaning ( sarris )

The making of Alien

developing story:

  • took inspo from alfred hitchcock- not everything is shown, use of imagination

  • filmed on one set, lots of different rooms, low budget, roger corman

  • whole character of film changed when taken on by Walter Hill + David Gleir

  • sci-fi became desirable after star wars- green lit by fox

  • wanted ship to feel small + pressurised

  • Scott didnt want any specific time/world

  • extremely claustrophobic - actors surround by naustromo

  • Ridley story boarded everything, he chose the cameras and acted as camera operator, also had about 5/6 pages on each character

  • Weaver was lonely, only heroine, purposefully isolated by Scott

  • Grieger’s sets very erotic- like walking into a womb

  • scott refused to shortcut the space jockey set- very expensive

  • Ridley brought film to highest possible creative level#

creature design:

  • people scared of greiger, very gothic

  • face hugger first drawing done by greiger- designed sexual and erotic

  • actor for alien was 7ft tall

Music + editing:

  • first cut was 3 hours 12 mins, Ridley didnt want the film to feel pretentious and so cut an hour

  • Ridley thinks mainly in visuals

  • goldsmith’s score captured beauty and darkness

Representation- Vertigo

Gender

  • emblematic of men trying to regain power over women in post war America

  • Scottie asks Judy “Let me take care of you”

  • hitchcock’s preoccupation with blonde women and their destruction

  • Madeline brutally murdered by Gavin elster- one of many women punished in Hitchcock’s films

  • Scottie gets a satisfying ending- women do not

  • Scottie’s overwhelming power over Judy- metaphor for hitchcocks power over female actors

Introduction to Madeline Elster

Age

  • light flare behind madeline’s face emphasises youthful beauty- close up

  • Juxtaposition between ages of Madeline and Scottie / gavin

  • fetishisation of younger women

Gender

  • Madeline placed in centre of scene, with the camera slowly fading into her

  • this combined with the only green dress ensures she is the only woman we notice in the scene

  • POV shots of scottie watching Madeline, voyeurism, following- laura mulvey

Ethnicity

  • wideshot of restaurant- all white customers and staff

  • clearly a wealthy/ luxurious establishment, only for white and wealthy

  • ambigious ethnicity of waiting staff

chiaroscuro lighting in alleyway -german expressionism- becoming immersed in following Madeline- face half in dark half in light.

Ransohoff’s Scene

Gender

  • Judy acts sterotypically hysterical- crying and protesting

  • scottie is domineering- grabs Judy and gives demands- takes control of room

Age

  • judy is clearly a lot younger than scottie, he dominates over her and she acts very submissive towards him.

Representation- Alien

Age

  • film features a range of ages, from actors aged 29-53

  • Roger Ebert says the varied ages adds a texture to the film- they are not adventurers but workers

  • varied ages and lack of conventional beauty adds realism and adds to the versimilitude of the diegesis

Gender

  • in the original script the characters were not gendered

  • Ripley one of most celebrated female heroines in cinema- represented as capable, rational and strong

  • ripley continually ignored throughout the film, such as when she instructs ash not to let kane in

  • larger comment about how women are not taken seriously in the workplace

  • Yvonne Tasker states that Ripley is an interesting symbol of powerful and non stereotypical femininity who trangresses gender norms.

  • final scene shows how female heroines are sexualised- she undresses down to her vest and underpants.

Ash attacks ripley

Gender

  • stereotypical ideas about sexuality - hetero relationship

  • ripley’s strong and calm demeanour opposes lamberts emotional hysteria

  • strong man- parker rescues ripley but is also vulnerable against ash

  • lambert attacks ash but is hysterical and sobbing- stereotypical

Cinematography

  • Ash initially out of focus + back shot of him - lacks any emotion compared to others

  • Amber lights - ripley communicates with mother

  • two shot- ash by ripley’s side when she realises truth

  • ECU of Ash as liquid drips down face

  • hand held camera closer to ash and ripley- pans around them

  • ECU of Ash’s internal mechanism

  • ripley becomes more dominant in frame- composition in comparison to earlier in film

Mise-en-scene

  • sense of entrapment- doors closing on ripley- no escape

  • ripley’s outfit is not sexualised - representing her in her role and position as captain of ship

  • misogynistic posters of naked women on walls - ash’s ideologies towards women

  • attack is heavily sexualised- prop of magazine he chokes her with. Porno magazine represents the extreme view of women as objects

  • SFX makeup- prosthetic head of Ash - adds to the visual spectacle + practical effects Ridley Scott adds to film

sound

  • sound effects of mother- beeping computer systems adds to anticipation of what ash is hiding

  • non-diegetic sounds added of ash as he wails when he deconstructs typical of horror genre

  • ash’s electronic voice

editing

  • shot reverse shots of parker as he sees ash deconstruct

  • black and green titles- stereotypical sci-fi

performance

  • Physical altercation between Ripley and Ash- she’s not afraid, hits him

  • Ripley- “I’ve got access to mother now and i’ll get my own answers”- control

  • Ash’s eye contact reinforce role as android- direct proxemics during attack

Ethnicity in Alien

  • diversity in regards to age, lacks ethnic representation

  • mainly white cast, with one black character- Parker played by Yaphet Kotto

  • Parker murdered by alien in the style of 70s slasher films- trope in horror where minorities were killed / symbolically annihilated

  • Bolaji Badejo was a nigerian visual artist and actor who played the xenomorph- 6’10”

Content / themes

feminism:

  • challenges to stereotypical gender roles

  • plot not focused on romance

  • Females not defined by Physical appearence, but in as similar way to male characters, by actions and intellegence

  • women can survive without men

late 1970s:

  • male dominated society, few women in decision making positions

  • development of capitalism: corrupt corporations, poor treatment of workers, sole interest in profit

  • the enormous sucess of starwars breaking box office records, reflected global appetite for sci-fi

  • Hollywood era of ‘high concept’ big budget entertainment

  • dark psychological films were popular.

Contexts in Alien + Vertigo

production / institutional contexts

  • vertigo is based on a french novel D’entre les morts

  • Both films had multiple screen writers. vertigo= originally hired Maxwell Anderson and then worked with Samuel A Taylor and Alec Coppel. alien= Dan O’Bannon & Ronald Shusset

  • Paramount released Vertigo- gave Hitchcock creative control

  • Alien produced by Brandywine productions + distributed by twentieth century fox - $11 million budget

  • Vertigo had an alternate ending- shows the studio influence- lack of auteur status?

  • Vertigo not initially succesful but has since became a cult classic. Alien was well recieved and did well- people queued around the block to see the premiere

Vertigo:

  • with the demise of studio system in 50s, more freedom for director to take control

  • Kim Novak loaned by Columbia $250,000

Alien:

  • Hollywood era of big budget entertainment - offers spectacle

  • popularity of ‘Hard Body’ action

  • shot at shepperton studios London

Social Context:

Vertigo

  • USA in 50s institutional + social racism, entrenched sexism- segregated society

  • end of the decade saw the beginnings of the civil rights movement

  • reflects mens desire to reassert control after first wave feminism and the war

Alien

  • second wave feminism, which began in the 60s was well underway by the release of Alien

  • second wave feminism was marked by a strong advocacy for women’s equality in the home, in the workplace and in society.

  • this equality is reflected in Alien, through the character of Alien, through the character of Ripley, who defies the odds and is the sole survivor.

Civil rights movement: Vertigo

  • institutional studio influence- made Novak break up with her black boyfriend

  • fear of change- Old San Fransisco and Gavin’s view of change in America

  • Greensboro sit-ins - black teenagers not allowed to eat in restaurants with white people- links to ernies

Second Wave Feminism

  • women in workplace- Ripley and Lambert, women in power- Ripley becomes captain

  • Challenges stereotypical gender roles - female heroine saves the day

  • Plot not focused on romance but survival

Political Context

Vertigo

  • the USA locked into a cold war with the Soviet Union- both sides had a nuclear weapon

Alien

  • film shows a dystopian future (2035) where corporations are prepared to deceive and sacrifice the lives of workers

  • In the years of sci-fi and horror this usually means something which goes against nature - bringing back Alien to mass produce as bioweapons

  • explores the powerlessness of workers under capitalism

Technological context

Vertigo

  • use of paramount’s widescreen process VistaVision created in1954

  • restored in 70mm version of vertigo after many years of being hidden away by Hitchcock

Alien

  • engages directly with impact of tech on society and individual taking a philosophical viewpoint that poses the question of what it is to be human.

  • scott creates a futuristic concept using practical sets and in camera techniques.