May2012 lesson 7 exam requirements requirements, key issues, past questions use this
- 1. HITCHCOCK’s VERTIGO (1958) EXAM REQUIREMENTS / ISSUES / EXAM QUESTIONS
- 2. Exam requirements • Paper • FM4, section C • Timings & Marks – 2 ¾ hours for exam – Allow 45 mins for this question – Worth 30 marks • What will the examiner expect to see in your answer? – Knowledge of some of the different critical responses provoked by the chosen film – An appreciation of the film’s status: • as a stylistically innovative film or a significant auteur work • contribution to the way we think theoretically about film. • Understanding of the issues underlying its (possibly diverse) critical reception • Issues relating to theme, style and structure. • An appreciation of how one or more critical approaches applied by the candidate has enhanced understanding and appreciation of the chosen film.
- 3. To get an A... • Level 4 candidates will be distinguished by: – confident understanding – very detailed, accurate and precise reference to the film. – Effectively structured. – a clear and distinctive 'voice' developing. – evidence of a high level of understanding of the film and film issues – coherent analysis of film & critical and contextual issues – excellent written communication – fluent, well-structured and accurate
- 4. Main issues / debates / themes / perspectives arising in Vertigo? • THEMES – identification – Obsession – misrecognition • VERTIGO’S CRITICAL RECEPTION – then (Sight & Sound & Variety reviews) – now (BFI top 10s / Obsessed with Vertigo / James Maxfield / Martin Rubin) • VERTIGO’S CANONICAL STATUS • Exemplifies achievements of studio system Hollywood film production • Mastering of film form - camerawork, editing, special effects, score and use of mise-en-scene • Complexity of narrative, plot and themes
- 5. Main issues / debates / themes / perspectives arising in Vertigo? • SIGNIFICANCE AS A HITCHCOCK FILM – Hitchcock as AUTEUR – USE OF LOCATIONS – RECURRING MOTIFS & SYMBOLS – SUCCESS OF THE FILM AS A THRILLER – PURE CINEMA and innovations in CINEMATOGRAPHY • REPRESENTATION OF GENDER – THE MALE GAZE – Gender roles (in wider society & in film itself) – Archetypes of Beauty – DOPPELGANDER – The Madeline / Judy split – Masculinity in crisis
- 6. Main issues / debates / themes / perspectives arising in Vertigo? • SPECTATORSHIP – The Spectator’s relationship to Scottie as Protagonist – NARRATIVE structure / plot devices • CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES / APPROACHES – Feminist & Post Feminist Theory (Psychoanalytical theories of Freud & Lacan) – Auteur Theory – Marxist Perspective
- 7. Hitchcock as auteur... • Extensive body of work • Considered by critics to have a signature style: – “a Hitchcock film” despite working with Studios • Signature style established using – film form – plot devices – use of characters – manipulation of audience • Genre focus – Exclusively crime, suspense, with comedy hybrids
- 8. A film about spectatorship • What is a spectatorship? – a person who sees or watches something without taking an active part – An onlooker • How does Vertigo address ideas about spectatorship? – Scottie becomes a spectator of Madeline’s supposed pshycological regression – We watch Scottie watch Madeline • Encouraged to identify with the protagonist – We watch Scottie’s increasingly obsessive behaviour and regression • Encouraged to passively watch the protagonist – breaks the bond of idenitifcation – We question our own role as spectator of a film – who are we looking at, why do we enjoy it?
- 9. Past exam questions Jan 2010 • What does your chosen film reveal about the usefulness of one or more critical approaches you have applied? • Consider debates that have arisen in the critical reception of your chosen film, either at the time of its initial release or now or both. • Film scholars have argued that Vertigo is a film about cinema and about spectatorship. How far do you think this is true? June 2010 • How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? • Explain how your understanding of your chosen film has been influenced by critical debates. • What do you consider to be the important themes and ideas Hitchcock explores in Vertigo through the use of the Madeleine/Judy character?
- 10. Past exam questions Jan 2011 • Explore some of the ways in which placing your chosen film within a broader critical framework has helped to develop your appreciation and understanding of specific sequences. • How far has critical debate about your chosen film shaped and altered your response? • Discuss the significance of the recurring image of the spiral in Vertigo. June 2011 • Explore some of the ways in which you have gained fresh insights into your chosen film as a result of applying one or more specific critical approaches. • How important have been the responses of others, such as film reviewers, in influencing your own response to your chosen film? • Explore some of the ways in which Hitchcock attempts to manage the audience response to Scottie as the narrative of Vertigo unfolds.