Vertigo: Production Contexts

Question 1

Who were the ‘Big Five’?

Answer 1

1. MGM
2. Paramount
3. Warner Bros
4. RKO
5. Fox

Question 2

What was vertical integration?

Answer 2

When the biggest studios in Hollywood were in control of the production, distribution and exhibition of films they made.

Question 3

What was the Hays Code (1934)?

Answer 3

An attempt at introducing film censorship to American cinema.

Question 4

What were the principles of the Hayes Code?

Answer 4

1. Villains should be punished.
2. Sexual scenes should not be shown.
3. Good should always triumph.
4. Morality should be upheld.

Question 5

What led to the demise of the Hollywood ‘Studio System’?

Answer 5

-The rise in home entertainment (TV) after WW2-> lower costs
-Rise in talent agents meant actors were no longer under contracts to studios and had more control over the roles they played.

Question 6

How did cinema respond to this decline?

Answer 6

-Technicolour films, widescreen and 3D formats.
-Films such as musicals that offered escapism and ‘traditional’ values to attract families.
-Drive-in cinemas for car-owning youth.

Question 7

What was the Classical Hollywood style of editing?

Answer 7

1. Invisible editing and seamless construction.
2. 180 and 30 degree rules.
3. Match on action.
4. Dissolve or wipe to show passing of time.
5. Rhythmic cutting.

Question 8

What was the Classical Hollywood rule of ‘object permanence’?

Answer 8

The audience must believe the scene exists outside of the shot of the cinematic frame.

Question 9

What is the 180-degree rule?

Answer 9

The camera should stay on one side of an imaginary line between two characters or objects.

Question 10

What is the 30-degree rule?

Answer 10

When cutting to a different shot of the same object, the camera should move at least 30 degrees from its previous position.

Question 11

What is the name given to cuts that break the 30-degree rule?

Answer 11

Jump cuts

Question 12

What was the 1948 ‘Paramount Decree’?

Answer 12

A lawsuit that stopped the oligopoly of the studio system.

Question 13

What were the principles of Classical Hollywood narrative?

Answer 13

-Linear narrative with a clear resolution.
-Moral protagonist.
-Logical ‘cause and effect’ narrative with plausible events and actions.

Question 14

What was Vertigo’s reception in 1958?

Answer 14

Broke even, making back just about the $2.5 million budget.

-“far-fetched nonsense”
-“the storyline is not easy to follow”.
-“too drawn out…glacially paced”.