Dr. Campbell, you should be absolutely thrilled, because–finally–I am going to talk about Vertigo. But just a little, for now. I figure it’s best if I deal with little chunks of the film at a time, because I want to be thorough. In fact, this entire post is going to cover just one scene. Ready?
THE GRAVEYARD SCENE:
First, let’s examine the way in which Madeleine is framed in each of the P.O.V. shots.

Notice any similarities? In nearly every single shot, she is in the exact center …

Yeah, yeah. I know I promised two posts ago to get serious about Vertigo, but…aahh! Sharks! This is what I do in place of sleep, apparently. I realize that I’m going really crazy with this sharks + YouTube thing, but I’ve noticed so many fascinating connections! Anyway, here are lovely trailers for the Jaws movies. It’s interesting to see how they change between films, and the affect that time has had on them, especially the more recent ad for Jaws, redone in a fairly comical way.[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qxbgpUoSNdk” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” …

I know I’ve done a lot of joking about shark movies in relation to the ‘toothed vagina’ theory (which, as Dr. Campbell pointed out, is actually an established psychological theory called Vagina Dentata that the author of my FTC essay was apparently unfamiliar with), but as a long-standing fan of ridiculously bad shark movies, I think they raise many important questions. Our society is fascinated by sharks. Why? Is it just the thrill of fear and the unknown? Or is it something more than that? The media have certainly capitalized …

So I was wasting spending my morning on YouTube, on a quest for clips from shark movies. And found, instead, this amusing trio of TV commercials:

These are splendid, but wait! There’s more! I found another video along the same vein as the Hitchcock version of It’s A Wonderful Life shown in class by Megs…”Must Love Jaws”. As if we needed more reasons to love YouTube.
And finally, for those …

This isn’t directly related to what we’re discussing in class, but I find myself very intrigued by this ongoing blog discussion about art and its value. After this post, I’ll give my full attention to Vertigo.
Call me morbid, but ever since I first glimpsed the painting “Watson and the Shark” (by John Singleton Copley) when I was about 6 years old, I’ve been in love with it. I don’t even know why, but perhaps this is a good opportunity to explore the effect it has on me, and on others …