NARRATOR: Given that the crisis of Vertigo is, in one sense, about far distances seen from high angles, camera distance and angles play a major role in the film. Throughout the film, Scottie is locked in the frame of his own perspective and desires. As Scottie follows Madeleine from a distance in the first part of the film, his desire to know the mystery she conceals and his longing for her create a continual drama of looking.

Like many other Hitchcock films, Vertigo continuously exploits the edges of the frame to tease and mislead us with what we and Scottie cannot see. At a dramatic turning point in the film, Scottie watches Madeleine in a long shot, distanced and mysterious under the Golden Gate Bridge. As she dives into the bay, Scottie quickly crosses that distance to save her.

Seeing Madeleine's face as a close-up after he rescues her is an image that will haunt him throughout the film. Hitchcock uses frequent close-ups and even extreme close-ups to concentrate on significant details of Madeleine's image. He shifts constantly between Madeleine's face and the fetishized extensions of her face, her hair, the necklace, and the flowers, emphasizing and reinforcing Scottie's obsessive fascination with Madeline.

Another key feature of the cinematography that reinforces the drama of Vertigo is the use of camera angles. In some cases, the film's sharp angles enhance Scottie's complex psychological and moral concerns about power and control. In the scene when Gavin persuades Scottie to follow Madeleine, framing and camera angles seem much more than the words of the two men.

The conversation begins normally enough, with Scottie looking off-screen at Gavin. Shortly after, Gavin appears through a low-angle shot to be positioned significantly higher up than Scottie. The visual conflicts and tensions of this shot become further emphasized when Gavin moves into the foreground to continue the conversation, now visually dominating the seated Scottie. Toward the end of the sequence, Scottie sits, literally cornered by the framing and camera angle. Although neither we nor Scottie know it yet, he is already being positioned and manipulated through the frames and angles that depict him.