The CinePunked crew get obsessive over Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo… Robert, Rachael and Ben debate its merits as the best film ever made (according to the BFI), and the chilling appeal of San Francisco.
Sleeve notes are below.
With Robert JE Simpson, Dr Rachael Kelly, and Ben Simpson.
Produced by Ben Simpson
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Episode URL: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=546456
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SLEEVE NOTES
It was only a matter of time before we arrived at Vertigo – most of you already know how fond of the film we are. We planned to record this episode last summer using some experimental tech while I was out in Italy, but in the end we’ve held back, and it kicks off a batch of themed episodes – see if you can work out the connection over the next few shows!
Alfred Hithcock’s film needs no introduction – it has long been hailed as a masterpiece of cinema, and the BFI currently list it as the best film ever made – a jumping off point for this episode’s debate.
Rachael and I are both admirers of Hitchcock, Ben is that rare thing – a newcomer to the Master of Suspense. Which makes for an interesting dynamic. We’ve steered away from elements of the auteur and towards thematic and stylistic concerns. I thought we’d possibly be in alignment with our views for this one, but it turns out there’s nothing we can’t disagree over!
I’ll be posting a separate piece about the Vertigo locations on our social media channels in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.
The episode makes use of several clips from the original film soundtrack of Vertigo (Universal, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958).
This also marks the debut of some new theme music for the show. We’ve been after a track for ages, and with Ben not just being our producer and engineer, but also a musician, I’d suggested it would be lovely if he could come up with something we could use. After we finished up the mix on the last show, I introduced Ben to some music by friends of mine – Danny Madigan and Alpha Chrome Yayo. A few days later and Ben sent me through some music he’d been working on, and I fell for it immediately and asked if we could use it for the show. One of those little serendipity moments that just works. ‘Riding the Synth’ has that blend of modern and retro I was after, slightly spacey and with a number of moods. It’ll be topping and tailing the show for the next wee while. If you’d like to listen to it in full, you can find it here.
Recorded in Comber on 4 January 2020. Engineered and mixed by Ben in studio. Final edit by me and first published on 15 January 2020.
– Robert
CinePunked 