Saul Bass, one of the pioneering forefathers of motion graphics in his film credits to begin the story of the film. Bass changed the way film credits were used in motion pictures from being simply static images that displayed the peoples names involved in the film, to a motion graphic piece that was the introductory element to the film: "My initial thought about what a title could do was to set the mood and to prime the underlying core of the film’s story to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.” Bass used design elements to create motion graphics that connected both with the viewer emotively and visually, as well as supplying a vital element to the development of the story of the film for which he was designing.

Vertigo can be analysed to reveal the semiotic elements that are underlying within the motion graphic. Bignell describes how the symbols and signs used within the film industry are totally controlled by the filmmakers as a film making tool as opposed to an accidental occurrence. All images are culturally charged by the connotation procedures available to cinema, like camera position and angle, position of objects or people within the frame, use of lighting, colour process or tinting, and sound. The codes of cinema are particular ways of using signs. Bass’ Vertigo titles present a very obvious message from its beginning with each section adding to the titles premise. The first instance we see is of the woman’s black and white face with the camera zooming forward in rough zooms.