The Suspense Created in the Elevator Scene in the Film Speed
The director of Speed, Mark Gordan, uses a range of techniques to
build tension and suspense in the film Speed.
Camera Angles
We see a group of business people leaving a meeting and getting into
the lift. The camera angle is at eye level to help the audience feel
as though they are looking into their eyes, almost as if they were
there with them. This is useful in order to help the audience identify
with them and develop feelings for their situation later.
After the first two explosions, the camera angle changes to looking
down on the passengers. This makes them appear smaller and vulnerable.
In contrast to this, the shots of the lift shaft are long shots to
contrast the dizzying drop to the basement.
There are also various close-up shots of the passengers, suspended in
limbo in the lift shaft. This enables the audience to see the fear and
anxiety of their faces. We also have close ups of Harry and Jack
showing them sweating to help convey the sense of urgency.
Camera Techniques
We see the finger of the bomber pushing a button on the detonator. The
figure is anonymous. Unlike the eye level shots of the passengers that
we are invited to identify with, this technique leaves the bomber as a
dislocated figure, removed from view and leaves the audience with no
means of identifying with him. This ensures our sympathies are with
the passengers and not him.
Shots of the lift shaft are alternated with shots of the passengers to
underline how closely the fate of the passengers is connected to it.
Shots of the passengers and each being pulled to safety are alte...
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...her to move.
Eventually, she takes his hand and is pulled to safety - just in time.
She is no sooner pulled to safety when the lift collapses with a huge
crash and aftershock to remind the audience just how serious the crash
was.
Heroes and Villains
The plot exploits the usual pitting of evil against good with the good
guys winning. In Speed, we see the villain as the bomber holding
hostages to ransom and putting a price on people's lives. Then we see
Harry and Jack. They take risks to save the lives of others and thwart
the plans of the villain.
All the elements used in the film help to create the mood and
atmosphere of the film, in this case, tension and suspense. The
techniques show that manipulating these elements help to engage the
audience and convey the moods and feelings appropriate to the film.
After evaluating the 2081 movie, it is apparent the film elements and techniques are important when defining the mood. The four main techniques used throughout the film were lighting, music, sound, and dialogue.
they get out of this island as it is surrounded by sea nor can they
The picture Crash, produced by Robert Haggis, features the several battles confronted with the current racial stereotypes, in to a collection of numerous connected, social predicaments fall upon by the picture's multi ethnic forged. Robert Haggis uses the dialogue and physical actions of his characters to illustrate the various racial stereotypes that are pre-assigned to each race by every individual. This movie is an enchanting bodily melodrama that reaches the feelings of spirits and its crowd's minds. Several of the components given by Haggis in this movie are impersonated in intense sets. This design of reversing is communicated opposed figures and by his character, the picture's possibly nighttime or daytime environment, and additionally in the hearth and snowfall moments. In this movie, the varied functions performed by the several contests of contemporary America are revealed to the globe by Haggis. Through coldly racial difficulties confronted by his figures, an intentionally affecting movie that drives his crowd to challenge their own ethical principles is created by Haggis. Each contest is signified through the picture and coldly exhibits ethnocentrism and racialism. Paul Haggis incorporates the use of identification, parallel plots, reaction shots, point-of-view shots, shot/reverse shots, diegetic music, and post-modern film in the film. Through his character development, editing and special effects we are drawn into.
The police and car owner follow close behind him, trying to get the husband to pull over. The use of the single frame displays the husband’s dark silhouette as the camera focuses on the rearview mirror where the police can be seen gaining on him. It allows the viewer to take in both storylines simultaneously. The husband is still racing home to help his wife, but the police in the mirror also show the duality of his worries as they literally and figuratively hang over his shoulder. Meanwhile, in the mirror, the police are seen trying to grasp the husband in order to get him to stop. The two spaces for the characters gives the chance for the film to focus on the overall plot progression versus the time cut between the husband and the police separately. It decreases the amount of time that audiences spend on one character and their storyline instead it forces them to understand the dynamics of every storyline and how they interact with one
In the opening scene of the movie we see Frank’s character played by Denzel Washington. Right away we are shocked by his violence and see his power. This is the first motif we are introduced to. We see Frank stand tall over his victim, and the dark shadowing we see on his face and body show his dominance. Another motif we are introduced to is how real this film is setup to be. The car headlights that setup the background and introduce where we the setting is as well as motivate lights. They have a purpose in the film in promoting its authenticity. We also hear the all the sounds in the forefront. When hear the sounds up close it dramatic for us as viewers. We hear every 7drop of gasoline that is poured on the man’s body and we even hear the flick of the lighter as Frank sets the man on fire. This is the director Scott Ridley’s way of saying to the audience I want to fool you, and I want you to feel like you were there and what you are watching in front of you is real.
Acrophobia, the extreme or irrational fear of heights. In the film Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock, one of the main characters Scottie is a retired police officer with a terrible fear of heights; this fear causes him to quit his job as a police officer. A little later in the film, Scotty is seen with Midge, his ex-fiancé, where they talk about an old college friend, Gavin Elster. Elster wishes to meet with Scottie in hopes that he will follow his wife, Madeleine, which seems authentic and sincere. Madeleine has been showing some “odd” behavior, Elster believes this may be attributed to a supernatural possession of some kind. This intrigued Scottie. Elster tells Scottie to meet him and his wife the following night for dinner, but he is not actually
Director Max Ophüls is known for his distinctive smooth camera movements (Liang, 2011, p. 2). Frame mobility keeps the audience focused on the subject (Bordwell and Thompson, 2008, p. 203), and this can be seen in this shot. Due to the camera tracking Lisa and Lieutenant Leopold after they enter the frame, the audience’s attention stays focused on Lisa and Lieutenant Leopold, even thoug...
The Prestige is a movie about magicians that turn into enemies when a magician’s wife dies in an accident on stage. Angier’s wife dies when she is doing a trick with him and another magician Borden. Borden is possibly the one that caused her death depending on the kind of knot he tied for the trick. Throughout the movie we see several different parts of what we have seen or read in the recent chapters. Anywhere from love and attraction to aggression to the law; this movie seemed to have it all.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
Lastly, this film uses doubles in the final scene of the movie where the two trains cross each other. This sequence is important due to the fact that Uncle was thrown under one of the trains to his death.
...journey that is about to be taken, as they try to escape the discrimination caused by white authority. This is followed by a shot of them, running from inside the car, showing they will be outpaced and as a result, be taken away. The close up shot of the three girls in the back of the car allows the audience to see their expressions of lost hope.
Suspense is the feeling that you don’t know what's gonna happen next. You are on the edge of your seat ready for something about to happen, but you just don’t know what is about to happen. It has kept audiences coming back to the theaters for a long time. It makes a scene more entertaining, impactful, and it makes the audience anxious, and excited to see what comes next. Plus, you can put suspense in any genre of movie. Horror, Mystery, Crime, Whodunits, Romantic, Comedy and many others. The TV show “Stranger Things”, it’s opener is a fantastic example of suspense. It contains foreshadowing, mystery, dilemma, and mood. In the beginning, it has someone running away from something that is chasing him in a lab, he runs into an elevator thinking
As an audience we are manipulated from the moment a film begins. In this essay I wish to explore how The Conversation’s use of sound design has directly controlled our perceptions and emotional responses as well as how it can change the meaning of the image. I would also like to discover how the soundtrack guides the audience’s attention with the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds.
Spielberg’s Schindler’s List uses a variety of macro and micro techniques that are effective in eliciting strong emotional response form the spectator. Unlike horror films, which rely on micro techniques to create tension or foreshadowing, Spielberg relies on unconventional techniques that are often juxtaposed to have the spectator feel unsettled. Despite not being a horror film, it is compatible through the lack of violence in the film and the context of the Holocaust. Therefore, as a spectator, it is clear that ‘horror’ in a horror movie differs greatly to ‘horror’ in this particular film because of Spielberg’s raw and authentic style in making the spectator feel uneasy as the narrative progresses.
Suspense is a crucial ingredient in the making of horror and thriller films. The significance of suspense in horror films is to bring out the “twist or unexpected moment of realization that makes someone scream and one's heart race. In the film industry, there are various types of genre, but as different as films may seem, they all have one element that links them all together. That element is known as Mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is a French phrase that means “putting into the scene.” Mise-en-scene includes elements such as setting, lighting, costume, and figure movement and expression (acting).