Out of the four possible clips watched in class, Killers as an action comedy, shows a great way of creating suspense using the usual technical elements of film, one especially being the use of Sound.
From 0 to 20 seconds of the clip the non-diegetic sound of background music is very upbeat and enjoyable, to the environment in the scene and to the audience behind the screen too. It creates a positive mood to the romantic dinner Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl are having, Heigl's laugh at 10 seconds is a key to this scene too, it lets us know that nothing is going wrong and the two are purely having a good time...so far anyway. This is a perfect start to creating a dramatic change. The music begins to quiet at 16 seconds into the clip, at this moment the audience does not suspect anything only that more dialogue would be entering the scene any second now. HOWEVER the audience later realises there is only no dialogue coming from Kutcher as he is miles away, instead starring at some guy who looks like he came out of the 'Men in Black' set (Mise en scene). At this moment (19 seconds) the atmosphere changes, the audience start to become curious to who this guy is, and the mystery begins to create the suspense.
The suspense continues throughout the rest of the clip, we unravel information as the clip plays on. When Kutcher sees this all in black guy (which i had a feeling was his dad) not only does the character get distracted but the audience too, we no longer accompany Heigl to the upbeat dinner she seems to be having as we are too busy thinking..."who the hell is that creep?" And so we join Kutcher to a small quest to find out. At 35 seconds 'men in black' guy leaves a book on the bench and the suspense begins to build, the audience wants Kutcher to GET THAT BOOK!...and so he does, at 43 seconds he excuses himself to go to the 'restroom,' Heigl on the other hand, has no idea what is going on as she is too distracted by the food. Kutcher gets to the book at 50 seconds and new information is revealed to him and to us. We know that the book was left there on purpose as the camera focus' out to the 'men in black' guy at 53 seconds, who was watching to make sure Kutcher got what he left. The camera focus' back to Kutcher and the book as he finds a note saying "cemetery 4pm - H" (your in big trouble now Kutcher, cheating on 'men in black' guy with Miss Eat-A-Lot).
The scene changes at 1:02 revealing to us, this man alone with Kutcher. We know that our answers will be answered very soon. We find out that Kutcher knows this guy, and Heigl is put at danger if Kutcher is with her (oh no, this makes the relationship a tad complicated). The suspense disappears as the audience gets their questions sl-iiiiiightly answered. For me the answer was a bit of an anti climax, 'men in black' guy should've said "Spencer, your mum was buried in this cemetery and i was given to do a voice over in the WHSmith advert. Now give me my french book back!"
...just kidding. The sudden change of mood and atmosphere at 19 seconds was really effective which is why i think the suspense worked. I may take the 'sudden change' into consideration for my group thriller opening sequence.
On Friday’s lesson, we continued to do more research on thriller-based films, we watched and analysed the opening sequences of 4 different thrillers – all categorized into different sub-genres. Doing this helped create a clearer understanding to how suspense can be created using the 4 technical elements of film.
MOMENTO
The first opening sequence we watched was ‘Momento,’ which is a psychological thriller, as a class we discussed why we labelled the film as psychological, and all agreed to it has we believed the slow pace and shots of each prop individually created questions so early in the film. The use of close up shots on each prop, like the glasses and the bullet made it clear that they had a significant use in the scene, the questions we ask, is why they are there?
The opening is introduced firstly with music, sound is the first thing our brains detect and so we concentrate on how the sound can give away what type of film is being watched (if the audience didn’t know the genre for Momento). The slow, quiet entrance of violin strings gradually increases in volume, which also brings along the increase in tension, the consistent sound of string instruments like the violin, bass and cello keeps the tension flowing – just like the strings themselves. Just as we’ve realised that the scene is actually playing backgrounds (I realised when the photograph was being but back into the Polaroid), the strings quieten down and faded into a deep and mute gloomy sound (this happening just as the camera flashes) whilst this sound is being played, the objects slowly reveal some answers (the blood was a give away that someone was dead). The mute music was broken by the sound of the gunshot and scream – this representing the sudden end of suspense.
The titles are slightly spaced out (the gaps can represent the slow pace of the film, but that’s just me over analysing now!) The titles are static, but also transition, fade out, is added.
HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT
‘He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not’ is a whole different concept to ‘Momento,’ judging by the title and the involvement of ‘Love’ in it, the sub-genre is most likely to be a murderous passion. The opening begins with slow camera shots of roses, in different shades of pink/red, this also gives away the ‘Romance’ label to the film as pink/red roses symbolise love. (As a further independent analysis) the sub-genre, murderous passion can be represented by the thorns on the roses, as the flower is beautiful but the thorn is ‘deadly’ (in a way, being pricked!). This gives away a hint that something is not right with the woman in the film – she can be juxtaposed as the rose.
The music is very upbeat, it has a summery feel to it and goes well with the mise en scene – the flower shop and brightly lit setting. In my opinion, I feel this creates suspense, as obviously something is not right with all the positivity, which again creates questions like, is she up to something bad?
The titles are quite ‘groovy’ looking (such an ancient word); they transition across the screen, from one side to another. This gives a playful and quirky feeling, the feeling of spring/summer.
DEJA VU
‘Déjà Vu’ was hard to sub-genre(ise) at first, the music and what was going on made it confusing and hard to tell…until the very end we knew it was an action thriller. The film opens with a slow motion shot of a busy crowd (as audiences), the atmosphere seems live although the slow motion in dialogue (the cheering and laughing) makes the audience (us) feel a bit uneasy instead. Shots included longs shots and longer shots but zoomed in so it looks like a close up (you could tell its zoomed though…well, I can tell anyway). The music adds to the feeling of uneasiness – contemporary music, the use of the piano makes it dramatic however whilst the piano is playing you can just about hear some sci-fi music (like a UFO is about to land on earth) this merging together with the piano is quite disturbing, tension begins to build. Only a few seconds in and a beat is added to the contemporary sci-fi music to bring it to an upbeat level (however not as upbeat to bop our heads and booggy to). For some reason when the beat came in I felt that something dodgy was about to happen, it was mysterious. The drums could symbolise the heart beating, increasing the tension more. The opening of the film has a variety of settings, a lot is happening in this clip although it is slowed down, it is strange that sad music is being played when the people are happy. This binary opposites - of sad and happy creates suspicion, we think something is not right, at this point there is a lot of tension as we want to know if something bad is going to happen (especially as it would be happening soo early in the film).
The titles are quite jittery in a type-writing font (courier), they transition from either side of the screen in a swooping effect.
ENEMY OF THE STATE
There is definitely A LOT more going on in ‘Enemy of the State’ the opening is very fast pace its almost hard to keep up with it. I would sub-genre this film to be political due to the mise en scene of police cars, cctv cameras and fires around the suburbs. (I honestly cant keep up with this opening! :S erm…) The film opens with bird’s eye view shot of the roads (mainly) and buildings. Some shots include panning (and swirling around – Eastenders style). The music is quite upbeat in the beginning to fit into the car chasing and crime, (again it is not upbeat enough to be boogying down to). Half way the music dramatically changes to string instruments then suddenly changes back to drums…then changes back to strings…then both. This could be purposely done (to annoy us) to get the audience understanding that many things are happening at the same time. The dramatic string instruments are to create sympathy (sort of) and the drum/beats to show the side of the criminals (the beat fits in with the running). The title is greek inspired, the transition flash in is used and the titles remain static on the screen until it flashes out again.
In class one of the clips we studied was from the film What Lies Beneath (see bottom of post). In this particular scene suspense is created primarily through sound. Slow string instruments run in the background throughout, steadily increasing in volume, combined with subtle ringing sounds. The use of this type of soundtrack is what makes the audience instinctively unsettled, because they know something will inevitably happen.
Not amused.
This anticipation of course reaches its climax with the employment of the ‘scare chord’ technique, that is, the sudden jumpy sound that is a common occurrence in horror films. The abrupt sound, coupled with the camera moving to the reflection of the ghastly face in the bath tub, perhaps raises even more momentary anticipation as the scene cuts away from Pfeiffer screaming, leaving the audience wanting to know what is next. Suspense is also created through the camerawork and mise-en-scène. The beginning starts with Pfeiffer walking up the stairs and then coming to a standstill. Her body language, together with the start of the atmospheric music track and slow low-level tracking across the corridor creates an uneasy feeling for the audience. The darkly lit domestic setting is also powerful in it suggesting that this could happen in anyone’s home, playing on the audience’s own fear.
Never before have taps been this scary.
As we gradually enter the bathroom, the camera cuts to and fro from Pfeiffer's perspective to medium close ups of herself. This alone almost makes us expect something to suddenly jump out at us, but in the creepy haze of the bathroom we see that the camera is deliberately concentrating on the bath tub, finalized by an emphasizing over-the-shoulder shot of the tub. A low angle shot of Pfeiffer further creates suspense, as she elaborately raises the sleeve of her robe and pulls the plug. Despite the low angle shot usually being used to symbolize power and dominance, everything else about the scene suggests otherwise; we know that in actual fact she is vulnerable, as if something sinister is looking up at her (or it might just be that sinister looking tap in the foreground).
The combination of sound and camera is what, for the most part, creates the eerie and suspenseful mood of this scene. It provides atmosphere and anticipation, ultimately hooking the audience in.
