Creating suspension

Recently in class we watched a segment from The Fast and the Furious and watched how the scene was able to generate suspension.  In the scene Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) races Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) to some train tracks a ways down the road.  The suspense is generated by the train that is coming.  One aspect of the scene we noticed that helped to grow suspension was the feeling that time slowed down.  Not only was it slowed by slow-motion, but many shots were compiled showing close ups, the train, the cars, the train again, and then back to the cars.  The scene itself takes much longer then it should for two fast moving cars to race a quarter of a mile.  The close ups themselves even aid to the suspension.  Shots of the actors such as this one (Not the exact shot but similar)

Help capture the emotion and the intensity.  

The sound and music also helps to play on the audiences emotions and add anxiety to the scene.  There are different styles to using this sound and music.  In fast and furious you hear the roar of the engines and the train thundering down the tracks.  All of this adds to the action and the intensity.  Another movie I watched however uses sound a little differently.  In The Good the Bad and the Ugly, a classic wester, the movie has one scene in particular that uses very little sound, and only has a slow song in the background which could honestly be considered just whistling.  This movie uses the same technique of closeups to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

In this scene you have Clint Eastwood, and three other travelers in a standoff.  The scene is only comprised of shots of their face, eyes, and the occasional gun.  The feeling of slowed time is also applied hear.  No action takes place, just the actors standing waiting for the first to make a move, and there is what feels like 10 minutes of just Eastwood squinting confidently in the face of death.  

In both movies, when the train passes and the shootout is over, there is an immediate feeling of relief as you sit back down in your seat.  It is at that point you can finally notice and appreciate how well done the scene was in building up your suspense.

Robert Cannon