Filming a SUSPENSE Scene

suspense /səˈspɛns/

noun

A state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. "come on, Fran, don't keep me in suspense!"

"Suspense is essentially an emotional process,...Therefore you can only get the suspense element going by giving the audience information." - Alfred Hitchcock

When you’re shooting a suspense scene, it’s important to think like an editor. Get adequate coverage. Shoot from a variety of angles. Shoot more than you think you’ll need. Doing this means you’ll have greater scope in the editing suite to manipulate the pace of your scene and, consequently, the audience reaction.

Techniques for creating Suspense on video

General Advice:

• For deeply suspenseful editing, try giving your characters a few extra seconds of screen time. Create a slow, methodical pacing in your scene, showcasing close-ups.

• If you are in the process of revealing an important plot element, or simply establishing the anxious nature of the character surrounding their situation, allow the shot to linger before cutting away. The longer you hold on your character, the more anxious the audience will become when the stakes get high.

• Suspense in film is based around the anticipation of an upcoming event, and how the story unfolds in the attempt to get there. As you decide where to place your reveal, allow your cuts to build without becoming too hasty.

Camera techniques

Handheld camera movement can create an unnerving sense of reality. The camera movement itself is subtle – only slightly restless – and conveys the impression that this is something real that happened to be caught on camera.

Close-ups are particularly important. They create intensity by emphasising facial expressions and, particularly in horror, can be used to create a sense of claustrophobia. Close-ups can create suspense because they put the characters closer to an imagined threat possibly lurking offscreen.

Extreme close-ups can be used to generate suspense by emphasising small details – a screaming mouth, eyes wide in terror, a knife clasped in someone’s hand, a ticking clock.

Point-of-view shots are another powerful way to create suspense, allowing the audience to see through the eyes of a character. This helps the audience to identify with characters and makes them feel as if they’re in the scene themselves.

Dutch angles are another framing technique that can be used to generate suspense by creating a sense of disequilibrium. Because the shot is not level, the audience feels a mild sense of unease and anxiety.

High camera angles may make the protagonist look particularly vulnerable and increase audience identification with them.

Low-angle shots can be used to make your antagonist or a location seem ominous.

Dolly In - moving the camera in closer to those close-ups can really push that feeling of claustrophobia, and a worried thought process.

Dolly Out - slowly pulling back the camera to reveal the ‘bigger picture’ is a shot that has been used time and time again. This technique is great to utilise when you want to tease your audience by prolonging the reveal until the perfect moment.

Tracking Shot - as your scene progresses, the lack of cutting could create a more realistic feeling for your audience and the constant motion of the long take will engage your audience in a way that quick cuts may not.

Editing

Parallel editing – cutting between two events occurring at the same time. This heightens the tension by showing the audience what else is happen... the danger approaching, time running out, etc.

Cutaways can reveal particular information to the audience to increase tension - the door creaking open, the movement behind the doorway, the bomb under the table - the aim here is to expose information so that the audience, in knowing, will feel intense concern for the hero.

Slow motion is an excellent way to increase tension by drawing out a scene. It also heightens emotion of any scene.

Sound

Diegetic sound - sound the CHARACTERS can hear - can also be used to create suspense and build tension. Think echoing footsteps, a ticking clock, a kettle boiling, a phone ringing, an alarm! Exaggerating natural sounds also helps - like the buzzing of mosquitoes or the chattering of birds, can create feelings of stress and anxiety. In horror we often hear natural sounds exaggerated, like heavy breathing or a heart beating when danger is looming.

Silence - you need to think of how you can use periods of silence to build up the suspense in your film.

Non-diegetic sound - sound the CHARACTERS can not hear... the sound track, music. Watch the following video for all you need to know! In the second video, watch the opening short film, then the important stuff start after about 5 minutes.

Colour correction

Most editing programs allows you to tweak the colour of your film to increase audience anxiety. Make it look gritty and dark. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube to develop an understanding of how to use the colour correction tools in your editing program. Bleach bypass is one look that has been particularly popular in suspense and horror films. The bleach bypass process is used to de-saturate colour and enhance the grain structure, which give films a more gritty look, If the story is a grim drama, this look enhances the story all the more by creating an ominous environment where colour seems to be drained from the character’s worlds

SUGGESTED TOPICS:

Using the techniques discussed, take one of the following ideas as a starting point and create a suspense scene. Each idea has a clear protagonist and antagonist, and an opportunity for rising tension.