Film Suspense Analysis

Peter Bogdanovich once said,” suspense is guided by an audience’s sympathy for its characters and an intense need for something dramatic to happen.”

The six fundamentals of Good suspense:
1. Subjectivity.
2. Suspense is information.
3. Montage gives you control.
4. Use humour to add tension.
5. Two things happening at once.
6. Provide a twist.

1. Subjectivity
It is the quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. It is creating the experience of what it is like to think out of a character’s mind. The camera trick you to think that something is there just to find out that it is not. It’s like seeing things that does not exist.

Top 10 examples of subjectivity in film:

1. Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959) Memories of nevers
2. Take shelter (2011) Storm coming
3. An American werewolf in London (1981) Mutant Nazis
4. The mirror (1975) Dream of grandfather’s house
5. The last

It is and editing technique where shots is shown in a fast-pace and it compress time and convey information in a short period of time. By that montage give you control because through that you can show the audience a lot of information is a short period of time.

4. Use humour to add tension:

Isaac Asimov observed,” For a humane person, the put-down is most satisfactory and most easily greeted with pleasurable laughter when the person being put down has done something to invite it – in other words, if he has attacked. Then it is lunge-and-riposte and at the riposte we can laugh with a clear conscience.”
When a character make himself the butt of the joke, it demonstrates unifying humour. Two people can also kid about a common situation, it shows they have a special bond or friendship. Bringing in humour in a film makes the film less serious and the audience won’t be so serious about what is happening or what is going to happen. They will know not to take it so serious.

5. Two things happening at