Talking about the "Suspense" Setting
————Take the movie "North by Northwest" as an example
Abstract: Hitchcock once said, "The explosion is not terrible, wait for the explosion to be terrible." This master of suspense always creates refreshing works with his unique view of suspense. The companionship of the blonde girl; the innocent people being involved in the hunt and the setting off of the atmosphere before the danger comes. The suspense setting skills are unobstructed in "North by Northwest".
The so-called suspense is like someone giving you a box of candies. He tells you that one of the candies in this box is an expired candies, so that you always have a hanging heart when you eat each candies. This kind of care for the unknown is what I understand as the suspense. It may be a terrifying thing that happened at night, or it may be hidden in the sunny morning.
"North by Northwest" is one of the classic works of suspense master Hitchcock. The film tells the story of a humorous advertising agency executive who was mistakenly identified as being kidnapped during a meeting with a client, and killed the United Nations on his back in the process of searching for the truth. The crime of the official murderer showed his cleverness in the escape, and the story of finally reaping love.
The suspense of "North by Northwest" began when Roger Thornhill, the director of the advertising agency, met with a client in a coffee shop. He wanted to use the telegram and greeted the waiter boy. At the same time, the waiter boy was calling "George Kaplan". , Then the camera turned to two unknown men. As the rhythm of the music changed and the scenes of the two men kept zooming in, "Tanghill" was mistakenly believed by the two men to be "Kaplan" and brought to the car. Suspense arises, who is the real Kaplan? Thornhill brings the audience's curiosity into the plot seeking "Who is the real George Kaplan", which is also the overall suspense of the film.
One, sudden suspense
In the search for "Who is the real George Kaplan", there are always unexpected things happening to the audience. It is like looking for Townsend in the United Nations conference hall. Obviously, he went to Thornhill's office in Townsend’s home yesterday. The Townsend I saw was not the real Townsend. Just when he was about to ask the truth about Townsend’s home, a dagger was suddenly inserted into Townsend’s back, and Thornhill pulled out the dagger. , Thornhill became the murderer, and Thornhill, who was originally pursued by innocents, became even more innocent. This unexpected but unexpected plot design speeded up the advancement of Thornhill. Kaplan's plot setting.
2. The atmosphere before the danger comes up
On the deserted cropland road, Thornhill waits for the so-called Kaplan, a straight road with no end stretched across the vast cropland. This is a space scene full of suspense, in such a space. , Thornhill appeared extremely weak, the audience did not know what would happen in the next moment, even if something unexpected happened, then Thornhill should escape in this kind of environment. Three vehicles drove back and forth on the empty road, but none of them stopped.
After waiting for a while in Thornhill, a man finally appeared on the road with no one standing on the other side of the road, but the man’s identity was not explained in the film. At this time, the audience’s hearts were still hanging. Does Hill threaten? The audience did not know. It was not until Thornhill had a conversation with the man opposite that the audience understood that this man was just an ordinary passerby. But for an excellent film or screenwriter, there will be no useless frame, a useless character, a prop, and a useless line in the film. I believe that when Thornhill slowly walked towards the passers-by, the audience held their breath. The passer-by said: "That's weird. The plane sprayed pesticides in places where there are no crops." This reminded the audience that these two The sentence has also become a mystery.
It is this kind of space and plot design that made the audience feel that this must be a climax of the film from the very beginning. What the audience expects is that this is indeed the most exciting part of the film. A series of aircraft bombing scenes, Thornhill's life is hanging by a thread, and it always affects the hearts of the audience. From the beginning of the clip, the scenes, vehicles, character settings and scenes are constantly switched, and the content of the shot is combined with Thornhill's psychological changes to complete a suspense from foreshadowing to climax.
In addition, at the beginning of the film, Thornhill was mistaken for Capra being taken to the "Townson" apartment to talk to Townsend. The entire scene was set in a closed space, which inevitably made the audience worry about Sang. Hill's fate and limited space also meant that Thornhill was left to fiddle with in this enclosed space. When "Townson" had a conversation with Thornhill, he pulled the curtains, and the limited space seemed more eerie and terrifying, and when "Townson" turned on a light, the audience shuddered even more in front of the light.
Three, two suspense and detailed props
Suspense at both ends is a branch of the overall suspense. In addition to the plot setting around finding who is the real Kaplan, there is also a wave of unrest. Thornhill became the criminal who killed the UN official and encountered it on the escape train. A series of plot designs such as the blonde girl, the chase on the highway while waiting for Carpson, the big auction, the seeing through the fake death, the chase on the statue mountain, etc., make the audience seem to have been hovering on the edge of the cliff. These clues are repeated again and again. Extend the suspense to the extreme, and promote the development of the entire film chain by chain. There are also detailed props in the film to enhance the sense of suspense. When the blonde girl Kendall met on the train when Thornhill was fleeing, when the note handed out by the conductor was opened, the audience suddenly realized that the kind and beautiful The young lady is in the same group as the fake "Townson". The female protagonist who appeared halfway also completed his first mission in the film. At this time, the audience had to sweat for the fate of Thornhill. But the final surprise is that Miss Kendall is not a member of the terrorists. What is even more surprising is that she and Thornhill have gained a complete love.
Fourth, McGeffen’s performance techniques
McGeffen’s approach to performance is one of the differences between Hitchcock’s films and other suspense films. Another common difference is that Hitchcock does not keep the audience confidential in terms of plot information, but by placing the characters in the play. Set up suspense in a dangerous situation. The film "North by Northwest" has obvious manifestations. For McGeffen is something that does not exist. He expresses a topic or a simple plot and idea, and the suspense and plot that arises from it. In "North by Northwest", this McGeffen is Kaplan, and the clue of the film is this non-existent Kaplan, and the development of the whole story is guided by this clue. This ordinary advertiser was involved in a chase, and in the process of clarifying his identity, his identity became more and more chaotic. The seemingly messy character design is always guiding the development of the story. This is through a non-existent Characters to unfold the narrative of the plot of the entire movie. Although Kaplan is a false character setting, Thornhill is indeed an innocent person, but it also arouses the curiosity of the audience even more. This is the uniqueness of Hitchcock's setting of suspense.
The creation of suspense is a key factor in determining the success of a feature film. An excellent setting of suspense can always bring the audience into the depths of the misty dark forest, but it can also always take the audience out of the forest and continue to enjoy the sun. Pampering.
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