Instilling Unease into Your Audience

Olaf99

Olaf99

Active member
I recently saw the movie "Hanna" which was directed by Joe Wright with Alwin Küchler as DP. One scene stood out because it unsettled me so much without anything obvious there to clue me in that something bad might happen.

It was a scene where the main character, Hanna, enters an abandoned amusement park and is befriended by this happy, yet weird, guy. I won't give anything away but, the wife and I could just tell all hell was about to break loose but, I still can't figure out how they communicated that.

All I know is that I've tried to build suspense like this in horror films I've worked on and have failed. How does one create suspense without giving, even so much as a clue to what's about to happen next?
 
Olaf99 said:
I recently saw the movie "Hanna" which was directed by Joe Wright with Alwin Küchler as DP. One scene stood out because it unsettled me so much without anything obvious there to clue me in that something bad might happen.

It was a scene where the main character, Hanna, enters an abandoned amusement park and is befriended by this happy, yet weird, guy. I won't give anything away but, the wife and I could just tell all hell was about to break loose but, I still can't figure out how they communicated that.

All I know is that I've tried to build suspense like this in horror films I've worked on and have failed. How does one create suspense without giving, even so much as a clue to what's about to happen next?
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Pacing is not an aspect of cinematography. On the other hand slight zooming, slight camera motions, framing, etc. all have been used to move the viewer's emotional attachment to the scene.

You'd have to analyze it further to see which of all these sorts of techniques were used.

I've not seen the film, so I can't give a list of specifics for the scene you are referring to...
 
Here is a statement about the scene I am referring to in a piece on the ASC website: "Kino Flos, Rifa lights and Barger Baglites were used for close-up work. “Alwin and Joe wanted the Grimm cottage to feel like a fairytale but with something evil lurking in the background, and it does,” says Nickel. “You can feel daylight entering but not reaching the corners of the room, and with a bit of haze, the overall feel is a little frightening.”"

If I remember correctly they were also using tight framing and (again, if I'm remembering it right) long lenses that compressed the background. They may have even been leaving extra room in the frame for someone to come into view from behind. It's difficult to put my finger on.
 
Consider sound too. Although 'creepy music' is often overdone in bad movies (or intentionally for comic effect), a subtle eerie soundscape can put the audience on edge without them even realising why.
 
This helped me a bit. I found it on Avid's website:
"Pace Yourself
Use the length of cuts and the nature of the action to create changes of pace and rhythm within your scene. As action increases, use shorter cuts - even down to a second or less - to pick up the pace. For tenser, more pensive scenes, slow things down and use longer shots."

In Hanna I'm fairly sure they used shorter cuts during the scene I was curious about. This may have been what made it so unnerving.

So perhaps this topic should have been in an editing section after all.
 
Olaf99 said:
This helped me a bit. I found it on Avid's website:
"Pace Yourself
Use the length of cuts and the nature of the action to create changes of pace and rhythm within your scene. As action increases, use shorter cuts - even down to a second or less - to pick up the pace. For tenser, more pensive scenes, slow things down and use longer shots."

In Hanna I'm fairly sure they used shorter cuts during the scene I was curious about. This may have been what made it so unnerving.

So perhaps this topic should have been in an editing section after all.
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Since there's no 'general editing' section, just 'software for editing', I think such a question would be 'lost' in any of those specific sections... but I'd probably post this sort of question in the Director's section, unless there was a specific visual question...

What is interesting about the categories, no 'general editing', just NLE software... but for audio, no software, other than then aforementioned NLE editing software, just general audio...

In that mind, any general 'mood' creation effect, I think would be in the Director's section, at the moment, other than a specific technique for a particular technical category.
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
Since there's no 'general editing' section, just 'software for editing', I think such a question would be 'lost' in any of those specific sections... but I'd probably post this sort of question in the Director's section, unless there was a specific visual question...

What is interesting about the categories, no 'general editing', just NLE software... but for audio, no software, other than then aforementioned NLE editing software, just general audio...

In that mind, any general 'mood' creation effect, I think would be in the Director's section, at the moment, other than a specific technique for a particular technical category.
Click to expand...

I think it fits here because cinematographers are always concerned with how their footage will be cut, in addition to the style with which they shoot and the mood they wish to evoke as part of the director's vision.
 
Yeah, my original thought was that it had something to do with the way it was shot. Tight framing ect. It's tough to describe since there is no way to go back (cheaply) to review the scene until it comes out on DVD.

I think DVXuser does a great job categorizing topics but eventually some subjects morph along the way and switch between Lighting, Cinematography, Directing, and sometimes Sound.
 
There's a number of ways you can instill that uneasy feeling into your audience with camera and lighting tricks. I feel like a lot stuff on the camera side of things are things you would normally do when there is a bit more action in the scene, but since you do them when nothing is happening, people expect that action to happen soon. I can elaborate on any of these if you like, but here's a few things:

High Shutter Speeds
Dutch angles
Unbalanced compositions
Tight framing
Dirty frames (looking through different objects gives the sense that someone is watching)
Maybe a slightly faster frame rate (22fps)...haven't tried this, but it's a possible idea.

As far as lighting, I feel like there's not quite as much you can do, but still think about using contrast and light and shadow to your advantage. Maybe you can have a flickering light in your scene, or at one point the lights go out....

The real thing that will build up suspense though is story. I can do all these weird funny camera tricks, but if there isn't a character who you care about, it's all sort of worthless.
 
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I cannot add to it except that I notice a relation in camera footage and writing. Short sentences for action. Long sentences for slower scenes. Thats all really, just noticed the similarity. Maybe,just maybe get a different point of view and see what novel writers do to create an uneasy feeling in the reader. The fact that you read an excerpt from a book might cause your mind's eye to show you how.

But I find this very interesting :)
 
I've been doing some reading on the topic and have been dissecting suspenseful scenes in my head. What I think helps sell the suspense is by writing-in danger that could strike at any time and making it so the characters decide to, all of a sudden, just forget it's there. That's the point where you start making shorter and shorter cuts, using close ups and then bam! A loose shot with room in it for the antagonist to strike.

Just something I'm experimenting with at the moment.
 
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