REALITY BAROMETER & SKEPTIC
With a story that plays along the boundary between reality and fiction like “Blanchard,” the audience is constantly shifting belief between the two. A supporting skeptical character is a good way to help ground the audience and keep them wondering. This skeptical character serves as a reality barometer, because they help us determine what is real in this story-world.
We know that the movie we’re watching is fiction, but we want to be lured into a suspension of disbelief. We want to believe it’s all real. So it is useful to have a character that helps us gauge this level of reality.
In “Blanchard,” the husband John is the reality barometer. He is so accustomed to Babs’s wild conspiracy theories that he ignores them. In fact, he is so excessively bored and uninterested that we prefer not to believe him.
In Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), Detective Doyle is the reality barometer. He’s always there with the facts to debunk the latest conspiracy. The characters feel they must convince him, and that makes the pursuit of truth that much more interesting and emotionally rewarding.
Hitchcock’s TV episode “The Case of Mr. Pelham” is also about a paranoid character that believes he has a doppelgänger trying to take over his identity. The psychologist is the reality barometer, serving as a skeptic to warn us that this guy might be crazy. Hitchcock shows us suspense objects that convince us the psychologist is wrong.
In Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), the protagonist is actually the reality barometer and the antagonists have the conspiracy. Howard and Emmett have convinced Michelle that an environmental disaster prevents them from leaving the bunker. We closely follow Michelle’s path of evidence and believe her skepticism, until it is disproven. Each time her skepticism is disproven, we trust Howard until the next round.
The ironic effect of having this skeptical character is that it tends to solidify our belief in the conspiracy. It’s basic human nature to believe gossip. Sometimes we want to believe it even when the facts get in the way. We look for the next piece of evidence that rebukes Michelle’s skepticism, and we get a sense of relief that she’s wrong. We want to believe the conspiracy, and the skeptic is just a persistent obstacle that provokes us into solidifying our allegiances.
So it’s important to construct a clear path through the maze for the audience at all times. Know what the audience should think at every moment, and make sure there are concrete “walls” in the maze to guide them, via suspense objects and reality barometers. Leave no vague areas where the audience isn’t really sure what’s going on. Keep it all simple, streamline it so the mouse will be easily lured on its way to the cheese.
CLARITY IN “THE BOURNE IDENTITY”
In Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity (2002), the audience knows exactly what’s going on at all times, yet is kept just as alert and paranoid as the characters are. It’s a great example of suspense, tension, and clarity. The film pits protagonist and antagonist against each other (Jason Bourne vs. the CIA) in a cat-and-mouse game until the conflict finally comes to a head.
Jason (Matt Damon) wakes up on a rescue boat with amnesia, and begins his quest to find out who he is. After winning a few instinctually provoked battles with the police, he realizes he has special combat training. Meanwhile, the audience is made aware of the CIA operation bent on capturing him.
Bourne Identity is a mix of hiding in various apartments, hotels, and houses, with chase scenes through the streets of Paris. Once the CIA finds out where he’s been, Bourne is always a few steps ahead of them. Each time Jason gains another clue about who he is, he gets closer to realizing the immorality of what he’s been trained to do until the final standoff, where he fully regains his memories.
Suspense in Bourne Identity is built around hiding and the fear of getting caught. We quickly learn that his antagonists can pop up out of nowhere, so the invisible danger keeps us on our toes. The key to Bourne Identity is that the audience knows who Bourne is well before he figures it out. So the closer he gets to facing his CIA handlers, the higher the suspense for us.
Tension in Bourne is wound up tight through the use of silence and omnipresent ambient sounds—placing us in the moment. Tension is skillfully released with moments of calm and contemplation, so that we are recharged for the next round of tension.
You’ll also notice that each actor cast in the movie is easily distinguishable within the narrative. They are of varying ages and races, with different hair colors and clothing styles. Each time a recurring character pops on the screen we can easily ascertain at a glance who it is without confusion. Bourne is a clean-cut, athletic blond, and never goes up against anyone with that description.
Each time Bourne finds new evidence of his identity, we clearly see it in a close-up shot—the computer chip, the stash of money, passports, the gun, the “wanted” notice, the marksman’s phone. We are provoked to track this evidence and believe the mystery he is uncovering based on the physicality of these objects.
The reality barometer character in Bourne is the girl, Marie, who gets swept up in the adventure. She plays the role of skeptic. At a restaurant, she tries to talk him out of his paranoia, but we soon learn his fear was justified. In another key scene, they are relaxing in his apartment when an agent crashes through the window and begins shooting. This scene is so traumatic that she vomits on the way out of the building.
Marie’s reactions confirm the craziness of the situation contrasted with Bourne’s calmness. She becomes a way for the audience to experience emotional reaction, since Bourne is a stoic superhero, always in control and unable to express his fear. When she realizes that Bourne is a CIA marksman, she begins to fear him. She later becomes a counterbalance for her cousin’s overreaction to the attack on his home. Marie is essentially an audience advocate, or surrogate. Our questions and reactions are embodied within her character.
Clarity is an important part of making those close-call moments around the secrets you’ve planted much more intense. With clearly demarcated locations, and an easily distinguishable cast of characters, your film will be easy to follow. By simplifying the plot into universal instincts and visual objects, everyone in the room will be unquestionably tuned in. When everyone in your audience is synchronized into the same mindset while watching your film, the greater their enjoyment.
SUGGESTED VIEWING
Watch these films and TV episodes mentioned in this chapter to learn more about carving a clear path of audience belief.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Mr. Blanchard’s Secret,” Season 2, Episode 13 (1956)
Rear Window (1954)—paranoid story with a reality barometer.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “The Case of Mr. Pelham,” Season 1, Episode 10 (1955)
Offing David (2008), Dir. Jeffrey Michael Bays—simplicity in lieu of deep drama.
The Bourne Identity (2002), Dir. Doug Liman.
FURTHER READING
Bays, Jeffrey 2014. Between the Scenes, Michael Wiese Productions.
Bays, Jeffrey 2014–17. Hitch20, web-series,YouTube.
Bogdanovich, Peter 1997. Who the Devil Made It, Ballantine Books, New York.
Gottlieb, Sidney 2003. Alfred Hitchcock Interviews, University Press Mississippi, Jackson.
Truffaut, François 1986. Hitchcock / Truffaut with the collaboration of Helen G. Scott, Paladin, London.
SUSPENSE MYTH NO. 5
KEEP INFORMATION FROM THE AUDIENCE AND THEY’LL FEEL SUSPENSE
Wrong. In order to create the Hitchcockian brand of suspense, you must create a situation where the audience knows clearly what’s going to happen, but is helpless to stop it. To do this, your audience must know more than the characters do. This is the director’s famous Bomb Theory, in which the audience knows the proverbial bomb is under the table, going off in five minutes, while characters carry on with triviality, completely unaware. By playing on the viewer’s empathy, you generate a visceral interest in the success of the characters’ plans.<
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This doesn’t mean you can’t trick your audience. By all means, lead them down the wrong path and then surprise them with a twist. As long as they feel the clarity of danger unfolding, they’ll love you for it.
CHAPTER 14
CLARITY WITH TENSION & LAUGHS
IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, you learned how to clarify the elements of your film in order to keep the audience’s full attention. Making things easy to follow and understand will in turn increase their susceptibility to suspense. Tension is another way to sharpen the audience’s focus and prevent daydreaming and wandering boredom.
First, you’ll need to have your close-call scenarios in place. Let’s summarize the goal: You want to plant a secret within your story-world, and then build in some “that was close!” moments to tease the audience about that secret getting out.
Tension is different from suspense because it is more present in the moment. It’s the beat by beat feeling of intensity as a sequence builds toward a crescendo. Tension can increase the suspense of those close-call moments in two primary ways:
By intensifying the details of the scene
By creating frustration in the audience by delaying the impending outcome
You force the viewer to concentrate their attention by either putting it all in their face, or by trying to distract them with something else. These techniques increase their feeling of suspense and their anticipation toward the resolution.
Think of it like a roller coaster. Each steep dive and fast curve is balanced by the delayed inclines and straight track. A good roller coaster strikes a perfect balance for an enjoyable ride.
INTENSITY OF DETAIL
Tension is a way of sharpening the attention of the audience and forcing them to focus on details. You make the details jump out at them. It’s one thing that causes them to feel present in the moment. This is done though the audiovisual artifice: camera, editing, sound design, music, etc.
HEIGHTENING VISUALS & SOUNDS
Shifting toward close-ups on faces and objects puts those details in the forefront. Using close-ups with fragmented framing, along with quick edits can increase tension. Silence accompanied by crisp, specific sounds also increases audience focus. Music takes the viewer out of the reality of the scene, so leave it out during tense moments (see chapter 11). This allows the audience to focus on sounds that the protagonist hears. You can intensify these sounds by making them extra loud and crisp, only emphasizing those specific sounds that help sharpen the clarity of the scene.
PROCEDURAL DETAILS
Once you have your suspense scenario in motion, it increases tension to spend extra screen time with one of the characters carrying out a specific, often mundane, task. It works for four reasons:
1. It prolongs the impending outcome.
2. It adds dramatic weight, sometimes ironically, to the task being done.
3. It focuses the audience’s concentration, thus increasing tension.
4. There’s a threat that if it goes wrong, it will ruin the desired outcome.
Take, for instance, the Hitchcock TV episode “Poison” (1958), where Harry is trapped in his bed by a poisonous snake under the sheets. A doctor is called in and decides to perform a delicate procedure to sedate the snake. First he must carefully position a tube and funnel under the sheets. Then he takes out a chemical and pours it into the funnel. The more screen time spent watching each detail of this flimsy procedure increases the tension of the dangerous moment.
OBJECTS OF PARANOIA
You can also make the details jump out when the protagonist is in a heightened state of anxiety and begins feeling paranoid about his surroundings. In “Four O’Clock,” Paul thinks his wife has been cheating on him by having a man over to the house during the day. When Paul sees extra food missing in the refrigerator and extra cigarette butts in the ashtray, he thinks this all adds up to support his suspicion. Focusing on these objects increases his anxiety, and ours.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
As shown in chapter 12, making the audience feel present in the moment may also include access to the inner thoughts of the protagonist. You can use voice-over to bring alive the character’s thoughts in real time as they react in a stream-of-consciousness narration while the scene plays out. Allowing your audience to hear the thoughts of the protagonist allows them to follow his logic, fears, and conspiracy theories. It is a level of moment-by-moment detail unmatched by anything else.
COMICAL DELAYS
The second way tension can be used to increase suspense is by creating playful frustration in the audience. Frustration is created by interrupting and delaying the impending outcome, causing the audience to hang on in anticipation. Frustration sharpens audience focus, because the viewer has to work harder to avoid being distracted. Comedy is the key to making this work, because it helps make the frustration more enjoyable.
Let’s explore some ways you can generate this enjoyable frustration in the viewer, primarily through characters that nonchalantly impede the progress of the story.
MALFUNCTIONS & INCOMPETENCE
It’s probably the most fun aspect of increasing tension—using supporting characters in a comedic way to frustrate the outcome. In the Hitchcock world, people make mistakes and are lazy about their jobs during moments when their actions are most needed.
Police, detectives, and essentially anyone of expertise are much funnier when they aren’t very good at their job. Even better, they really don’t want to do their job and think of any excuse to avoid it. This irony not only makes them human and endearing, it fuels that dual roller coaster of laughs and screams. Their incompetence at a time when the story needs them the most creates an anxious frustration in the audience that builds tension. It’s your choice if they finally see the light and redeem themselves in the end. Either way, it adds to the unpredictable world of suspense.
In Hitchcock’s TV episode “Bang! You’re Dead” (1961), suspense is built around Jackie’s mother trying to warn people at the supermarket that her son is lost with a loaded gun. She tries to interrupt a stock clerk in an argument with a dissatisfied customer, but the clerk won’t listen. She tries to tell management to send out an announcement over the store’s PA system, but she’s interrupted there, too. When she finally makes the announcement herself, a loud coffeemaker interrupts the message. Each attempt at trying to get the word out fails because the supermarket staff is too busy to pay attention to her. As the audience, we find this both frustrating and amusing as tension rises.
MISUNDERSTOOD FACTS
This one is also true in real life. During a crisis, people tend to get frantic and make dumb mistakes or clerical errors. Very often in a Hitchcock movie, someone will get a phone number wrong, or misunderstand a name for a place, or the protagonist sees conspiracy where there is none. All of these are things that the audience could correct, if only they could communicate with those fools on the screen—the delightful frustration that makes suspense so entertaining.
CHARACTERS NOT IN THE KNOW
When a supporting character doesn’t know the hidden secret, it’s a great opportunity for them to tease the audience with their ignorance. Overemphasize their ignorance by putting them ever so close to stumbling upon the secret.
Very often this can occur in conversation, where the not-in-the-know character coincidentally begins talking about something very similar to the secret in the scene. This pushes the protagonist to hide their feelings of guilt, while the ignorant character ignores the obvious signs of their anxiety. Or, perhaps the protagonist becomes overly arrogant and flamboyant about the topic as a way of compensating and covering their guilt. All of this adds fuel to the tension in the scene.
COMEDY & TENSION WORKING TOGETHER
In the mystery and suspense genre, a tongue-in-cheek approach is indispensable.—ALFRED HITCHCOCK (Truffaut)
As may already be clear, suspense is hardly possible without an element of comedy woven into
the tension. The reason for this is that the viewer must enjoy the ride and feel safe. The viewer must trust that the director is not going to harm the audience, or put them through trauma. It’s the same as with a roller coaster. When designing a roller coaster there is a limit to the amount of G-forces you can include so that the kids will still be giggling and gossiping about it when the ride rolls to a stop. Make it too dangerous and they’ll never come back (Wheldon).
Just like that tickling feeling in your stomach when going down the first steep dive, comedy is a crucial part of making the ride of suspense successful. Just like those rubbery hands reaching out at your legs in the carnival haunted house, you giggle and playfully scream because you know it’s not a real danger. When watching a scary film, you know it’s not real. You must know you’re not watching a real murder, or seeing real tragedy, because otherwise you won’t enjoy the experience.
Even though Hitchcock was always branded as the Master of Suspense, he was equally a master of humor. The best of his works have struck a perfect balance between laughs and anxiety. The two sensations played off each other, so that during a suspense sequence you could go either way—you’re nervous in the moment, but also amused that the director was so clever in setting up this moment. Very few filmmakers have been able to match that skill.
My goal is to amuse the public and not to depress them. Going to the movies is like going to a restaurant. A film must satisfy body and mind.—ALFRED HITCHCOCK (Gottlieb)
Hitchcock used the perfect anecdote to explain this to Dick Cavett in 1972. He said there’s a “fine line between tragedy and comedy” and he goes on to describe a man walking down the street reading a newspaper. The man is dressed prim and proper, with a top hat as a symbol of high dignity. He doesn’t realize that he’s walking toward an open manhole and suddenly falls down the hole. If this was in a film it would evoke laughter in the audience. But, the man might actually be hurt—that’s the tragedy.
Figure 14.1. Comedy and tragedy are closely related.
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