Tension is introduced to ‘The Third Man’ scene by the important sound of the cat meowing. This is because it alerts Holly to the man in the doorway. Suspense is increased because the audience knows that the cat is only fond of the supposedly dead Harry. The echoing of Holly’s voice and the exaggerated footsteps breaking the silence makes the scene eerie.
In both scenes the music gets louder and faster as they move to a climax.
In ‘The Third Man’ the music is linked specifically to the characters and their mood whereas in ‘The Fugitive’ the music is linked to the action. Sometimes it makes the audience foresee what is going to happen and at other times it mirrors what is going on.
The music used in ‘The Fugitive’ is played by an orchestra whereas the music in ‘The Third Man’ is played on a zither, a solo instrument.
The music in ‘The Fugitive’ is preceded by a period of tense silence and lets the audience know something is going to happen. The first two notes are played over and over again in a minor key. A minor key is often associated with a more serious mood. Strings come in and gradually build in volume as the scene unfolds suggesting something ominous. Just before a prison officer is stabbed one note is held. This makes the audience anticipate the action ahead. After this, the notes become more discordant, and are higher pitched and faster in tempo than earlier. This accompanies the growing mayhem and havoc in the bus until the point where the bus comes off the road. From then on the notes played are descending getting faster and louder as the bus crashes and rolls down the hill until it comes to a standstill and the music comes to an abrupt end.
The zither music in ‘The Third Man’ is used to create different moods in the scene. When Holly Martins is dawdling along, seeming quite dejected, the music is slow and directly related to his mood. When the audience first sees the mysterious man in the doorway the main theme tune plays. This is more cheerful and cheeky and is linked to the nature of the important new character. As Holly shouts “Harry” the tempo suddenly increases and there is a crescendo. Now the audience knows that Harry is not dead. Later an out burst of annoyance by Holly is linked to a very loud and sudden crescendo.
Both settings are gloomy although one is indoors and claustrophobic and the other outside and eerie. The bus on which the prisoners sit is a deliberately harsh environment to be in while the city of Vienna, no matter how run down it was at that time, is a magnificent city.
The scene opens on a cold night in a deserted, silent and cobbled street of post war Vienna and later moves to a large empty square, (except for an obelisk in the centre). The viewer feels uneasy for Holly Martins who appears alone, as anyone could be sneaking up on him; especially as there are so many dark corners and places to hide. The director has lit the set with very intense and focused lights creating areas of extreme light and dark although the viewer is made to believe that the light is coming from the street lamps, and later from a light being turned on in an upstairs window. Later in the square concentrated lighting is used to make the cobbles glisten. This emphasises the bleakness of the buildings and the appearance of Harry Lime, who up to this point has been thought dead.
The scene is set on a prison bus transferring convicted criminals to a penitentiary where they are to await execution. The bus is stark and devoid of any comfort. Tension is created as the central character, the innocent Richard Kimble, finds himself trapped with dangerous criminals behind a metal grill which separates them from the driver and guards.
There is hardly any dialogue in ‘The Fugitive’ and so the story is told though the mixture of facial expressions of the men on the bus. There is not a not a single expression that is more significant than any other. By comparison, in ‘The Third Man’, the single view of Harry’s face is a crucial point in the film. It is a twist.
In ‘The Fugitive’ tension is built by the camera focussing upon the facial expressions of prisoners on the bus. Initially the scene is calm. Kimble looks extremely depressed and anxious as the guards make normal conversation; his eyes are wide and he is fixated on one point. As the camera moves from the face of one prisoner to the next it is clear from their facial expressions that they are conspiring in some way. Tension heightens as the audience and Kimble wait to see what these desperate and dangerous men have planned. The third prisoner looks around at the other two and you get the impression that he is crazy because his eyes are wide open and never blink. This character contorts his face as he foams at the mouth and mimics the symptoms of an epileptic fit.
In ‘The Third Man’ the scene is dominated by the appearance of the ‘dead’ Harry. Tension is created when Holly realises he is being followed. As Holly talks to the hidden man, you want to know who he is. The fact that he does no reply makes him seem even more mysterious. Suddenly a light comes on revealing Harry’s face. It is almost dead white and ghostly. Harry gives Holly a little wink and smile. The skill of Orson Wells in creating and dissolving tension is incredible as he barely moves an eyelash on his face.
The costumes in ‘The Fugitive’ contribute to the whole feeling of control and confinement but are not telling the audience anything about the individual characters. However Harry’s costume in ‘The Third Man’ gives the audience a new impression of him. Ever greater suspense is created as the audience suddenly realise that he is not a good man, as they believed, but is a criminal as he is dressed like a gangster. Now the original mystery of who the third man is has gone.
The prisoners’ costumes are all in one, lurid suits with chains around their arms and legs. The bright coloured overalls are so if they ever did escape they could easily be identified. The legs irons and handcuffs add to the overall confinement of the scene and the audience can see how restricted the prisoners are. Their costume is all about control. The uniforms which the guards are wearing are a cross between police uniforms and military uniforms. They are a dull green. Everything about the costumes which the characters are wearing adds to the power of the guards. This all adds to the overall tension.
Both the characters in ‘The Third Man’ have similar costumes; the style of clothing is the same. However Harry’s clothes seem to be new and more expensive. He looks like a gangster and obviously has lots of money in a place where no one is rich. He looks different to everyone because his clothes are all jet black, his shoes are highly polished and all his clothes are pressed. Maybe he is only wearing black so as not to be seen. You begin to wonder how he has got all this money.
‘The Fugitive’ mostly consists of edited shots and close ups making the scene feel unpleasantly claustrophobic. The editing makes the scene fast moving and dramatic. By contrast, ‘The Third Man’ scene is composed of long shots with some significant close ups of the key characters at the climax of the scene. Unusually it has a very creative style as it films many of the shots at strange angles.
Camera angles add greatly to the tension in ‘The Third Man’. The scene opens with a long shot of the setting and Holly. We then see a mid shot of an ornate door in which a cat and a man’s feet can be seen, but the camera is at an unusual angle. It makes the shot seem even more baffling. As Holly talks to the man the audience see a low angle shot of him, making him appear larger and more dominant. This matches his confident tone of voice. When a light is turned on in an upstairs room the camera zooms in on Harry’s face giving an extreme close up. This adds to the importance of Harry. Close ups are also used on Holly to show his reaction to seeing Harry. A series of mid and long shots follow, showing us where Harry runs and where Holly chases him.
The opening camera angle in ‘The Fugitive’ is a mid shot of a prison guard as he casually talks to the other officers. It quickly changes to shots of the prisoners to show us the important things happening in the bus. We get a series of close ups of all of the prisoners glancing at each other which includes two over the shoulder shots. These show us who the characters are scheming with. After the officer has been stabbed the film is a series of edited shots of close ups of the characters, the action in the bus and the tracking shot of the bus moving along the road – in quick succession. This goes along with the speed of events happening in the bus.
The directors use a variety of techniques to create different effects in the two scenes. ‘The Fugitive’ is a fast moving action sequence building up to a tremendous violent climax although the scene in ‘The Third Man’ is slower and the climax is in the middle when Harry reveals himself. The different uses of techniques create very different types of tension. Tension in one is linked to danger and violence and in the other to mystery and suspense. So when we look in more detail at film making, we can see that there is much more to a film than the plot, script and actors. It is the techniques that the Directors use that create the effects they desire.