In this essay I am going to look at how the director M. Night Shyamalan builds up suspense in the film signs using a lot of good techniques such a lighting, sound and image

 The director uses a lot of sound to make the film scarier. He uses scary music for the opening credits and for dramatic moments. And when the tension builds up the music starts playing and makes the viewer think something is going to happen. The Director makes good use of image for example in the scene where Morgan is in the crop circle and Graham runs to find out what is happening you only see his legs running through the crops when Graham stops running the camera moves to his face but you don’t see what he is seeing.

        At the start of the film the suspense is built up because it starts off dark then it shows you a headshot of Graham then it jumps to daylight and you see Graham running through the corn fields but you only see his feet and you don’t see what he is seeing this is a good example of how suspense has being built up and how the director makes good use of image it makes you surprised because you don’t know what is happening. Another good example of image is when Graham goes over to someone’s house to find out there is an alien in the pantry because you see a shadow under the door and you don’t see the alien this makes it a lot scarier then Graham picks up a kitchen knife and uses it as a mirror to see the alien you don’t see anything at first and then you see the aliens hand go under the door and Graham panics and chops the aliens finger off. It is really scary because you don’t see anything then suddenly its hand jumps out and you see it.

        The director uses good use of lighting because in the scene where Graham and the family barricade themselves in the basement it is dark and they find a torch and an alien comes but you don’t see it then Morgan drops the torch and the camera is fixed on the torch lying on the ground but you can hear the action in the background this makes the viewer unaware of what’s going on and makes you think what is going to happen.

        The director makes good use of sound and music in the film for example in the scene where Graham wakes up and looks out of the window you see an alien on the roof and you hear a sharp bang and then it changes scene the music and sounds makes it more effective and jumpy. When Meryl is watching the news and he sees the alien footage the camera slowly zooms in on his face and you see the fear in his face this is a good way of building up suspense because you only see his reaction and you cant see the television but you can hear the news report and you know he is shocked and scared.

        Overall I enjoyed the film signs and liked the director because he used techniques in a unique way. The film keeps you entertained from start to finish and uses good use of suspense. The story has an interesting plot because the viewer dose not know that his wife died until later when he has flashbacks and he used to be a vicar. I think signs would be aimed at twelve years old and over because younger people might not understand the story and it might be frightening for the younger viewers