How is suspense created in an action sequence from the film 'The untouchables'

        The next frame is a high angle shot of the mother and baby. The diegetic sounds we hear are the cry of the baby and the lullaby music to signal the arrival of the baby. I think the director used these sound affects to make the viewers focus on the baby and the lullaby gives an idea of a calm peaceful atmosphere. This shot is taken from Ness’ prospective which makes them look vulnerable and is also used to make us curious to find out what Ness is up to because at this point you may think he is the villain and the mother and baby are his targets.

        Once again we see the camera cutting from Ness’ face to the clock emphasising that time is running out for Ness’ by this we can tell it is causing him concern. The following shot builds up tension because it is a long shot of the suspicious man and we begin to worry about what is going to happen. The non-diegetic sound affects we hear are the ringing sound, which rises in tone. This builds suspense as we are waiting for the sound to break down to its normal volume and the lullaby is repeated to remind us of the baby. However tension is released once the woman meets the suspicious man because he seems to be kind to the woman. We then see an extreme close up of the clocks face to emphasise the value and lack of time.

        The next part shows Ness carrying the baby up the stairs yet he takes his time and we can see a troubled look on his face this is possibly because he is debating on weather to leave the baby and go ahead with the original plan or to help the woman. However he continues to take the baby up the stairs and at this point the woman is very grateful and shows this by thanking and calling Ness a gentleman. The camera then zooms in on the gangsters face and we see a shot of Ness’ back from his prospective, this sort of shot would build up tension, as we are curious to find out what will happen Ness because he looks vulnerable. The sound of the ringing in the background increases and is ascending to the sound of the gunshot this is an effective way of building up tension because as the sound is gets louder we can guess that there will be a disruption to the equilibrium.

        The next shot is an extreme close up of the gangsters face. This shot focuses on the face and the evil looks. On the face we can see that he has a broken nose, which makes him look dangerous and gives us the idea that he is the villain. The diegetic sound used for this frame is the baby’s cry amplified. This is used to build up suspense because the baby’s crying can sense that something will happen and by crying it is showing us how uncomfortable and restless it is getting. As well as this idea the director could also have used this to remind us of the baby’s danger in the situation and will be a good way to fill the viewers with curiosity.

        The next few frames involve a lot of violence starting with many gunshots shown in slow motion. This allows us to see the action in more detail and emphasises the violence.

The director changes the shot to close ups of the pram wheels and the baby’s face, again to remind us of the baby’s danger it also makes us wait to see if the baby has a safe landing and by watching in slow motion it makes us tenser. The shots of the baby’s face make us worry even more because it looks so peaceful and The following diegetic sound affects we hear are the gunshots getting louder interspersed with the sound of the pram wheels hitting against the stairs. The next shot we see is a medium shot of the mothers’ soundless scream. For this shot we can argue as to whether it’s effective of not. We can imagine how devastated she’s feeling therefore the need of sound is not so important because her facial expressions and actions say it all. However people may think it doesn’t draw as much attention as it should because there’s no sound to emphasise her feelings so it could be improved by slowing down everything else and keeping a silent background while the mothers screams. The final shot of the drama is another medium shot of Ness being the hero by catching the pram followed by a close up of the baby’s face to release tension and reassure viewers that it is safe. I think the sequence ended quite well because there a good uses of camera shots to build up the tension and we see a happy ending to release tension.

By Hasina Sarwari