The bridge scene creates a very tense atmosphere and gives us a lot of information about the four boys and what they are really like. It does this in a number of different ways, such as; How Chris and Teddy cross the bridge straight away without showing any form of being scared, implying that they are the stronger half of the group that don’t find things like crossing a bridge challenging. On the other hand Gordy and Vern find it very difficult to cross the bridge for a number of reasons such as, the height the bridge is at, and the fact that a train could come while their crossing the bridge. Another fact, which leads us to belief that Gordy, is the brighter one because he checks the rails by his hands and ears to see if a train is coming, which most probably saved all their lives because he heard the train seconds before it was in eye sight which gave them a little bit more time to escape the danger that could happen. Another fact that implies that Vern is the less confident one when danger is concerned is the fact that he crawls across the track because he is scared that he might fall in between each wooden slat.
The tension starts when the four boys approach the edge of the bridge, you can tell that there is tension in the air because the happy, jolly music fades away into complete silence, which later on the silence is broken by Teddy. The tension remains until the train has completely gone out of the cameras view. The bit in the scene that creates most tension is the bit where the train is right behind, towering over Gordy and Vern. This creates the most tension in the scene because the people watching don’t know what will happen in the next few seconds, which leads them to watch this specific scene in more depth.
However, the camera shots used in the film are very effective; the director has used a number of different techniques to make the Bridge scene as effective as possible. For example: when the train is behind Gordy and Vern, the black of the front of the train covers the whole screen apart from a little part of the screen which is of Gordy and Vern running. This is effective because the camera is shot looking up at Gordy and Vern making the train tower above the boys, implying that the train is a lot bigger and far more dangerous, this is effective partly because the train is black. When the camera is zoomed out it shows the boys, Gordy and Vern running along the dangerous bridge away from the train, which it getting closer and closer by the second. Chris and Teddy made it across the bridge fine because they set off a few minuets before Gordy and Vern because; Gordy and Vern were to busy checking if any trains were coming by putting their ears to the rail. This scene has even more tension because the boys Chris and Teddy are shouting Gordy and Vern’s names while the train is hurtling right behind them. When Gordy first acknowledges that a train is coming he shouts ‘train’, but when he says this the camera is focused of Gordy’s face and everything is in slow motion making the audience know that there is a lot of action about to take place, which makes the audience far more interested in what is about to happen. When the train is approaching the boys, the camera focuses on Gordy and Vern’s legs, which are running at a steady pace so they don’t fall through the gaps of the slats on the track. But when the train gets even closer to the boys the camera is still focused on their legs running but, the boys aren’t running at a steady pace any more, they are running as fast as they can in order to save their own lives. This is highly effective because the camera swaps to looking at the boys running to the train catching up the boys several times, making the tension build up even more.
The sound during the train scene is used in a very clever way. When the boys are walking along the track approaching the bridge, there is happy, jolly music in the background. As soon as they are at the edge of the bridge the music fades away into complete silence for a few moments, which shortly after is broken by Teddy saying that he has no fear and he is going to cross the bridge. During the whole bridge scene there are few words spoken by the boys, all the sounds are sound effects. When the boys start to cross the bridge all that is heard are the boy’s footsteps on the wooden slats on the bridge, and wind is also heard. The wind implies that the boys are high above the ground making the tension grow. Also birds are chirping occasionally, but this brings the effect that they are in wild life and has no dramatic effect of the scene.
Before the train arrives at the bridge, the colours are very bright and eye catching, for example the sky is light blue and the trees that that we can see are all very ‘exotic’, being very bright and effective shades of green. The sun is also reflecting off the river, which makes the scene to look very bright, and makes it far more effective than if the weather was ‘dull’ with clouds everywhere. As the train enters the scene all the colours have changed from bright colours to the dark, dull colours from the train. The train is all black, this makes the scene seem far more dramatic because the cameras are all focused on the train and the boys running, the screen is covered with the blackness of the train. If the screen had some bright colours in it, such as the blue sky then the impact of the train chasing the boys would be no were near as effective at it was, were all the screen was covered by the train. The smoke coming from the train was dark grey, this made an even bigger impact with the colours because the colours before the train arrived were all bright colours and as soon at the train came along the colours scheme totally change so there were no bright colours to be seen. This changed within seconds of the train been there.
Throughout the whole film it shows Gordy to be a very bright and clever boy. When he checks the track by his ears and hands you get the impression that something exciting is about to happen and the tension start to build up. The tension rises even more when the comb drops out of Vern’s pocket because he is wasting time watching the comb fall to the river. If Vern hadn’t of wasted valuable seconds then Gordy and Vern might have had an easier escape from the train, without it been right behind them. The bit in the scene, which creates the most tension, is the bit were Vern falls over when the train is approaching the boys. This created the most tension because Vern was so scared that he didn’t want to get up, giving his life away in a way but Gordy’s ambition was far from letting his friend die like this. Gordy helped Vern up and stayed with him right until they got far enough along the bright to jump off were it wasn’t that high and the train flew past them. When Vern is wasting all the time in the bridge scene the viewers immediately think that something bad is about to happen which makes the tension at its highest point.
Question: Is the director of stand by me successful in creating tension in the bridge scene?
I think the director is very successful in creating tension during the bridge scene. He does it in many of ways, such as, the black train and smoke, Vern wasting time, the sound of only footsteps and no voices etc. The audience respond really well to this scene, they do this because the tension keeps building up during the start of the scene and finally has enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat whiles watching the film. When the film starts some people could class it as boring, but as soon as the bridge scene takes place the audience who find it boring begin to enjoy the film. I think that the director was highly successful and made the scene very effective and the tension was abdominal for a film that was made decades ago and captured the audiences’ attention very well.
