Next, we see a shot of Billy’s wife; she looks like a typical American tourist, carrying bags and a camera. The connotations of this are that she doesn’t know Billy’s plan and is none the wiser, the reaction the audience gives is that there is secrecy between them and maybe that they don’t hold a very strong relationship. But because this is our first glance of them we cannot be sure of this. When Billy checks in to the airport we see members of the army scattered around. The connotations of this are danger and that they are trying to look for people like Billy. We the audience now react to the fact that we know it isn’t going to be easy for Billy to get home safely without being caught. We now have a few shots of Billy in the lavatory. In one shot he is looking in the mirror and we get a heartbeat sound in the background. This connotes that his nerves are showing as he gets closer to the plane. The audience reacting to this would be that they know how Billy is feeling and can now relate to him throughout the rest of the sequence, this technique helps the audience feel more involved. Also, at this point we really want to see Billy succeed in getting on the plane, this is because we like to have a hero or a resolution and Billy offers us that.
We now have a shot of Billy without his glasses and someone walking into the toilet. Billy cowers in the corner and doesn’t make eye contact with him. The connotations of this are that Billy is afraid and scared of the man, maybe because thinks that he’s been found out. Without his glasses on Billy seems vulnerable and when he cowers into the corner this emphasises this. The audience now react to the fact that Billy is almost making sure he’s caught, although he’s not trying to. In my opinion from this point onwards we start to support Billy and hope he gets on the plane, this is because we as an audience usually like to have a happy ending. We now have a series of shots of Billy getting his bag searched, he seems quite relaxed. We can tell this by the heartbeat noise in the background which has slowed dramatically. Next, the guard searches his bag, this doesn’t seem to bother Billy and when the guard pulls out a Frisbee, Billy almost cracks a smile. This shows that Billy is feeling a lot calmer about the situation he is in. this tells us, the audience, that because he almost cracked a smile we see him safer than ever before in the sequence, although, when Billy grabs his bag and tries to leave, the guard stops him and a moment of silence occurs, except for the heartbeat which quickens. This suggests that Billy is on the verge of being caught and as an audience we don’t want him to get caught, although he is so close.
In the next couple of shots we see Billy running to the bus which takes him to the plane, he only just makes it because he trips up when the doors are closing. The connotations of this are that because he tripped over he is nervous and is rushing, because the doors are closing on him we get the feeling that it his last chance of freedom, which he almost misses. This creates tension, drama and suspense. We the audience now feel relieved that Billy has almost got to the plane and that he is one step closer to safety. We now have some shots of Billy and his wife in the bus surrounded by fellow travellers. He and his wife are happily chatting away. The connotations of this are that there is safety in numbers and that Billy now feels secure in his surroundings. We the audience at this point now feel assured that Billy will escape but not completely reassured because of the presence of the army from earlier in the sequence. We are now greeted with some very sharp music, this connotes danger and that something bad is about to happen, maybe to Billy. Us the audience now feel slightly worried about Billy. Our worries are proven when we now see silhouettes of armed army officers, they look blank but that they are looking for something. The silhouettes look intimidating, mysterious and dangerous. This tells the audience that they are dangerous and will pose a threat to Billy getting on the plane. The audience now are uncertain of Billy’s safeness for the rest of the sequence. From this point we presume that Billy will get caught mainly because of the vast number of soldiers in the area.
When Billy gets off the bus the heartbeat noise from earlier reappears and is going extremely fast. The connotations of this are that he is very nervous and is almost certain he is going to get caught. This adds to the audience’s uncertainty. Next, when Billy queues up for the plane he is diverted to a different queue, his heartbeat goes softer as he sneaks away from the queue and goes in a different direction, there are still members of the army all around. The connotations of this are that Billy is trying to sneak on the plane without getting noticed, but with the heartbeat in the background we can tell he is still nervous. Us the audience now think that Billy has a chance of getting on the plane. But, in the series of shots as Billy is walking to the plane he empties his bag in his hands so the attendants don’t have to look at it, but as he is about to step on the plane he gets patted on the shoulder by security and we hear a sharp sound and his heartbeat loud and faster. This suggests that he is in danger, and is going to be caught. When he empties the bag in his hand we know that it is obvious to the security that he is hiding something. The audience now reacts to think that there is no chance of Billy getting on the plane and now we are scared of what will happen to him.
The mise-en-scene and sound have been extensively used in this sequence to create an reaction from the audience to the character of Billy Hayes. These two micro aspects of film have shown how smuggling was apparent in the 80’s and how this compares to drug smuggling today. In my opinion the sequence is effective in many ways and generally is good to watch. It is a good watch because of the amount of suspense and tension used in the sequence, the overall effect is we feel scared for Billy and wonder what will happen next.
