Building Tension

One of the most important parts of film making is being able to build good tension in a scene. Tension is important for film making because tension can make scenes more interesting for the viewer because the viewer is left wondering what will happen next.

Goodfellas - Joe Pesci:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9mTTp3ub5s

Here is a famous scene from Goodfellas (1990) where good tension is built. The technique they use to build tension is that they use slower cuts instead of fast paced cuts, as fast paced would not suit the scene. For example at around 1:32 the cuts tend to last 8 seconds or longer.

In the shot above we can see how he has been framed in the center of the frame so we can see everyone around him is turned to face him. This works well with the edit because it shows the power of the character and it shows that he is important because others are listening to him. This shot does not focus much on his face so we know that the emotion that is being expressed is anger.

The next shot shows the back of his head and we can see that there is discussion happening here, but this time the characters are framed so they are on a separate side to show that they aren't getting along. The shot is more focused on his face so we can see his reaction to what is being said.  This creates juxtaposition in the edit because we see how one character appears powerful but the next character appears to be weaker.

At 2:06 in this scene there are 2 shots which are in almost complete silence. This is showing a build up in tension because the scene is showing rivalry between the two characters. If the camera cut to a faster pace it would not keep building tension in the same way. At 2:20 when the tension is over, the camera cuts to faster pace because there is no more tension to be built in the scene. This interlinks with that Normal Wanstall taught us in his guest lecture, he told us about how Quantum of Solace (2008) used too many fast cuts and didn't build good tension in the film.