Suspense and Shock

Suspense


Imagine a scene in a film in a classroom with students and a teacher. The camera reveals that there is a bomb under the table to the audience but we (the students and the teacher) are unaware of it. Will we be saved? Will the bomb go off? This is suspense. An example of suspense is in Alfred Hitchcock's film Sabotage. A boy is given a package to deliver which us as the audience know is a bomb that is due to go off at 1:45, however the boy and everyone around him are unaware. Hitchcock drags the boys journey out, using traffic and crowds which slow him down. This is to build up the tension. We also here a non diegetic ticking noise symbolizing the time and keep seeing clocks which are warning us that the bomb is soon to go off. This leaves us in suspense as we're waiting to see whether the bomb will go off or whether someone will find out in time. 



Shock


Imagine the same scene as before however the camera doesn't reveal the bomb under the table, it just goes off without any warning, exploding and killing everyone in the room. This is shock. For example in the film 'Children of men'.

This shows us a man going into a cafe and getting a coffee with people crowding round a television talking about a death that sounds irregular. It is set in London, however its not London as we know it which makes us question how far into the future this is. All of a sudden from nowhere a bomb explodes in the shop the man has just walked out of, releasing a big gust of smoke through the street and shocking the characters and the audience.