The Usual Suspects - Ailsa

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

As the opening starts, we see a dark setting that suggests it’s late and therefore has connotations of danger.
There’s a MCU of someone lighting something alight and this is also something that links with danger.  The ambient only sound gives the audience a sense of suspense. 

 

We are shown a man lying on the ground surrounded by the fire the other character lit, this emphasises him being trapped and in danger, he looks unconscious as well which shows violence and creates enigma for what happened to him. 

 

Non diegetic sound starts as we are shown another man, the fact that we don’t see his face close up makes the audience feel distant from him and therefore not trust him. In this shot we can only see his bottom half which makes him appear powerful and someone to fear. The lighting is still dark so show there is still danger. 

 
 
This mysterious character appears before another man, and by his facial expression we can tell he feels threatened by him. This is also shown by him looking up to him; it shows he looks at him to have more power than he does himself.  

 

An over-the-shoulder shot is used to film the mysterious character talking to this man. The fact we can only see the silhouette of his side shows he is someone that we don’t identify very well and adds to the mystery and fear we already have of him. He says “how you doing Keith?” in a threatening tone, which hints to the audience that he plays a part in the fact he can’t feel his legs. 

 

We are shown a gun in his hand which links to violence and hints that something bad is going to happen soon.
Throughout all of this the non diegetic sound is carrying on and is very low pitched and eerie so therefore emphasises the suspense and tension. 

 

Just after this the music gets loader and he points a gun towards the man sitting down. This raises the fear the audience has, which is already in place from the lighting and setting.
We then hear a gunshot and after that there is a cut straight to somewhere more lit up, this creates confusion and worry about what happened after the gunshot. 

 

The sound gets loader and more high pitched as we are shown CUs of what appears to be a building or ship.

 

The sound picks up even more as we see a cigarette being dropped to make another fire, this makes the audience question what’s going on and makes them move onto the edge of their seats in anticipation.




We hear a siren and this leads into a dissolve that shows someone being questioned. This emphasises the audience’s feeling of suspense and makes them want to find out what has happened even more, as this shows it must be serious.