DZ-32: High-Tension Sequences

How can you recreate the feeling of cinematic high-tension on the page?

Chas & Stu take a close look at sequences of high-tension – the ones that make you lean forward in fear, or jump backwards in terror. Without camera angles, lighting, music or sound, how can screenwriters can evoke those emotions in readers using only the page? These sequences can be found in any genre of film, not just thriller or horror. To that end, Stu and Chas dive into high tension scenes from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, ZODIAC, ROOM, and THE BABADOOK. We cover their use of shifting POV, Dramatic Irony, Status Transactions, White Space, Sound FX, and many more.

And in backmatter we talk SICARIO and high tension, crack open the mail-bag, and look at how the so-called gurus rated the Oscar-nominated scripts.

EPISODE LINKS

• Aeon: Neurothriller – Horror Films are scarier than they were in the past
• Film Crit Hulk – HULK EXPLAINS ACTION SCENES – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – sequence starts page 60
  • YouTube: Hotel Showdown (excerpt)
• ZODIAC by Jamie Vanderbilt – sequence runs pages 125-129
  • YouTube: Zodiac Basement Scene (partial scene excerpt)
  • YouTube: Zodiac Analysis – Inside the Basement
• ROOM by Emma Donoghue – sequence starts pdf page 56 (scene 35)
  • YouTube: Jack’s Escape (excerpt)
• THE BABADOOK by Jennifer Kent – excerpt for educational purposes only
  • The Babadook Production Notes
  • YouTube: The Possession Scene “You Can Bring Me The Boy”
  • Watch THE BABADOOK on GooglePlay
  • Watch THE BABADOOK on iTunes
• DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions
• DZ-13: True That – Tips from Tarantino
• DZ-08: Status Transactions and the Power of Washing Machines
• DZ-16: Masters of Time and Whitespace
• DZ-29: Showdowns & Scene Structure
• Jane Espenson: The Grim Brothers

BACKMATTER LINKS

• Youtube: SICARIO – border crossing
• DZ-30: Oscars revisited – Spotlight and Carol
• Truby Rates the Oscar Hopefuls
• Robert McKee’s Work/Doesn’t Work – ROOM
• Scriptshadow on Spotlight (via Twitter) and his screenplay review

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