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Lesson 4
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14 Replies
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Liz Janzen : Basic Instinct Stacking Suspense
What I learned through this exercise is that you can reveal important information related to the main mystery and intrigue quite late in the script without seeding it at the beginning.
I’m thinking of the late reveal that Lieutenant Nilsen was in possession of the campus report on Lisa Hoberman for a whole year before the start of the story (begging the question did he already suspect Beth and was he running his own investigation of her?)
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Subject Line: Rebecca’s BI Stacking Suspense
I learned that there was a balance to stacking the scenes, some with all of the elements, some with most, and very few with with only two. The stacking of the most thrilling scenes that kept us on edge were followed by a scene with less elements to allow our senses a brief rest until another stacking of tension. Amazing, how few transition scenes without thrills. Using the chart along with the video allowed me to notice the art of balance. It also called attention to the number of set ups and timing and presentation of the reveals in the later part of the movie to keep us engaged until the very end.
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Michelle’s BI and SOTL Stacking Suspense
Clear definition of suspense and intrigue. I found myself confusing the two during the SOTL exercise. Dissecting each scene reinforced what to look for. Stacking really does present itself in every scene. (M.I.S. intentional)
M.I.S. keeps viewers engaged at the story level and at the scene level. Character M.I.S. helps create interesting characters. Making sure M.I.S. is part of every scene requires intentional mapping before any writing begins.
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Pat Jasin Stacking Suspense
What I learned from this assignment was that every scene has to contribute to the ending. Little clues, dialogue, actions of the characters all have to contribute to the whole experience. The ending leaves you the viewer wondering will she kill him? And, is she the killer?
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Zachary’s BI Stacking Suspense
What I learned is that having well thought-out suspense stacking (coupled with top-notch filmmaking) helps hides the flaws in this script and the completely non-compelling characters and the sleazy old-school style of film exploitation.
Zachary’s SOTL Stacking Suspense
What I learned is that you might not be able to check every box in each beat, but you should be able to check some of them. So check them! Do it now! Also, Clarice’s suspense is all tied to actions by the three main male characters in this story. She turns the page only when she stops listening to them.
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Liz Janzen – SOTL Stacking Suspense
Charting the MIS and Action for Silence of the Lambs reveals two Villains in the film – Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter – plus a third devious person in Chilton, the arrogant prison doctor who undermines the FBI’s case.
In some scenes I found it difficult to decide whether what was happening belonged in the ‘Mystery’ box or the ‘ Suspense’ box. The ‘Intrigue’ items were easier to identify if I stuck to the quantifiers of ‘deception, underhandedness, concealed or crafty’ (that’s how I came to include Chilton as a bad actor.) I would count the discovery of the body found in the river – which didn’t quite match the ‘style’ the killer had used on previous victims – as Intrigue as well as a Mystery. I thought this was going to be a red herring (is there a second killer/copycat killer on the loose?) until the cocoon was found in the throat which then gave finding this body meaning and mystery.
Great suspense is generated towards the end of the film by the short scenes inter-cutting quickly between the police about to break into the wrong house and Buffalo Bill going about his business in his house until Clarice interrupts him by ringing his doorbell (nice ‘confusion’ occurring when the police ring the door bell at the same time at the wrong house.) The tension continues to ramp up in the next scenes which are the film’s most suspenseful: Clarice in the house with the Buffalo Bill, culminating in the darkness she is thrown into while he has the advantage of night vision goggles and pitting the Hero against her #1 Antagonist in a life and death showdown.
One thing I appreciated about the MIS in this film was the pursuit of clues by the tenacious and resourceful Hero: Clarice tracks down a friend of previous victim Fredericka Bimmel, learns Bimmel’s address, visits the house and gets the inspiration/realization that Buffalo Bill has tailoring skills because of what she sees there. Finding the polaroids of Fredericka concealed in her jewelry box reveals another part of Buffalo Bill’s M.O. to her: he is victimizing full-figured women and starving them in order to obtain more flesh.
Once the final clues fall into place the action ramps up, resulting in an increasingly greater ‘race to the finish’ and suspense for the audience.
A minor mystery for me off the top in the film is Crawford selecting Clarice for the job of trying to ferret out information from Lecter. Is it bad judgment on his part to give the job to such an inexperienced recruit? Or does he dislike her for some reason and is setting her up to fail? Or does he really believe that if anyone can budge Lecter it’s her and he himself is gambling on her being the perfect agent for the job. The answer becomes clear soon enough but I liked this ambiguity off the top.
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@Liz Jack did say she was the top of their class. I suspect he was trying something different to get through. In the end, they both manipulate her.
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Pat Jasin SOTL. What I learned from this movie was villains can be likable but murderers, characters can appear as nice, but are cruel. Heroine- Clarice wants to solve the murders and find Buffalo Bill, but has to reveal her hidden secrets to Hannibal to get his help. The prison guy Chilton is a devious opportunist, a mean guy, and deserving of Hannibal suggesting at the end that he will eat him. Clarice knows Hannibal is a murderer, but deep down respects his talents. She feels Hannibal is attracted to her and plays on this to get more info. Buffalo Bill is all psycho and there is no sympathy for his character, except for the fact that he has and loves the little poodle. The love for this little dog, shows that Buffalo Bill does care about something. I learned that using something like this, can make a murderer more “human”. The ending scenes were great with the same ringing the door bells and then no one there and Clarice meeting Buffalo Bill and recognizing the moths. What I learned was that heroes and villains have to appear human by adding something like the little poodle, or Hannibal’s love of opera. It reminds me of The Godfather movie, where Marlon Brando, a mafia head, takes murder requests while stroking a cat. SOTL was a movie that I was glad Hannibal escaped, but how he did it was terrifying. Plotting scenes is important.
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Hi, Pat Jasin- I already posted this here.
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By doing this exercise, I found that SOTL used MIS various ways, some obvious and others subliminal. The use of MIS in every scene and the character in each scene drew us deeper into the story and understanding those involved. It gave complexity to each character, the villains, and some not-so-nice non-villains. It provided the framework that allowed the viewer to experience the story on a deeper emotional level through frustration, anger, creepiness, anxiety, curiosity, and even respect or empathy for the villains. Most tense scenes contained many MIS elements, the slower scenes less to allow us to breathe and relax. The number and pace kept building on previous scenes to a peak towards the movie’s end to keep us on the edge of our seats. This method provided awareness of the many setups and clever payoffs. The writers of SOTL were masters of manipulating our emotions through their use of MIS.No wonder the viewer feels exhausted at the end of the movie.
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Agnes McCourt – Basic Instinct – SOTL – Stacking Suspense
Doing this assigned scene by scene, I discovered how each scene builds on the last scene, but also adds to the mystery, intrigue and suspense of the entire film, right to the very final scene.
Every scene does not necessarily have an M. I. S., but only fragments. This at times adds to the following scenes M. I. S. In some instances, all 3 are present, and in others, maybe only two. But, the film continues to keep you engaged, wanting to know what happens next.
It’s difficult to discern whether Beth or Catherine is the murderer. At first, we think Roxy might be the killer until she is killed in the car crash and the murders continue. Her death seems to affect Catherine very much.
We slowly learn that Marty Nilsen also has knowledge of both Beth’s background and Catherine’s, and seems to be the one selling Nick’s IA information to Catherine for profit, especially, when he is also killed. Also, that Beth has a hand in giving the personal information to Marty Nilsen, as he does not want to buy her side of the psychiatric report on Nick.
Nick is slowly spiraling back into his “Shooter” mode, by returning to smoking cigarettes and drinking copious amounts of alcohol, to cope. Catherine seems to be encouraging his return to his former addictions.
Nick is also playing with fire when he thinks he is in charge of Catherine’s “game”. But, she seems to be in control from the very first scene to the very last scene.
With Beth’s surprising death at Nick’s hands, Beth is blamed for Gus’s murder and the police close the case on the ice pick killer.
But by stacking the scenes, each one reveals just a bit more each time, but keeps you wondering until the very end, whether Beth or Catherine is the killer. Almost, to the very last scene, we are not certain if Beth is the killer or Catherine.
The stacking presents a slow scene-by-scene reveal that keeps the audience engaged right to the last scene, as we see Nick believe Beth was the psychopathic ice pick killer. This is despite evidence that Catherine gained from several peoples’ death, or people she used to study, for her books because she uses her books as an alibi. After all, why would she kill exactly like her characters in her books?
The final scene when Nick suggests having “having rug rats”, after they had just finished having sex, she’s reaching for something at her side of the bed. Then, Nick suggests “maybe not,” about rug rats, and Catherine seems to relax her search. The ice pick is revealed under her side of the bed, suggesting that she’s been the killer all along, and Nick was almost killed and may still be killed in the near future. But Catherine’s gotten away with so many killings, to this point, that she seems to be ready to do whatever she feels like without any thought for the future consequences. She truly is the psychopathic killer.
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by Agnes McCourt.
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by
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Carmen’s BI stacking suspense
I’ve learned how every tiny question raised early is paid off at a later stage, and the conclusion can be traced back through the scenes. Although the suspense ramps up, it’s not created equal so we are intrigued and engaged but also have breathing space. Every question that is answered leads to more questions …
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Carmen Radtke’s SOTL – stacking suspense
What I’ve learned from this assignment: You don’t always have to tick all the boxes, but most scenes will have all elements of M.I.S
The characters drive everything. Clarice is the perfect foil for Lecter – like he, she’s lonely, but she’s also tough yet vulnerable (see her stoic reaction when the masturbating prisoner flicks his cum at her), and she has deep rooted trust issues. Lecter is perfect because the deal he makes with her forces her to face her trauma, be able to change her behaviour when Chilton betrays her and Lecter, and in a twisted way he becomes her mentor. He’s a trustworthy villain and as such, utterly compelling without distracting from Clarice.
Although the main mystery is, can Clarice identify the killer and rescue the kidnapped girl, most of the stacked suspense centres around trust and betrayal.
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Agnes McCourt – Silence of the Lambs – SOTL – Suspense
By doing this assignment scene by scene, just as in my analysis of Basic Instinct, I discovered how each scene builds on the last scene, but also adds to the mystery, intrigue and suspense of the entire film, right to the very last scene where Clarice tells Hannibal on the phone that as an FBI agent she cannot stop looking for him, though he seems to promise to leave her alone. I also noticed many parts of conversations that I had not noticed before, despite seeing and reading this book over the years.
There are many fragments, but not necessarily all have an M.I.S. in every scene. This at times adds to the following scenes M. I. S. In some instances, all 3 are present, and in others, like in my analysis of Basic Instinct, maybe only have two. But, the film continues to keep you engaged, wanting to know what happens next..
Clarice is a young FBI trainee working to become a full FBI agent when the film begins, but becomes an expert on psychopaths, by the end of the film, with the help of Hannibal Lecter, she is an experienced new FBI agent.
At first, when she is sent in to interview Lecter in his grisly cell, she seems frightened of him and is very cautious in revealing much about herself, as she had been forewarned that he gets into people’s heads quickly. He’s a very devious and clever psychopath but does not hesitate to brutally kill anyone who gets i his way.
Buffalo Bill is a seriously sick psychopath who because he cannot get a sex reassignment takes to getting larger women, in any way that he can, and starves them until they are ready for his work of using their skin to build a woman’s body that he thinks will make him a woman. He’s carefully in choosing his victims and eludes the law for several murders.
Clarice is thrust into very difficult scenes as a trainee, examining bodies he has mutilated and also finds an important clue missed by others, like the moth in one of the victim’s throats.
At first, Clarice tries to work with Hannibal, who toys with her, and gives her the name of one of his former patient whom he knows Buffalo Bill had already killed. He plays mind games with her. He wants to know her darkest fears in order to give up any useful information.
When Clarice makes a deal, promising him a better prison location, with a view and beach he seems interested. He is very disappointed when he learns that Dr. Chilton has taken control of the situation and that the deal originally promised is not real. I think he shuts down towards Clarice.
He is clearly a slippery psychopath, who manages to steal a piece of a pen to unlock his handcuffs when he is locked in the large cage before being transported to some other location he did not want to go to.. He is willing to do whatever he has to in order to make his escape. He brutally murders the guards and manages to take a face and clothes so that they take him out in the ambulance to make his final escape amidst the huge SWAT team already at that museum.
The police and FBI get the name of Buffalo Bill and are sent on a wild goose chase to Chicago to locate him. During this same time, when she got her notes back from Buffalo Bill at the Museum, before he murders the guards and mutilates them, he leaves her clues as to locating Buffalo Bill and what he might be doing with the victims.
Clarice is goes to Ohio, to interview the father of one of Buffalo Bill’s earliest victims. She happens to be a seamstress who had been working with an older seamstress.
Clarice decides to interview the older seamstress at another address in Ohio, but upon arrival we see that Buffalo Bill is at this location in Ohio. She has walked into the home of the serial killer. She quickly realizes that the entire police and FBI are at the wrong location and she is totally on her own.
It also explains that it’s possible that Buffalo Bill kept this victim, Frederica, alive longer so that he could learn how to sew, as both she and the older women were seamstresses.(Something, I hadn’t thought of before, as to how he learned to sew. It’s not usual for a man to know how to operate a sewing machine and the diamonds he cuts on the bodies are similar to the diamonds Clarice sees on the dummy in Frederica’s house when she visits that victim’s room and home.)
Buffalo Bill has the daughter of a Senator, in the deep well, where he is preparing her for his next piece of human skin for his woman’s costume. Buffalo Bill’s latest victim, Catherine, is very feisty and doing everything she can to try to escape Buffalo Bill.
The fact that the latest victim is the daughter of a Senator, gives Lecter more bargaining power in getting what he really wants, a move away from Dr. Chilton, but ultimately his total freedom.
The suspense continues to heighten as Clarice, who is still a trainee, is trying to personally apprehend this brutal psychopathic killer alone, while the terrified Catherine keeps screaming for help to get her out. Once the lights go out, and Buffalo Bill dons the night field glasses, Clarice is working in the dark literally. She is alone and terrified trying to locate the killer. Thankfully, she does manage to kill him before he kills her too.
The FBI arrive at the address after she successfully killed Buffalo Bill and Catherine is freed. Though terrified, she seems to take the little dog with her.
Clarice gets her badge as a full FBI agent and there is a celebration for all the graduating new FBI agents.
Crawford congratulates her, in solving the case and says that she will be a great asset for the FBI. Also, that her Sheriff, father would have been very proud of her.
The final scene is the phone call from the now free Hannibal Lecter in some Caribbean Island, through dollars behind his head have the Queen on it, so it is one of the UK’s colonial islands. Lecter has his eye on Dr. Chilton and plans to “have him for dinner”. He congratulates Clarice but knows that he helped her to catch Buffalo Bill. He tells her he has no plans to go after her, but she cannot promise him the same because of the job she holds.
He still reminds her about the “screaming lambs” she had confided in him, in order to get more information on Buffalo Bill before Buffalo Bill kills the Senator’s daughter. He is quick to get off the phone so that the call cannot be traced. I believe Clarice keeps that call and information to herself.
We know what Hannibal Lecter will do next, which is kill Dr. Chilton and we do know that he will continue to kill people, as he has in the past. He is pure evil and very diabolical. Clarice has gained her entry into the FBI and has many others like him to chase down.
By stacking the scenes, each one reveals just a bit more each time, but keeps you wondering until the very end, whether Clarice will be able to help catch Buffalo Bill before he kills Catherine, whom is in Buffalo Bill’s basement well.
The stacking presents a slow scene-by-scene reveal that keeps the audience engaged right to the last scene, as we see Lecter toying first with Clarice and then actually helping her to catch Buffalo Bill.
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