Week 3: Rope

In the scene where Mrs. Wilson slowly clears the food off of the chest which contains David’s body, at time stamp 50:03 and on, and replaces it with books is highly suspenseful.  The use of long shot of Mrs. Wilson walking past three rooms raises the question and the anticipation of whether David’s body will be discovered. The use of long shot also creates three different planes that are visible and a fourth which is blocked by a swinging door. The foreground, which is the living room, contains the characters, the chest, and most of the action. The middle ground is the hallway and contains no activity. The background is the dining room where the books are contained. How these different planes are connected is through Mrs. Wilson walking back and forth from each room. As she walks into the dining room, Mrs. Wilson turns on the light as if she was shedding light onto the whereabouts of David. Also as she walks back into the living room, she carries books and turns the lights on in the hallway last as if the truth is relatively close. In addition each time Mrs. Wilson clears the items off the chest also reveals how close we are in figuring out the truth. Even though Mrs. Wilson’s actions are the main focus of the scene, the dialogue of David’s whereabouts is only heard. Through this, David is kept in the mind of the audience in order for the suspense to increase.  Also at time stamp 50:46 a lamp is turned on shedding more light into the living room where everywhere is gathered. The lamp is turned on when Brandon is questioned about where David was that afternoon. This scene does not utilize many different techniques however is one of the most suspenseful scenes in the movie.