Definition of suspense: Arlington road

The opening scene of the film Arlington Road (1999) creates suspense by the way they have used camera work, sound and editing.

The definition of suspense is a feeling of excitement or uncertainty anticipation of an approaching climax at one point of a film.

The film opens with images of a white gate and black background that could symbolize the innocence thus the evil that the film contains. titles overlapping to state the production companies and name of the cast.

Mid-shot and close up shots of static images enable the audience to have an insight of what the film could be about, image of the dog, toddler and houses show of suburban america; a safe environment, the toddler shows how passive the characters may be. However the director has used different colour such as the negative effective and red colours which could be refered to the blood or danger involved in the film. other images, such as the star and road sign give a creepy feel to the audience, other meanings to the film.

Establishing shots are used to show the audience what is the setting and what the film could be related to.

The non-diegetic sound in the background is of a dramatic genre indicating it will be a thriller film. The editing of this film is a rythmic cut, matching the music.