Thompson Assignment

How does Thompson create an atmosphere of threat in the school yard scene in Cape Fear?

Thompson uses costume mise-en-scene to create an atmosphere in Cape Fear. For example, when Nancy is walking out of school the audience see her wearing a plain white top and a skirt. This school uniform makes Nancy seem innocent and the plainness of the clothes doesn’t attract major attention to her and she is also wearing exactly the same as to what the other kids are wearing. This creates an atmosphere of threat for the audience because she seems very vulnerable with such a big threat on the streets following the family it makes the audience feel uneasy because she is on her own in the middle of town with lots of people about. It also creates tension too because with all the people around it keeps the audience on their toes about what will happen next and whether max will get her. Also as Max is walking towards Nancy in the park, the audience can see he takes a cigar out his mouth and gives a sinister stare at Nancy in the car. This cigar is meant to be a sexual representation of what he’ll do to her, meaning he’ll rape her or worse if he caught her. This creates an atmosphere of threat because he’s such a dangerous man there’s nothing stopping him from getting to her. It’s the sense of danger that is staring her directly in the face and there’s nothing really she can do because he knows where she is.

Thompson also uses set mise-en-scene to create an atmosphere in Cape Fear. For example, when Nancy has ran away from the car and into the school it cuts away to a close up of Max walking behind the school gate bars. The bars suggest that Nancy is trapped or that there is no way out or no escape from Max. This creates an atmosphere of threat because there is a sense of danger that Nancy will get taken away by Max. This sense of danger creates tension too, the audience feel like uneasy by the fact that he is so close to Nancy but yet to far away. Also the school gate bars make Max look like he’s in prison, it reminds the audience that he was a convict and is still a threat to the community for all the bad things he has done. This creates an atmosphere of threat to the audience because a dangerous criminal is outside Nancy’s school following her. This makes the audience feel unsafe and worried for Nancy because he’s just outside the school and he now knows where she goes to school.

Another technique Thompson uses is diegetic sound to create an atmosphere in Cape fear. For example, when Nancy is in the car the audience can hear the car’s radio. This is trying to give some calmness and security to Nancy because she’s alone and she knows about Max so it’s trying to distract her. This creates an atmosphere of threat because the audience can see Max across the road but Nancy cant so it makes more nerve racking because she can’t see the danger. This creates tension because the audience don’t know when she will spot Max so she might not have time to get away. As well, when Nancy is running in the school the audience can hear the footsteps of Max’s shoes when he walks. The footsteps are a very heavy sound and they never change tempo meaning they stay the same speed, this makes it seem very robotic and consistent. This creates an atmosphere of threat to the audience because they can hear the footsteps and they get louder as he gets closer, so Nancy can’t see where he is but all she knows is that he is coming towards her. This makes the audience feel uneasy and unsafe because they don’t know where he is until it’s too late.

Cinematography is also used in Cape fear to create an atmosphere of threat. For example, when Nancy is first walking to the car the audience can see that she has stopped and everyone is still walking away, this gives the audience the sense of being abandoned. This creates an atmosphere of threat because the audience know if she gets into trouble then she will not have anyone to help her. She will be isolated, just her and Max. This further creates tension because the audience know that if she does meet Max then they already know her fate, she will not have much options to choose from, if she can run away she’ll be temporally safe until she finds one of her parents but it won’t solve the problem.

Lastly non-diegetic sound is used to create an atmosphere of threat in Cape Fear. For example, when Nancy has just climbed through the window to escape out of the basement the audience can hear a Discord; it is the sudden high pitched jar as Max captures Nancy. This creates an atmosphere of threat because the sudden burst of sound makes the audience feel scared and worried for Nancy because she can’t be saved. It also makes the audience feel sympathetic for her because she has no one to help her. As well when Max is chasing her into the basement we hear the violins screeching and percussive tone under it. The sound has a chromatic order to it so it sounds really creepy and when the footsteps get closer the percussive sounds get faster. The percussive sounds are meant to sound like your heart beating faster and the chromatic sounds makes it creepy because it’s very high pitched. This creates an atmosphere of threat because it very fast paced, suggesting the speed at which the chase is going and when it starts getting faster is suggests that Max is getting closer and that her run is almost over.