In the opening scene of ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’ there is tension that is built up whilst they wait for the train, it gets more tense the longer they wait this is because of how the director has made the film. It introduces each character one at a time and uses their actions to tell us something about them. We know they are all waiting for a train to come however we don’t know why or what they will do when it comes.
The first character we see is walking and the camera follows him which helps set the scene so we know where everyone is and can put everything together in our heads. We see this character as being quite smart and good at surviving because he collects water in his hat and drinks it. The second character we are introduced to is the guy on the chair who seems to get annoyed by little noises and the fly that was on his face. However we see that he is lazy because he doesn’t bother moving his hand to waft the fly away. We then see him torture the fly which shows us he is a bully and enjoys listening to the fly suffer. The 3rd man we see we can see straight away he is the most impatient as he is stood closest to the train tracks waiting for the train which reminds us that they are all waiting for it but don’t know when it is going to come. This makes us wonder why it is so important and the longer the wait we know it gets more tense because the train could come at any time. Once the train approaches they all are alerted and start to move which makes it more tense because we still don’t know what is about to happen. Flicking between each of the characters whilst they are waiting keeps us guessing what is going to happen next.
As the woman reaches for the keys it gets more and more tense because we don’t know what is under there, the camera changing view of her face to what she can see makes us feel her emotions of scared and the sound effects of her breathing helps with the tension because it is not at a normal rate and is heavier. Once she lifts the cover the tension is released and there is a jump scare with cuts closer together to show action. n nn
Caragh Donaldson Film 
There’s some good stuff here Caragh, but you could push it a wee bit further, especially with your own choice of scene. For example, do you notice how there’s no music in the beginning of the scene? Music gives us a lot of cues, and without it, we have to imagine and invest in what’s occurring. Sound is really important in horror in particular! In the same way, there aren’t many wide shots — the character is closed in by the frame, which makes the scene feel claustrophobic. You’re right about the increased pace of the edits — that’s spot on — but try and consider other parts of the production as well!
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