Great shots. Great moments. Great writing. I’ve already explored some ingredients that go into scenes from Casablanca, Some Like It Hot, and The Silence of the Lambs. Let’s see if some other useful elements might be teased out of the crop-duster scene in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. (Once again, the scene can be found in 36 Of The Greatest Movie Scenes Ever Made .)
This one is all about tightening the spring, increasing the tension. A desperate everyman, Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant), has stumbled into a complicated intrigue. After being promised some answers, he takes a bus to an isolated location.
Beat 1Surprisingly, the bus leaves Roger in a flat expanse in the middle of nowhere.
Beat 2 Roger checks his watch. Where’s the man he’s supposed to meet?
Beat 3 A crop-duster drops a load of insecticide on a cornfield in the distance.
Beat 4 The plane turns to head toward Roger, who looks puzzled.
Beat 5 No coincidence. Danger! The plane is heading right for him. And dropping down to Roger’s level.
Beat 6 Roger hits the dirt just in time to avoid the plane.
Beat 7 Roger stands back up.
Beat 8 The plane circles back for another chance at him. Danger again!
Beat 9 Roger drops into a drainage ditch, just in time.
Beat 10 This time, the plane also strafes Roger with bullets, but misses him. The danger is greater.
Beat 11 Roger races out to the road, tries to flag down a car.
Beat 12 The car blows by him.
Beat 13 The plane is circling back for a third attempt on Roger’s life.
Beat 14 Roger runs like hell. Knocked down, bullets again.
Beat 15 Roger runs into a corn field and hides.
Beat 16 The plane’s pilot does not seem to be able to spot him. Success!
Beat 17 The plane dumps insecticide on the corn field (and Roger). A new danger, hinted at earlier.
Beat 18 Roger runs out of the field to get away from the poison, but he’s back in the open.
Beat 19 A truck speeds down the road.
Beat 20 Roger rushes into the road. Stands in front of the truck.
Beat 21 Despite honking, Roger holds his position.
Beat 22 Before it can stop completely, the truck hits Roger (without injuring him badly).
Beat 23 The plane slams into the truck and explodes. It’s a fuel truck
(Note: This is the first time music occurs in the scene.)
Beat 24 As the fire spreads, the drivers exit.
Beat 25 One driver says to Roger, “Get out of here. The other tank may blow.”
(Note: This is the first dialogue in the scene, at 3:36.)
Beat 26 The drivers keep running into the clear.
Beat 27 Roger is running away as the other tank, indeed, blows.
The plot would have been served by one clearly threatening pass by the plane, which would show the danger and the broken promise. If the car had stopped for Roger at Beat 11, the story could have continued. Instead, we saw the danger escalate and Roger pushed the the limit. We learn about who Roger is and worry about him more because his enemy is extreme.
This great scene:
• Isolates the hero.
• Pulls an adversary out of an unlikely, apparently mundane situation.
• Shows the hero threatened with being smashed, shot, poisoned, and engulfed in flames.
• Pushes the hero to show ingenuity in the face of few resources.
• Forces the hero to show determination and courage.
• Goes to extremes, with Roger risking begin crushed, with the killer so intent on his mission, he loses his own life.
• Provides the audience with a powerful sense experience,
• … with amazing purity. (A nearly an empty location. The only sounds coming from the plane — primarily the plane’s motor.)
• Our attention is focused. There are no distractions, so the audience is immersed in Roger’s world.
• The power shift (and Roger’s survival) are held to the very end of the scene.
A thrilling scene (which can be in genres other than thrillers) depends on escalation, especially increasing concern for the protagonist. The adversary is show to do more than attack. He creatively responds to Roger’s moves and shows determination. This demands more from the hero.
Showing the main character acting heroically can bond the audience to him/her. (This adds emotion, like falling in love with a character, making the scene more memorable because of what happens inside us, not just in the scene.) The more that is stripped away from a scene (props, music, dialogue), the more the audience is forced to participate. This is one of the most immersive scenes in cinema because it is so spare. Here, action alone reveals Roger’s intelligence without leaning on words at all (dialogue or voice over). We see Roger’s choices even as we are looking for options for him.
Note that not everything from previous posts are in the analysis of this scene. And it provides new tools, adding to our list. While you can use what I’ve provided so far in your own scenes, I promise I’ll provide a post that includes all of them. But not quite yet. I have another scene to share.
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